Too Bad It’s Not Winter

cause I’m really craving me some Boeuf Bourguignonne (aka beef bourguignon) with a fine glass of red Burgundy. After a long two days, patiently hunting for bargains on the WLYS, Mom and I opted to do other mother-daughter-bonding things today, like go see the new release of “Julie & Julia.” And now…I am craving French food, particularly Boeuf (pronounced like an airy “boof”) Bourguignonne (“yeah, I’m not even going to try that one”). Now I’ve never made the Julia Child recipe, but I have made a pretty decent beef bourguignon in my day.  Oh the delicious scent of beef, pearl onions, carrots, tomato, and herbs all slowly simmering in a beautiful bouquet of red wine…. It even has bacon, too.  Can’t beat that!

Sadly, it’s not Winter, and I can’t even get a fine glass of red Burgundy because I’m in Nashville and it’s Sunday. Meaning: All liquor or wine or any other store selling any sort of alcoholic products are CLOSED! And even more sad is that the Trader Joe’s down here doesn’t sell any wine! My hubby and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE shopping at Trader Joe’s for wine. They have the best selection of inexpensive, yet scrumptious liquid grape (even their own line). So, I’m left to settle with a South Australia Shiraz, a 2008 vintage by Layer Cake (about $16.00 at the Nashville Costco). Mom was told by a friend that it was good, so of course, we had to have a taste. I must say, I’m not that impressed with it at all, and way too overpriced for the quality. It was a bit bitter at first taste, surprising for a Shiraz.  If you ever decide to try it, I’d open it up the night before you want to drink it.  Give it a day or so to open up.  Yes, it takes that long (according to my palette)!

If I did have a red Burgundy, I’d love to have one from a vineyard in Pommard, Beaune, Volnay, Meursault, or Puligny, France. I myself prefer Meursault.  Did you know that a Burgundy can come in red or white?  Yep.  Burgundy is just the name of the region where the wine is made.  In fact, most Burgundy red is made of pinot noir grape, and Burgundy white is made of chardonnay.  I didn’t know this until this past May when my hubby and I went to France for our anniversary (it was lovely).  We decided that since we drink wine practically every day, we might as well learn more about it.  And why not in France? Just a hop, skip, and a jump — so there we went.  We settled for Beaune, France — easily accessible by train from most major cities.  We flew in separately to take advantage of frequent flyer miles.  He in Frankfurt, Germany and I in Geneva, Switzerland.  It was so romantic meeting up on the platform in Lyon, France, where we proceeded to Beaune.  It was as if we were two lovers, long separated by some undesired circumstance.

Beaune is a quaint little town at the center of the Burgundy region.  It is between Dijon (known for its mustard, as you may know) and Autun (I have no idea what gets made here).  We came across a nifty little bike rental shop en route to the hotel from the train station and decided to bike through the vineyards and different towns the following day.  The rental cost us about $50.00 combined, which beats the typical tasting tour price of about $40 buckaroonees per person.  The owner of the bike rental shop was lovely enough to point us to the best vineyards along the way.  And he even gave us recommendations for cheese and bread shops in Beuanne where we could stock up on sustenance before embarking on our bi-cyle excursion.  It was absolutely perfect for wine tasting.  You bike, then drink for a while, then bike again to the next town.  There is a dedicated bike path, so no need to worry about running into any fast-speeding quadri-vehicles.  Here are some images of our trip, perhaps they may inspire you to venture and visit Burgundy soon!