France Adventure - May 21, 2012

Bonjour les amis du vin et de cuisine.  Hello to friends of wine and food.  Welcome again to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary's and Brian's wine and food blog.  Our France adventure continues.  Today was a day trip to the southern part of Burgundy, the Mâconnais.  Here’s a quick Burgundy geography lesson.  There are five regions of France that collectively comprise Burgundy, depending on whether Beaujolais is included.  These regions, from north to south, are 1. Chablis, which is about an hour’s drive northwest of Dijon; 2. the Côte d’Or, which is where we are in Magny-les-Villers and which stretches roughly 35 miles from Dijon south to Santenay, including the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune; 3. the Côte Chalonnaise, which includes the well-known wine villages of Rully, Mercurey, and Montagny; 4. the Mâconnais; and 5. Beaujolais.  Some writers might include Champagne in Burgundy, as well.

The red marker on this map points to Beaune, in the middle of Burgundy, so you have a better idea of exactly where we are.

We wanted to spend some time in the Mâconnais for a few reasons.  First, we have never been there.  Second, we were told last year the architecture in the Mâconnais is very interesting, especially the churches.  Third, Pouilly-Fuissé is the white wine of Mary’s coming of age experience in California.  She talks about friends who drank “Pooley Foosay” back in the early 1970s.  So, our destination was Pouilly-Fuissé.

Today was wet and chilly in Burgundy, more like a late winter day than a late spring day.  We zipped up our jackets and headed south.  We were late for our appointment at Domaine J.A. Ferret because we got lost.  I did not know that Pouilly-Fuissé is not one place.  Pouilly and Fuissé are two separate villages, almost within sight of one another, separated only by a hill.  We drove around each village, could not find Domaine Ferret, and finally stopped at a house on the edge of Pouilly.  The nice elderly lady who answered the door said Domaine Ferret is in Fuissé and tried to help with directions.  In Fuissé we asked a mailman and he was kind enough to take us right to the entrance of the domaine, which was barely marked.

Madame Drouhin was kind and understanding about our tardiness.  She took us down into the cellar and explained a little about the domaine.  Maison Louis Jadot, a large Burgundy producer, purchased the domaine and all its holdings from the family estate when the last of the Ferret family members died.  There were literally no family members remaining to continue the domaine.

You can see in this photo the domaine was established in 1762.  Maison Jadot continues to operate the domaine under the same name, J.A. Ferret.

Although the appellation on the label is Pouilly-Fuissé, the domaine’s vineyard holdings are all within Fuissé and surrounding vineyards.  We tasted through four wines, all from the same vintage and vinified in a similar manner.  Once again, the terroir differences were apparent, sometimes more minerally and fresh, others more round, full, and fruity.  The wines from a single vineyard site were the most distinctive.  We purchased a bottle of the Domaine J.A. Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Les Perrières 2010, which had lovely floral and fruity notes, owing to the mix of silt and clay, which retain water in the soil, along with limestone.  One of the things we have learned is that soil that contains some clay and retains more water often conveys a fuller, fatter feel of the wine in the mouth.

Here is the view of the street entrance to the domaine.

These small villages are very quiet, seemingly nearly deserted.  The streets are tiny, narrow, spaces with barely enough room for cars to pass, sometimes not enough.  The photo above on the left is in Pouilly.  Above on the right is the street next to the church in Fuissé. 

Just after I took that picture, a car passed by, which gives you an idea of the narrowness of the street.  There is not exactly a left and right lane.

I asked Madame Drouhin, who lives in Mâcon, about finding a restaurant for lunch that serves Bresse chicken, not to be confused with breast of chicken.  I had done some reading about this breed of chicken being especially prized in France.  Farming of the breed is centered near a town called Bourg-en-Bresse, about 25 miles east of Mâcon and the Saône River. 

Mme. Drouhin gave us the names of a few restaurants just across the river from Mâcon in Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône that specialize in Bresse chicken.  Once again, the French, being French, are all about the place.  The dish is not available in Mâcon, a much larger city, but is readily available just across the river in Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône because the farmers that raise the chickens are located east of the Saône, as if somehow the product cannot be transported across that bridge.  I think this phenomenon is fascinating.  Imagine that farm-raised catfish could only be served in restaurants in Belzoni or Indianola in the Mississippi Delta.  I did read that Canadians and a few Americans have started to raise the breed or a similar breed, but do not call it Bresse because Bresse refers to a specific place.  They call it “blue foot” chicken instead.  This is analogous to calling sparkling wine Champagne only if it is from the Champagne region.

We drove from Fuissé to Mâcon, which took all of 10 minutes, then across the bridge to Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône, found a place to park along the quay in the windy, chilly, drizzly weather, and ducked into the first open restaurant we found, Le Saint Laurent. 

