Last Day in the South of France
Wednesday DINNER
The little drive to Beaugraviere has never bothered me, but they have but cracking down on drinking and driving and we discussed - too late- having a driver for that night. I've often had the strategy in France of having the meal further afield at mid day and staying in an auberge with a very good kitchen or situated close to several good restaurants. In January, I stayed at a really nice historic property not far away from Mondragon: Chateau de Rochegude. Great public rooms, especially the living room you can lounge in and have an aperitif in front of the gigantic fireplace before heading the 10 minutes to dinner at Beaugraviere. This time we had a good bit longer drive.
We arrive and are greeted by Daniel, the Captain/Maitre d'hotel/Sommelier. He knows his stuff, if demure but fun. A real pro, one of the best anywhere. We head right to the table I always seem to sit. The menu has two sides: pre-fixe menus and the list of dishes a la carte. The a la carte dishes are half with and half without truffles. The whole reason for being there is to get some of the truffle dishes. There are lots of dishes that he has really mastered and he always, always, always gets the best truffles of the season. Even in a poor, low-yielding season like 2005 he gets better stuff than any 3 star I've been in. His wine list is loaded with superb stuff especially white burgundies and red rhones. It's been raided a bit in recent years and does not have quite the same depth in older wines that it had 5 years ago. Still a great list.
The first plate is one that I have often had there: scrambled eggs with truffles. Barely cooked, loaded with truffles. Chave's 2002 white Hermitage was lovely, not yet sleeping and a great backdrop for the dish. People rarely realize that Hermitage vintages for red and white vary enormously, because harvest is at different times. 02 is not a strong red year, but the white from a grower as good as Chave you surely want.
The next dish was one I always have which is a mélange of seasonal vegetables with shaved truffles, vegetable stock and very good olive oil, served warm. Best way on earth to get your veggies. First reds were 99 Domaine de Marcoux CDP and 95 Vieux Donjon. Neither was a particularly good choice but for differing reasons. The Marcoux is a great wine and will be much more so, but it's really closed, unevolved and only so giving in such a state. The Donjon is one of the best of that vintage, but even at the time I thought the vintage a little narrow and only so giving. It remains a wine of more intellectual than gustatorial pleasure. 95 was the best year amongst a serious of tough years 91 - 97. There are good wines and even excellent ones from these years but little like the Barbe Rac we had at lunch.
My third dish doesn't translate that beautifully into English but was a stunning dish: parmesan savory cookie covered in truffle slices and served with his truffle coulis. Bravo. First new truffle dish in 2 years Daniel says (the only truffle dish I would not enthusiastically reorder is the risotto). My last dish was my all-time favorite: foie gras poached in brown chicken stock in a pastry-sealed casserole loaded with truffle. The wine for this was a stunner, not perfect but excellent: 1979 CDP Grand Tinel. This is an estate that I have had no success with before. Rich, many years of life remaining. Lovely aromatics and still a bit of tannin. Must have been a beast at 5 years, it's pretty big now at 27. We kill it off with a little bit of cheese and a long chat with Chef Guy Julien who gives us an insight into the different truffle-producing areas of France. I love that place.
~~
Wednesday, March 29th
Wednesday was just about living long enough to get to dinner at one of my absolute favorite places on earth: La Beaugraviere. The small kinda straightforward restaurant in Mondragon, just north of Orange (Orange has a massive Harley-Davidson rally every summer...in an ancient Roman town, bizarre).
The day begins with a few check-in tastings at Le Vieux Donjon and Cuvee de Vatican. I was at both domaines in January and am happy for the reprise. The Donjon 05's are brilliant. Great wine at any price. Very fairly priced. The Vatican wines are interesting in that they make two cuvees that are hugely different. The traditional wine is just that and will drink well as a young wine. The Reserve Sixtine is a 60 grenache 40 syrah cuvee that sees new oak barrels. Dense and oaky and flashy. Needs time to integrate the wood and soften its tannins. Their 03's were super for both. The 04 and 05 bottles should also be strong. We'll see.
Lunch is at an old favorite: La Mere Germaine. Right in the square in the center of the village it has been a standard for most of the growers in the area. Cooking is solid most of the time although both the cooking and the dining room have gotten a few new flourishes in a facelift a few years ago. The wine list is also pretty darn terrific...if you only want to drink CDP, or other southern Rhone valley wines.
My first dish is one of the best I've ever had there: braised beef heart cooked en terrine with a foie gras garnish in the center of the fat slice of the terrine. Great flavor, texture and no silly unnecessary elements to the plate. Our first wine if the table wine that's made at Bonneau by his son Marcel called "Les Rouliers.". Pretty darn good practice run. Very expensive table wine (39e), but a great buy for delicious stuff.
