August 2022 - frost in a heatwave

Correctly fearing the worst we headed south towards Saint Pourcain sur Sioule. It’s an increasingly agreeable trip featuring the N7, a fine road that benefits from the fact that most of the traffic is on one of the fast-track vacation autoroutes. I had read good stuff about the local wines which I had never tried but alas they are still unknown to me.

At a village called Renaison we found Domaine Serol, well spoken of by the wine society but on this day represented only by an agreeable dog. 

That evening a friendly and efficient employee of a proper hotel in Roanne managed to find us an open restaurant for which we were truly grateful.

The next day we had some catching up to do. Returning to Domaine Serol we found them manned by our own species and very welcoming but, alas, more victims of the 2021 frost. According to M. Google we had travelled 180 kilometres from Sancerre to Renaison which raised the uncomfortable question of just how widely this natural disaster had spread its icy tentacles.

We drove for 90 minutes eastwards along some delightful D roads to Fleurie where, joyously, it turned out that the wines of the Domaine Coudert had somehow come through unimpaired. My Revolut card tucked into eighteen bottles of La Roillette Fleurie and a few of their second string Brouilly. A real celebration at an average price of just €9.9.

After a swift lunch at a roadside picnic table we headed north again towards the brand name villages of Burgundy. First stop was Mercurey where we found Mme Patrick Guillot in bullish mood. We discovered here and subsequently at Saint Aubin that the response of the Burgundian wine growers to a difficult year has been to keep calm and stoically yank up their prices. The red Premier Cru Clos des Montaigu must have been absolutely delicious as I bought six bottles at €23.

At Saint Aubin our first call was at Gérard Thomas. M Thomas does not have the sunniest disposition, especially at the best of times. On this day he was positively chuckling as he told us that he had no wine. I should mention at this point that everyone we met was optimistic about the 2022 harvest. I sincerely hope that if we return next year M Thomas will have a face like a bloodhound and will say regretfully that his cellars are overflowing.

We drove up the road to Domaine Prudhon, a family business that we know well. During our tasting a granddaughter of around four was playing with a box of corks. Knowing the family as I do I predict that she will be humping cases around the cellar by the time she is eight.

I was reminded of the poem Bitcherel by Eleanor Brown

It's not that I think she is vapid and silly;

it's not that her voice makes me wince;

but - chilli con carne without any chilli

is only a plateful of mince...

The next morning I was disappointed to find that it was closing day for the boulangerie that makes snail quiche. But we made a lengthy (nearly three hour) cross country journey to reach Sancerre again before what could reasonably be called lunchtime. We wondered if there was any red wine (Pinot Noir) anywhere. The short answer was no. I bought six bottles of white Menetou-Salon, a poor man’s Sancerre but very drinkable and we repaired to the outskirts of the town for lunch at a picnic table in a tiny square where an old man took it upon himself to dry our seats for us, it having been sprinkling with much needed rain.

We then drove for ten kilometres or so to Domaine Villargeau where we are now quite well known. Last year we bought a red Chicago (Gamay) that was very enjoyable. This year, Chicago had, so to speak, been wiped out. But they also had stocks of their white wine from 2020 and I was pleased to buy some at €9.25.

We had plenty of time left in the day so we pressed on to Irancy and Chablis. In Irancy we visited Domaine Renaud where the son of the producer we used to know is now carrying on his late father's work with, I would say, skill and ambition.

He is now branding his wines by the mini appellations by which the vineyards are known e.g. Palotte, Mazelots. Whether many people could tell the difference in a blind tasting is arguable but it’s nice branding and probably pushes up the price slightly. It certainly worked on me as I bought eighteen bottles at €15 each.

Fleys is a village just outside Chablis and home to the excellent operation of Alain Gautheron. His tasting room is so welcoming and well stocked that one feels that one could linger for hours, at least until the time came to be carried out. He has an array of yummy Premier Crus but I was delighted with his basic white Chablis at what felt like a bargain price of €13.5. His young female assistant tittered - that’s the only word - at the quantity of wine in the back of our car. If only she had known how much we had missed out on.

We stayed in Auzerre at the excellent Villa Ribiere, the home of a much admired young woman named Bathilde who features in all the reviews. The rooms are lovely and the breakfast customised to your wishes. Enjoy.

We ate in a pleasant restaurant called Le Quai where we came across one last dog. Having been taken out for what he presumably thought was a walk he was obliged to stand and watch while his owners sat and stuffed their faces.