When we started planning a trip anchored to the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, I knew I also needed to plan a stop just up the road in Burgundy.
Now, Burgundy is a hallowed wine region, and one which demands much
more than a one day visit, but that’s all the time I had. So, I put the word out to my wine world friends and colleagues, and lo and behold, I got some great suggestions for a plan of attack.
I booked a bespoke day tour of the Côte D’Or (historically the mo
st important regions of Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune together) with 
Hautes Côtes, a small company with some powerful connections that plans art and wine experiences of the highest calibre. I spoke with my guide, Pierre Denis, prior to leaving Canada, and toured the 60 km long Route des Grands Crus with him from Dijon to Santenay and back.
The day included visits to some of the most mythical vineyard plots from the Côte de Nuits – such as La Romanée Conti, Le Musigny, and Le Clos de Vougeot. I also feasted on pigeon at Ma Cuisine in Beaune, where the owner suggested a half bottle of Domaine Rollin’s 2018 Pernand-Vergelesses – fun as Pierre had worked that harvest there.
Two superb tastings were also part of the day – one at the historic Domaine Joseph Drouhin in Beaune, and the other in the tiny village of Santenay at Le Domaine du 
Château de la Crée. Ironically, I had visited both their Willamette Valley sister wineries, so it was as if my wine life was coming full circle.
I’ve had some incredible wine experiences, but this one may be the most magnificent one to date. I only had a day, but I fulfilled a ‘no spit’ bucket list item in great style.
Ever since I studied the wines of Corsica during the WSET Diploma Wines of the World course, I have wanted to visit the island, birthplace of Napoleon, and see it for myself.
Clos Paoli, named for his mother’s side of the family, only produces about 8,000 bottles a year on their 15 hectares, and all are made from native Corsican varietals and in traditional ways. Le Blanc is 100% Vermentinu – fresh, fruity, dried flowers and mineral, Le Rosé, a lovely blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Nielluciu, and Le Rouge, the opposite blend of the same grapes. All sport a light 12.5% abv which makes them super approachable and wonderfully refreshing.
slate in the fields and then pressing them to make wine in the tinazzi tradition – large, open wooden tubs. The wine is later fortified and then aged in oak barrels for 10 years.
translucent garnet/ruby colour, and a nose full of sweet pipe tobacco, just-turned raspberry, deep red plum and prune, light cassis, fig, date, mocha and hazelnut. With its fresh acidity and light tannins, this treat is delightfully quaffable, and with no cloying sweetness. I bought a bottle and enjoyed some every night for a week before flying home.
also soulmate to a Corsican lamb pie with chestnut purée we enjoyed.
shed and meet with Dominique for a tasting. Tell him I sent you! While I was obsessing over the wine, my husband was drooling over a genuine Corsican ‘barn find’ – a completely original and intact 1930 Donnet Six – hiding in the back of the tasting room.
You could also take part in their ‘dinner in the vineyard’ offer. And make sure you’re shipping a bag home so you can bring back multiple 
bottles. It’s more than worth the effort.
After picking, the fruit is pressed as a field blend and left to co-ferment with native yeasts. The wine ages 7 months in French oak but there’s no MLF or battonage, so the wine produced has super minerality and fruity clarity.
(5), the Bosconia is a translucent ruby turning ever-so-lightly to garnet – which in and of itself is remarkable for a 15 year old wine. The nose shows ripe strawberry with clove, cinnamon, sandalwood and green hay, while the fresh, clean palate echoes it with addition of sour cherry, rose petal and light leather belt. The finish is beautifully long on this delicious wine which has a long life ahead of it. If you have some, it will go for a good decade more.
We took a trip recently to Vietnam – I highly recommend this country as a 
place to travel to. The people are extraordinarily gracious, the food is
almost uniformly delicious everywhere you go, and the country is incredibly beautiful.
I tried many new things during this trip including some (very hot) rice alcohol, and some ‘snake wine’. Most of the beer I encountered was unremarkable, but the bartenders at our Hanoi hotel took good care of me with awesome cocktails.
Then there was the Martini I ordered in Hoi An – which ended up being literally that, a shot of Martini Vermouth. Vietnam’s coffee game is s t r o n g, which made me deliriously happy. This was the only positive holdover from colonization that I could see, except maybe for the bread used for Ban Mi.
But this Gin was a huge winner and I was happy to be able to bring some back home to Canada. The Lady Trieu Distillery has developed a series of Gins, each celebrating the distinct biodiversity and history of different regions of Vietnam. I chose the Hoi An Spice Road because we had enjoyed touring the Old Town streets and pagodas at the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
During Cov*d, I offered a wine tasting with paired hors d’oeuvres to a local Rotary Club fundraiser for the Victoria Hospice Society in the memory of my father-in-law, Ken, who spent his last days there.
As wine club members, we were offered a premium tasting; Scottish transplant, Jacqui, led us expertly through 9 very different wines including a Sauvignon Blanc, a Cabernet Sauvignon, A Petite Sirah, several blends, and four Zinfandels.
Travelling down the highway from Mendocino on our way to Truckee, California, I yearned for a tasting at Domaine Anderson. We’d been to the Anderson Valley several years prior, but had visited their sister winery, Roederer at that time. 
Domaine Anderson is nestled into a refined and graceful setting – the architecture of the tasting room and surrounding buildings is beautiful. Everything is in harmony – which is hardly surprising because these folks are cognizant of how important that is; they run an organic and biodynamic outfit. Their vineyards are all certified organic, and the Dach in particular is Demeter Certified Biodynamic. 
just the right amount of information and presence. 
I was a fan of both the Walraven Vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Walraven is their warmest growing region in the south of the valley, but also has the most altitude featuring Chardonnay clone 124, and Dijon clones 114 and 667. 
The night before I’d been to a renowned restaurant that listed Stolpman Vineyards on their wine list, so I thought I’d pay them a visit at their outdoor tasting room in lovely Los Olivos, California – a small town with many dozens of winetasting options.
several of his wines to them. For example, the rosé being tasted was the “Para Maria” with half of the profits going to his employee of 20 years. There was also a red blend – Syrah, Sangiovese and Grenache – called “La Cuadrilla” in honour of the farming team/crew. 
At least 10% of the vineyard’s production goes into the blend. The profits are returned to the crew members, divided by seniority, in the form of both a year-end bonus as well as weekly bonuses on each paycheck.
and 30% Chardonnay white blend with a herbal palate and nose of honey, acacia, pineapple, and nettle. Acidity is high on this wine and it is marketed to local Japanese restaurants – hence the sea urchin name and theme.
Definitely worthy of a visit (make a reservation online) if you’re in the Solvang-Buellton area.
dined at ‘Passionfish’.
winellama 