My second dish is a comfort dish an entrecote steak. Good flavor, shallot fondue is nice. Camargue sea salt on the table required, but glad it's there. The second wine is magnificent: 1990 CDP "Barbe Rac" from Chapoutier. Perfect now. Great balance, expression - every detail in focus aromatically and in harmony on the palate. Best wine of the trip so far. Chapoiutier is a mono-cepagist, so he only uses grenache. Lots of body, fruit, no edges. We knock out a little cheese, coffee and then on to the next few stops.
We stop by Bonneau's vinification cellar where Marcel is working. No one would ever guess that this garage is where Bonneau's magic starts to happen (actually I guess tending the vineyard and their terroirs are really the beginning). We tell Marcel that we had his wine with lunch. He's pleased. He tells us that he loves going to that restaurant especially. It's close to home and offers a good change of pace. He says his mother does a few dishes and his father is the better cook but only does three dishes. The ones he thinks he does well. (Which can be a bit monotonous!)
We step by the cooperative bottling and warehouse space that a group of twelve growers use. We run into Thierry Usseglio, the new president of the group, and Lucien Michel (Vieux Donjon), the outgoing president of the group. They are both there as the bottling machine has broken down. Lucien explains that the reason that his hair is white and Thierry's is still brown is the office. He wishes Thierry "bon chance" and tells us all kinds of hunting stories. He is curious why Dick Cheney would choose to shoot a Republican donor instead of a quail or perhaps a Democrat.
Our last stop was at Henri Boiron's domaine Bosquet de Papes. This has been a huge favorite of mine over the years and a great buy in really age-worthy wines. Henri's son Nicolas has been making the wine for a while now. Nicolas is a real character 6'4", probably 275 and wild dark hair. A real Provencal bear of a guy and pretty damn vigorous fellow too. We taste through the 05 barrel samples and the 04 freshly bottled (which always is a little more narrow than it should be) as well as the 03's. The Cotes du Rhone cuvees are very good, pretty throaty broad wines for CDR. The traditional CDP cuvees are very rich in style and will certainly evolve for a long time. The 04 slower than the 05 to show but the 05 may outlive it. The reserve old vine bottling is called Chant le Merle or song of the blackbird. Counter intuitively, this is not a feminine or flouncy wine. When is the last time you hear a blackbird belt out a blues tune in a rich alto? That would be more like it...a little bit of a whiskey voice. The 04 will be slow evolving but is excellent. The 05 components, grenache especially seemed top, top flight. We talk again about this wine in twenty years. After a bit of a business chat we head off to dinner.
The little drive to Beaugraviere has never bothered me, but they have but cracking down on drinking and driving and we discussed - too late- having a driver for that night. I've often had the strategy in France of having the meal further afield at mid day and staying in an auberge with a very good kitchen or situated close to several good restaurants. In January, I stayed at a really nice historic property not far away from Mondragon: Chateau de Rochegude. Great public rooms, especially the living room you can lounge in and have an aperitif in front of the gigantic fireplace before heading the 10 minutes to dinner at Beaugraviere. This time we had a good bit longer drive.
We arrive and are greeted by Daniel, the Captain/Maitre d'hotel/Sommelier. He knows his stuff, if demure but fun. A real pro, one of the best anywhere. We head right to the table I always seem to sit. The menu has two sides: pre-fixe menus and the list of dishes a la carte. The a la carte dishes are half with and half without truffles. The whole reason for being there is to get some of the truffle dishes. There are lots of dishes that he has really mastered and he always, always, always gets the best truffles of the season. Even in a poor, low-yielding season like 2005 he gets better stuff than any 3 star I've been in. His wine list is loaded with superb stuff especially white burgundies and red rhones. It's been raided a bit in recent years and does not have quite the same depth in older wines that it had 5 years ago. Still a great list.
The first plate is one that I have often had there: scrambled eggs with truffles. Barely cooked, loaded with truffles. Chave's 2002 white Hermitage was lovely, not yet sleeping and a great backdrop for the dish. People rarely realize that Hermitage vintages for red and white vary enormously, because harvest is at different times. 02 is not a strong red year, but the white from a grower as good as Chave you surely want.
The next dish was one I always have which is a mélange of seasonal vegetables with shaved truffles, vegetable stock and very good olive oil, served warm. Best way on earth to get your veggies. First reds were 99 Domaine de Marcoux CDP and 95 Vieux Donjon. Neither was a particularly good choice but for differing reasons. The Marcoux is a great wine and will be much more so, but it's really closed, unevolved and only so giving in such a state. The Donjon is one of the best of that vintage, but even at the time I thought the vintage a little narrow and only so giving. It remains a wine of more intellectual than gustatorial pleasure. 95 was the best year amongst a serious of tough years 91 - 97. There are good wines and even excellent ones from these years but little like the Barbe Rac we had at lunch.
