Return to Burgundy - A Little Slice of Heaven

May 19-20, 2016 – Back to Magny

We never seem to get enough of Burgundy.  Here we go again, back for our seventh year in a row.  For those who have read us in the past, you know that we go to Burgundy and then some other place.  This year, the plan is to spend a week here in Magny-les-Villers and then mosey northward, spending a few days in Champagne, a couple of days in the ancient German city of Trier, then a week in the Mosel valley.

Here’s Big Dee in Detroit, waiting to take us to Paris.

  

And Mary waiting at the gate.

I managed to score exit row seats.  For me and my long legs, that’s a big deal, especially on a flight of 8 hours!

We had to change some of our plans at the last minute.  We intended to take a train from Paris to Dijon to pick up the car.  Dijon is only a half-hour from Magny and we could have slept on the train.  Alas, French train workers went on strike, so we cancelled the train and drove from Charles de Gaulle, between three and four hours to Magny-les-Villers.  The arrival in Paris was at 8:00 a.m., which is 2:00 a.m. in Detroit.  By the time we were on our way with the car, it was 10:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. in Detroit, setting out on a long drive around Paris and down the autoroute, having been up pretty much all night.

With frequent stops and a couple of those tiny little cups of coffee that you get in France, we made it.  

Here’s the view from the bottom of the Hill of Corton, looking up the slope as we drove the mile up the hill to Magny.  They may not look all that impressive, but these vineyards produce some of the most sought after wine in the world.

When we arrived at the gite, Marie and Yves were out running errands, but we walked right in.  They left the place unlocked for us.  It is sort of like coming home, even better this time because they installed a new router for an improved internet connection.

The first thing I did was walk around the corner to Domaine Cornu to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner.

By wonderful coincidence, Claire Naudin, proprietor of Domaine Naudin-Ferrand in Magny, just steps from us, is hosting her annual Marché Gourmand this weekend.  It is a small market of regional producers of wine, food, pottery, and other artisanal products.

We enjoyed tasting through the wines of Domaine de Mouilles, a Beaujolais producer.

The dinner wine was the Domaine Cornu Savigny-les-Beaune 2012, selected for us by Isabelle Cornu based on our planned dinner of saucisse aux herbes with peppers, onions, potatoes, and a little St. Nectaire cheese.  The wine is exactly what Isabelle said it would be, fresh, aromatic of flowers, earth, and red fruit, smooth and medium in body on the palate with red berry and cherry notes, beautifully balanced and perfect with dinner.  The price was 16 €, about $18 at the current exchange rate.

A quick note about the cheese … it is one of many wonderful cheeses that are not available to us in the U.S.  It is illegal to import because they are made with unpasteurized milk with fewer than 60 days aging before sale, but we both love it.  As I saw in a news article recently, it is easier to buy a gun in the U.S. than it is to buy many French cheeses.  I’m hoping I can get it from a Canadian shop one of these days since I live just across the border from Ontario.

After dinner, we both collapsed into bed for a good night’s sleep.  Tomorrow is the day of the Beaune market!

Thanks for reading us.  I’ll try to post a note and photos from time to time.  Feel free to offer comments and ask questions.  In the meantime,

Cheers!

Brian♥Mary