It turned out to be a rather upscale, white linen tablecloth establishment with fashionably dressed diners in business attire enjoying elegant cuisine, and there I was in my blue jeans and yellow knit shirt. No matter, they were friendly, including the host in a business suit who came to our table to take our order. I stumbled a little with my French and he pitched right in with his English. I thanked him later for his kindness and he solemnly replied, “Je suis à votre service,” I am at your service.

I ordered an entrée (remember, this is an appetizer first course) of œuf de ferme poché en asperges à la crème et langoustine, eggs poached in cream of asparagus with langoustines.  I love these French poached egg recipes, asparagus is in season, and I’ve never tried langoustines before, so here goes.  The dish was sensational!  It was very different from the œufs en meurette preparation, which is in red wine.  This was a creamy, fresher-tasting base and, once again, the eggs were cooked to a slow oozing consistency when pierced.  The langoustines are a crustacean with a flavor and consistency not unlike lobster, but larger than a crawfish tail.

Mary ordered an entrée of ravioles d’artichauts aux écrevisses emulsion de fois gras.  That would be artichoke and crawfish ravioli in a cream base of duck or goose liver.  And that was the appetizer.  Mary describes the dish as “velvety, creamy, rich” with tender ravioli, completely satisfying.  This lunch was turning out to be much more than a lunch.  It was another one of those fine French meal events we occasionally encounter without planning.  We sat at the window, gazing into the blustery weather, the Mâcon riverfront across the river, the Saône slipping by under the historic bridge, counting our blessings.

Mary’s plat was quenelle de brochet avec sauce Nantua.  The quenelle is creamed pike, combined with egg and breadcrumbs. 

Think of it as like a meatloaf, except with fish. The sauce is cream, béchamel, crème fraiche, butter, and in this case, crawfish. I prayed Mary will make it back home to Raymond before she has a heart attack. Neither of us had ever seen or heard of this dish. Mary described it as, “creamy, fluffy, delicious,” and could tell it had fish in it, but could not otherwise clearly identify the ingredients.

It was served with rice, which was great with the sauce.

The main reason for seeking this restaurant was the Bresse chicken, so that’s what I had.  The leg and thigh were pan-sautéed and served in a cream sauce with rice.  The chicken was delicious, especially with the sauce.  I would describe it as more firm than other chicken and has a slightly more gamy flavor.  I would love to try it again.  My only regret was that the restaurant was a little too formal to pick up the bird with my fingers and eat it off the bone, which is what I really wanted to do.

Mary had sorbet for dessert ...

… and I had fromage blanc à la crème. 

The white cheese was interesting because it was served with what obviously appeared to us both to be a salt shaker.  I wondered what that was all about and asked Mary to taste it.  Lo and behold, it was not salt, it was sugar.  The combination of the white cheese and crème fraiche was very tart, basically like sour cream.  I crushed some artificial sweetener onto it and that made it so much better.  Sugar in a shaker makes perfect sense now.  Pouring it on with a traditional sugar jar would be too heavy.  All that is needed is some sprinkling.

The wine was a demi-bouteille of Saint-Véran, another of the communes in the Mâconnais.  The server handled the bottle at a serving station and we didn’t get to photograph the label, but it was just as I hoped.  It had vivacity, balance, crisp mineral and citrus notes, great freshness.  Actually, a more full-bodied and fruity wine might have been a better pairing with the heavy, creamy dishes, but we enjoyed it.

Here are a few photos of the Mâcon waterfront and the bridge from Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône, taken from just outside Le Saint Laurent.

After lunch we returned to Fuissé to explore the town a little and to get some photos of the nearby Roche de Solutré.  I mentioned earlier that Pouilly and Fuissé are just small towns.  Like many French villages, l’eglise sort of dominates the landscape, which is true here, as well. 

Vineyards are just about everywhere, even right in front of the mayor’s office in Fuissé, the Mairie, as seen in this photo.

Roche de Solutré, the rock of Solutré, is a famous geologic formation near the village of Solutré.  The village is literally on the slope of the mountain. 

Vineyards are planted on its steep slopes, too.  It is an enormous limestone outcropping.  Archeological digs have unearthed prehistoric artifacts and remains that are housed in a museum in the shadow of the mountain.

We drove the old roads back to Magny-les-Villers.  Although we didn’t feel like eating much after that lunch, we had a reservation at La Cuverie in Savigny-lés-Beaune.

As usual, we were the first to arrive.

Wine specials by the glass were written on a mirror near our table.

The amuse bouche was crab over a cool avocado puree.

Mary’s salad course was a crispy Croustillant de fromage de Cîteaux, a brick of Abbayé de Cîteaux cheese, oozing onto the greens when opened.  Delicious!

