A Table in the Stars
In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway accompanied fellow author F. Scott Fitzgerald on a lavish trip from Lyon to Paris, traveling through the Bourgogne wine country to recover a Renault MT Torpedo that had been abandoned on a trip from Marseille. Hemingway recounts in his memoir, A Moveable Feast:
“We had a marvelous lunch from the hotel in Lyon, an excellent truffled roast chicken, delicious bread and white Mâcon wine and Scott was very happy when we drank the white Mâconnais at each of our stops,” writes Hemingway. “At Mâcon, I had bought four more bottles of excellent wine which I uncorked as we needed them.”
Our trip to Bourgogne in 2019 was similar.
Rousseau & Rack of Lamb
At the vineyard gates of Beaune, Bourgogne is "a table in the stars". La Table de Levernois opened the doors of its Michelin star Gastronomique restaurant to a faultless room bathed in light with a view of a park and river.
Sommeliers Philippe Meurger and Nicolas Geoffroy have tastefully composed a list with all the best Bourgogne. We compared two top growing years, 2015 and 2016, of Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin, one of Burgundy's oldest and most revered family-run domains. They hold many grand cru plots in Gevrey-Chambertin as well as part of the much sought-after premier cru vineyard Clos Saint-Jacques.
Each dish was thoughtful and intricate. From grilled calamari and mussels from the Bay of Mont Saint Michel to pesto risotto with Bourgogne snails, frog legs and a garlic cream foam. The Rousseau paired best with the roasted rack of lamb with stuffed zucchini flowers, mushroom risotto topped with a parmesan crisp. For dessert: a cheeseboard too large for one man to carry and packed full with local delicacies.
Since we all can’t travel to the wine regions in France and Italy currently, our hope is that by sharing our stories and opening a bottle we are bringing those regions to you. We thank you for your continued support and patronage.
Château de la Greffière, from the La Roche-Vineuse region, in Mâconnais, located in the south of Bourgogne. The estate has been creating excellent wines for almost 100 years. Since 1924, Château de la Greffière has been a family estate belonging to the Greuzard family. Today it’s the 4th generation of that family which cultivates the four grape varietals of the estate: Chardonnay and Aligoté for white wines, with Pinot Noir and Gamay for their red wines.
Château de la Greffiére Saint-Véran 2019
100% Chardonnay $59.99 per bottle
Stunning. A generous, deep mix of fresh and cooked peaches, honey-drizzled almond granola and a very slight iron note on the finish. As the southernmost appellation of Burgundy, Saint-Véran overlaps slightly with the northern edge of Beaujolais, offering a slightly warmer expression of Bourgogne Chardonnay. Pair with New England clam chowder or chicken Cobb salad.
Château de la Greffiére Aligoté 2018
100% Aligoté $37.99 per bottle
Aligoté first emerged as a resulting cross between Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir in Bourgogne in the 17th century. They are delicious when young, or can be aged to their full glory. This is a fresh, fun wine with notes of hawthorn, white fruit, saline and hazelnut. Pair with Raclette, escargot or sea asparagus.