France Day 4 - The many wines on the road to Dijon

RRR & I went for a jog in the rain. Normally this is a chore, but it wasn't bad since we were exploring the small streets and fields that surround the Chateau.

When we got downstairs for breakfast, we were treated to a wonderful spread. Fresh bread, warm croissants, hard cheese, butter, homemade jams (peach & cherry among the choices), fresh-squeezed orange juice, coffee, yogurt and an offer of eggs which we declined.

One of the jams was rhubarb with lemon. I am not a huge rhubarb fan but the sweetness of the rhubarb coupled with the slight tartness of the citrus had me raving (much to the annoyance of my traveling companions I'm sure) about this for days! The yogurt was also impressive - certainly more depth than supermarket brand yogurt and when mixed with a bit of the jam it is indescribable!

We piled into the car and headed up the Cotes' d'Or, hitting a few villages and tasting rooms along the way. We started off at Domaine Bertagna which was one of my favorites, especially the Vosne Romanec (Les Beaux Monts Premiere Cru) we tasted. It was full bodied and the bouquet was a nice stinky-cheese smell. The amazing things about wines from this region is that you can smell the earth; a big departure from American wines which have a lot more fruit.

We also had a blast with the gentlemen who poured for us at Philleppe LeClerc (the 2003 Vosne-Romaneec was again the stand out here) and a delicious 2002 Savingy Les Beaune at Moillard Grivot.

When we weren't tasting, we were on our way to check out the city of Dijon. We came in at the end of their market (most markets close around one) and of course our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, talk about sensory overload! We walked out with figs (spoiler alert: RRR gets addicted as trip continues), sundried tomato and red pepper tapenades, peppers stuffed with goat cheese, peaches, apples and grapes. Hey, we were running low on picnic supplies!

A winemaker in Nuits St Georges suggested we go to Les Caves de Madeline for dinner, even offering to make our reservation and who are we to argue? It was an intimate local restaurant with a small kitchen, two person waitstaff, a large communal table and bottles upon bottles of wine on a side wall available for purchase with your meal. There isn't any table turnover in French restaurants so we saw a lot of disappointed diners get turned away at the door.

We were served some bread which came with a selection of dijon mustards (also available for purchase) with each one more unique and flavorful than the last with the exception of the cassis mustard, a bit too sweet. Three of us left with mustards which we probably SHOULD have bought while actually IN Dijon but what the heck?

After having the entire chalkboard of entrees translated for us, I chose the following:

Jambon Persille De Bourgogne - this was a bit of a risky pick for me, ham in a gelatin-like terrine with super fresh parsley. The parsley helped the dish along and while I am not a fan of the consistency of the gelatin, the chunks of ham were fresh and had just the right amount of salt. This was served over greens, something we have not seen a hell of a lot on dinner menus.

Beef Bourguignon - a trademark dish of the area. The beef was cooked for five hours and was fork-tender in a very rich sauce. Good and hearty!

Standout item: RRR's potatoes (pictured below) that came with her chicken - crisp, yet toothsome and garlicky!

Wine: tonight's choice came courtesy of SheGal who picked a 2004 Crozes Hermitage from Alain Graillot - fruity with a dry finish and a nice bouquet .

Dessert was a bit of a free-for-all with four forks flying at our desert offerings. We shared a dark chocolate cake with creme fraiche (standout desert), apple pie with the same creme, and meringue with caramel sauce. The owner told us that the eggs for the mereguine came from his father-in-law's chickens and also indulged us in a story about his experience with blue eggs in Japan when he went with his wife for the first time.

Sometimes it is more about interacting with each other and the owners and getting a real personal dining experience. We were treated as if we were dining in his home and it brought the entire meal to another level and this is why he probably turns people away night after night.