France Adventure - May 24, 2012

Bonjour tout le monde et bienvenue à Cépage et Cuisine.  Hello, everybody, and welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  We’re blogging about our wine, food, and cultural vacation in France.  You can access earlier posts by clicking on “older posts” at the bottom of the page.

We’re saying farewell to Burgundy today and moving to Alsace for the second part of our trip.  I drove to a nearby vineyard to take this picture before we left.  It is a photo of a vineyard workers’ hut near Villers-la-Faye.  These huts can be found all over Burgundy, although some are more modern in appearance than this one.  They serve as shelter during storms and a place to store tools, although nowadays I imagine the workers mostly duck into their vehicles and bring their tools to work every day.

Here’s a view of the rooftops of Magny-les-Villers as we departed.  Goodbye, Magny!  We loved our visit and hope to see you again!

Just over the Hautes-Côtes from Magny-les-Villers is the beautiful hillside village of Pernand-Vergelesses.  I wanted to visit and photograph this village before we left Burgundy.  Pernand is situated at the western side of the Hill of Corton, including a portion of Corton-Charlemagne, a famous Chardonnay Grand Cru, and Corton, a Pinot Noir Grand Cru.  In addition, Pernand includes eight Premier Cru vineyards.

Striking images of Pernand-Vergelesses are l'eglise, the church with its distinctive Burgundy-style glazed tile roof, and the statue of À Notre Dame de Bonne Espérance, Our Lady of Good Hope, at the top of the hill behind the village.

The church was originally built in the late 1100s, more than 800 years ago.  It’s hard to imagine, especially for Americans.

The monument was erected in 1855 and commands a splendid view of the village and the plains beyond to Beaune.

The inscription on the base, priez pour nous, is translated to “pray for us.”

A restaurant in Beaune that we didn’t want to miss is Ma Cuisine.  We dined there a year ago and enjoyed it so much we wanted to return.  I waited too late to request reservations (you really need to send Pierre an email about a month in advance) and couldn’t get a dinner table during our visit.  After three email exchanges, we were able to get lunch reservations for today, so we dined there on our way out of town.  Lunch is just as delicious as dinner, only with smaller portions.

It is a tiny place, less than 10 tables, but a reservation is highly prized, especially by Americans because of a glowing review in the New York Times.  A meal at Ma Cuisine is guaranteed to be a memorable experience.  Fabienne Escoffier is the chef and her husband, Pierre, usually handles the wine.  In French, the feminine form of the word “my” is “ma.”  For example, “my wife” is “ma femme” in French.  The masculine form of “my” is “mon,” as in “mon père” for “my father.”  The cooking belongs to Fabienne, hence the name of the restaurant, Ma Cuisine.  The menu is always on a chalkboard, never printed.

Empty wine bottles from well-known producers are stacked everywhere on wooden cases.  These bottles are from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, arguably the most prestigious producer in all of Burgundy, happy memories of bygone dinners at Ma Cuisine.

Anticipating dinner later, we both wanted a light lunch.  Continuing with Mary’s scallops theme, she had salade de Saint Jacques.  It was a delightful salad of herbs, salad greens, and sliced tomatoes.

I had suprème de volaille à la crème moutarde, basically chicken supreme in a mustard cream sauce, and pommes de terre, mashed potatoes.  It was divine, creamy, with a nice spicy note from the whole grain Dijon mustard.

We selected a demi-bouteille of a Saint-Véran.  You may recall from a previous post that Saint-Véran is in the Mâconnais, a source of excellent Chardonnay at a good value.  Here are my notes.

Domaine Joseph Burrier Saint-Veran Chateau de Beauregard Classique 2009.  Just as I hoped, this wine delivered clean, crisp tones of bright citrus and freshness.  The palate was smooth, creamy, medium-bodied with excellent acidity for food friendliness, especially for cutting through the creamy mustard sauce.  Lemon and stony minerality highlighted the flavor profile.  It was beautifully balanced, moderately complex, with good length.  13.0% alcohol.

Bidding goodbye and good wishes to the delightful newlywed couple seated next to us, she an American, he a Frenchman, living in Paris, we departed Beaune, well-satisfied but a little sad to leave Burgundy.

Our next destination is Alsace, specifically the village of Riquewihr, in the northeastern corner of France, just across the Rhine from Germany.  This map pinpoints where we are going.  We are interested in Alsace for the same reasons we’re interested in other regions of France … the wine, cuisine, beauty, and culture.  Let’s add history to that.  Alsace has a history that is especially fascinating. 

From the outset, let it be said that the soil is soaked in blood and the history is tragic.  It was a battlefield as recently as 1945.  As we arrived in the region, it became clear that the names of the towns and the architecture are obviously more German than French.  The largest city in Alsace is Strasbourg.  Our village of residence is Riquewihr.  Don’t forget to pronounce that “w” as a “v.”  Phonetically, it would be “Reekveer.”  Nearby towns are Kaysersberg, Kientzheim, Eguisheim, and Zellenberg.  The architectural style is the half-timbered stone and wood of the mountains and Germany.  The historical language of the region is Alsatian, a dialect similar to German.