My third dish doesn't translate that beautifully into English but was a stunning dish: parmesan savory cookie covered in truffle slices and served with his truffle coulis. Bravo. First new truffle dish in 2 years Daniel says (the only truffle dish I would not enthusiastically reorder is the risotto). My last dish was my all-time favorite: foie gras poached in brown chicken stock in a pastry-sealed casserole loaded with truffle. The wine for this was a stunner, not perfect but excellent: 1979 CDP Grand Tinel. This is an estate that I have had no success with before. Rich, many years of life remaining. Lovely aromatics and still a bit of tannin. Must have been a beast at 5 years, it's pretty big now at 27. We kill it off with a little bit of cheese and a long chat with Chef Guy Julien who gives us an insight into the different truffle-producing areas of France. I love that place.
~~
Wednesday, March 29th
Wednesday was just about living long enough to get to dinner at one of my absolute favorite places on earth: La Beaugraviere. The small kinda straightforward restaurant in Mondragon, just north of Orange (Orange has a massive Harley-Davidson rally every summer...in an ancient Roman town, bizarre).
The day begins with a few check-in tastings at Le Vieux Donjon and Cuvee de Vatican. I was at both domaines in January and am happy for the reprise. The Donjon 05's are brilliant. Great wine at any price. Very fairly priced. The Vatican wines are interesting in that they make two cuvees that are hugely different. The traditional wine is just that and will drink well as a young wine. The Reserve Sixtine is a 60 grenache 40 syrah cuvee that sees new oak barrels. Dense and oaky and flashy. Needs time to integrate the wood and soften its tannins. Their 03's were super for both. The 04 and 05 bottles should also be strong. We'll see.
Lunch is at an old favorite: La Mere Germaine. Right in the square in the center of the village it has been a standard for most of the growers in the area. Cooking is solid most of the time although both the cooking and the dining room have gotten a few new flourishes in a facelift a few years ago. The wine list is also pretty darn terrific...if you only want to drink CDP, or other southern Rhone valley wines.
My first dish is one of the best I've ever had there: braised beef heart cooked en terrine with a foie gras garnish in the center of the fat slice of the terrine. Great flavor, texture and no silly unnecessary elements to the plate. Our first wine if the table wine that's made at Bonneau by his son Marcel called "Les Rouliers.". Pretty darn good practice run. Very expensive table wine (39e), but a great buy for delicious stuff.
My second dish is a comfort dish an entrecote steak. Good flavor, shallot fondue is nice. Camargue sea salt on the table required, but glad it's there. The second wine is magnificent: 1990 CDP "Barbe Rac" from Chapoutier. Perfect now. Great balance, expression - every detail in focus aromatically and in harmony on the palate. Best wine of the trip so far. Chapoiutier is a mono-cepagist, so he only uses grenache. Lots of body, fruit, no edges. We knock out a little cheese, coffee and then on to the next few stops.
We stop by Bonneau's vinification cellar where Marcel is working. No one would ever guess that this garage is where Bonneau's magic starts to happen (actually I guess tending the vineyard and their terroirs are really the beginning). We tell Marcel that we had his wine with lunch. He's pleased. He tells us that he loves going to that restaurant especially. It's close to home and offers a good change of pace. He says his mother does a few dishes and his father is the better cook but only does three dishes. The ones he thinks he does well. (Which can be a bit monotonous!)
We step by the cooperative bottling and warehouse space that a group of twelve growers use. We run into Thierry Usseglio, the new president of the group, and Lucien Michel (Vieux Donjon), the outgoing president of the group. They are both there as the bottling machine has broken down. Lucien explains that the reason that his hair is white and Thierry's is still brown is the office. He wishes Thierry "bon chance" and tells us all kinds of hunting stories. He is curious why Dick Cheney would choose to shoot a Republican donor instead of a quail or perhaps a Democrat.
Our last stop was at Henri Boiron's domaine Bosquet de Papes. This has been a huge favorite of mine over the years and a great buy in really age-worthy wines. Henri's son Nicolas has been making the wine for a while now. Nicolas is a real character 6'4", probably 275 and wild dark hair. A real Provencal bear of a guy and pretty damn vigorous fellow too. We taste through the 05 barrel samples and the 04 freshly bottled (which always is a little more narrow than it should be) as well as the 03's. The Cotes du Rhone cuvees are very good, pretty throaty broad wines for CDR. The traditional CDP cuvees are very rich in style and will certainly evolve for a long time. The 04 slower than the 05 to show but the 05 may outlive it. The reserve old vine bottling is called Chant le Merle or song of the blackbird. Counter intuitively, this is not a feminine or flouncy wine. When is the last time you hear a blackbird belt out a blues tune in a rich alto? That would be more like it...a little bit of a whiskey voice. The 04 will be slow evolving but is excellent. The 05 components, grenache especially seemed top, top flight. We talk again about this wine in twenty years. After a bit of a business chat we head off to dinner.
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