Her plat was Noix de Saint-Jacques pulpe de patate douce et sauce crémant, seared scallops with pureed sweet potatoes, asparagus, and a sauce of sparkling wine.  She enjoyed scallops a few times on the trip and enjoyed this dish because it was relatively light after the heavy lunch at Saint-Laurent-sur-Saône.

My plat was filet de canette rosé, polenta crémeuse, et légume frais du moment, roasted duck breast, cooked to a pink medium, polenta, and vegetable of the day.  The duck was tender and flavorful, served in its own juices.  Like Mary, I appreciated that the portions were French.

I love it when they bring around a cheese cart and I get to choose my own cheese.  It is great fun to listen to the server describe the cheese, how it pairs with wine, and the best sequence for eating it.  I think I’m getting into a little cheese rut because I chose the Époisses, Brie, and the cheese with raisins again.

Mary had a fabulous dessert of gâteau tiède au chocolat coolant avec glace vanilla, warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

Her delightful surprise was a warm, gooey chocolate ganache filling that flowed from the cake when she cut into it with her fork.  Her comment:  “It was better than a chocolate cupcake or a brownie.  It was a beautiful chocolate cake on the outside and warm chocolate filling on the inside.  Amazing!”

Our dinner is an excellent example of why half-bottles are wonderful.  Mary’s scallops would be best with a white wine and my duck would be best with a red wine.  If half-bottles were not available, we would have to order by the glass, which often means lower quality wine, or one of us would have to accept a wine which is not optimal for our dish.

Savigny-lés-Beaune is a beautiful village near Beaune that is often underappreciated.  It has some premier cru vineyards, but mostly is known for producing solid village wines that are not necessarily among the most revered wines of Burgundy.  In some ways, that can be a good thing.  The wines can be had at affordable prices, but are reliably good and pair well with food.  They can often be consumed early, but have the structure and complexity to age for several years.  Since we were dining at La Cuverie, right in the heart of Savigny-lés-Beaune, we both wanted a Savigny-lés-Beaune wine.

Mary selected a demi-bouteille of Domaine Prieure Savigny-lés-Beaune blanc 2009.  As we mentioned in earlier notes, 2009 was a warm vintage that produced riper, rounder wines that are more immediately accessible and fruity than more typical vintages.  Even so, Mary said the wine had great energy, freshness, and bright citrus flavors.  Mary doesn’t like to write tasting notes, so I took a sip to compose the following note.

Domaine Prieure Savigny-lés-Beaune Blanc 2009.  The wine was refreshing, had crisp acidity, and good fruit from the warmer 2009 vintage.  The aroma profile showed citrus, apple, and mineral notes.  The palate was smooth with flavors of lemon and apple.  Nicely balanced, moderately complex, medium length.  Mary said it was delicious with the scallops.

To go with the duck, I selected a familiar name from the carte du vin, Domaine Pierre Guillemot.  We have quite a bit of wine from this domaine at home, most of which we bought at Kermit Lynch’s shop in Berkeley a few years ago.  When we know Kermit is the importer, that is usually indication enough for us that we are going to like it.  This wine was from the Serpentieres premier cru and from the very warm 2003 vintage.  I have mostly stayed away from 2003 Burgundies because the extreme heat and drought conditions produced so many wines that were atypical.  I was pleased at how this wine expressed itself, not hot-tasting or flat at all.  The nine years of maturity also brought some additional complexity.  Here are my notes on the wine.

Domaine Pierre Guillemot Savigny-lés-Beaune Les Serpentieres 2003.  This is a mature wine from a hot vintage, 2003.  It still had freshness and balance, however, showing nice, mostly dark fruit, along with earth notes.  The palate was completely smooth with medium acidity and body, not flat or too alcoholic from the vintage.  Dark cherry, plum, and currant fruit along with some earth notes showed on the palate.  Nicely balanced, moderately complex, medium length, a very nice experience.  13.0% alcohol.

Of course, we both had coffee to finish the evening.

What a day!  Today’s experience showed a little of everything we love about France and some of its quirkiness, at least from the American perspective.  We stumbled around tiny but famous villages that seemed nearly deserted, getting lost but ultimately rescued by a friendly mailman.  We tasted through wonderful wines in an ancient underground cellar, learning about the differences in wine from one place in contrast to a different, but close by site.  We enjoyed a magnificent lunchtime meal in an elegant setting and with gracious staff, without reservation, going across the Saône from Mâcon, just so we could try the Bresse chicken, in the process trying some new and wonderful dishes and flavor experiences.  We visited a famous geological formation up close.  Finally, we had a nice dinner with wonderful local wine, optimized to pair with the food by choosing half-bottles.  This is why we came!

That’s our post for today.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep checking back at Cépage et Cuisine for more of our experiences.  In the meantime,

Cheers!

Mary♥Brian