 

The history is complex, but a look at these maps gives a clue to the conflicts that existed over the centuries.  The map above is a satellite view with Riquewihr indicated by the red teardrop arrow.  The dark green area to the west is the Vosges Mountains (pronounced vozh, with a soft “z” sound), extending roughly from Belfort, France in the south to near Mannheim, Germany in the north.  Scroll up just a little to see how far they extend northward.

Above is a closer view.  To the east of Riquewihr you see the Rhine, which is the contemporary border between France and Germany.  The area between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine is basically flat farmland.  By the way, the distance from Riquewihr to the Rhine is only 30 kilometers, about 18 miles.

Historically, the Germans thought the Vosge Mountains were a logical natural border between France and Germany, especially considering they extend north, well into Germany.  The French, dating back centuries, believe the Rhine is the logical border.  Back and forth, back and forth, Alsace has changed hands, war after war.  When Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony (and others) unified in 1871 to form what we now think of as Germany, Alsace and the neighboring region of Lorraine were included.  With the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I in 1919, Alsace returned to France.  Alsace was occupied by Germany again in 1940, ending in 1945 with the Allied liberation.  In the last 100 years, Alsace has changed hands four times!

That’s probably a sufficient introduction and context for our visit.  Aside from these very interesting historical and cultural aspects, the first thing we noticed when we arrived in Riquewihr was the heat!  In Burgundy, we wore our coats most of the time, the weather rather gray, damp, and chilly.  Not so in Riquewihr, where I would estimate the temperature was in the mid-80s. 

We met Valerie, the manager of our apartment, dragged our roller board luggage on the cobblestones with my computer slung over my shoulder to learn our apartment is a third floor walkup!  Mon Dieu!  And the sleeping area is up another flight in a loft!  Poor Mary is recovering from a back and leg injury, but she made the best of it and did pretty well. Luckily, there was a portable air conditioner upstairs and a fan downstairs.  With the windows open, we kept the apartment nice and comfortable.

We got a recommendation from Valerie on a good restaurant in Riquewihr, and I logged on to Skype to telephone for a reservation.  Dinner was at Au Tire Bouchon Winstub, which translates to The Corkscrew.  A winstub basically means “a place where wine is served.”

Still damp with perspiration, a cold and refreshing Crémant d’Alsace on the terrasse was just the thing to begin the evening.

We even had live entertainment by wandering musicians.  A little touristy, but fun.

For our first evening in Alsace, we wanted authentic local cuisine.  One of the items on the carte, printed in French, English, and German, was “sauerkraut and assorted pork for two,” another indication of the German cultural influence. 

It should have said for four or even six!  No more petite French portions from Burgundy!  Our server brought out this platter with a mountain of sauerkraut and all manner of sausages, brats, knocks, ham, bacon, and potatoes.

He had a bottle of Crémant d’Alsace, which he shook and banged on the table a few times, creating a geyser when he opened it, then pouring it over the spectacle of food.

He then proceeded to plate the dinner …

… placing one of these before each of us.  Everybody in the place was watching.  Actually, it was delicious if you like sauerkraut and pork, which we do, but we could only put a dent in the plate.

 

There was still enough sauerkraut on the platter for at least two more people.

For dessert, Mary ordered a cherry crêpe, flambéed at tableside, which created another stir among our fellow dining patrons, this time attracting cameras, and not just ours.

Here’s the propane burner, frying pan with sugar, the crêpe, sorbet, and cherries on the side.

In go the crêpe and the fruit …

… then the brandy.  You can see the flames in this photo.

And below is the finished product.  Voilà!

I asked Mary for comments and she swooned ... “Ooooh!”   Here she is.  "Where do I begin??  When he started making it, I had no idea it would turn out to be so amazing.  The sorbet was cold, the crêpe was warm, the cherries were sweet.  I should absolutely know by now to trust that whatever the French do in the kitchen, it is usually fabulous … or in this case, the outdoor patio!"

I had a slice of Munster, the specialty cheese of Alsace.  Munster is a strong-smelling “stinky” cheese, but to me it has a mild flavor, creamy and tangy.  It is served with a glass of Gewurztraminer, an Alsace varietal, often with a little residual sweetness, and considered the perfect wine pairing with Munster.

The wine with dinner was a straightforward Riesling d’Alsace in a dry style.  It was unremarkable, but had varietal integrity and was refreshing on a warm evening.  Here are my notes.

Domaine Regine Zimmer Riesling Vin d’Alsace 2010.  After a day's travel, we just wanted a low stress, not too complicated wine.  This wine was a simple vin d'Alsace.  It fit the bill for us just fine, paired well with dinner, required little thought.  It had almost no aroma profile.  The palate was smooth, crisp, clean, refreshing, had great acidity, and mostly citrus flavor, especially lime.  It was nicely balanced, simple, with medium length.  12.5% alcohol.

That’s our post for today.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep checking back at Cépage et Cuisine for more posts about our wine, food, and cultural adventures in France.  We’re eager to explore and learn all about Alsace.  Join us!  In the meantime,

Cheers,

Mary♥Brian