The next morning we met up with Jane at Domaine du Comte Armand. Jane is an Australian who makes wine in both hemispheres, and it was great spending some time with her tasting a few wines and chatting about viticulture, Burgundy and the differences between Europe and the Southern Hemisphere.
From there we headed to Tonnellerie Tremeaux to meet up with Ludovic Tremeaux. Ludo had also helped arrange several of our visits in Burgundy and works closely with a number of South African producers, so it was great to finally meet him.
One thing that struck me during the visit was that, despite spending nearly twenty years in the wine industry, I had never actually been inside a cooperage. It’s not something I had ever really prioritised, but after spending a few hours at Tremeaux I realised what I had been missing.
Watching barrels being made gave me a completely new appreciation for the craftsmanship involved. From the way the oak is seasoned, to bending the staves over the fire and carefully controlling the toast, every step is carried out with incredible precision. It was one of the most interesting visits of the trip.
Thanks, Ludo. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
By then it was lunchtime, so we headed into Pommard. The heat was relentless. We all joked that the sun had stood still because it just never seemed to cool down. It was a reminder that Burgundy is no longer the cool-climate region many people still imagine.
After lunch we took a walk through Clos des Épeneaux before making our way to Meursault for our afternoon visit at Maison Vincent Girardin, where we were welcomed by Sales Manager, Marco Cashera.
What a character!
From the moment we arrived he had us laughing. Marco has an incredible sense of humour and a way of making everyone feel at ease. The tour was filled with stories, jokes and plenty of laughs, but behind the comedy was someone with a deep knowledge of the wines and the vineyards. It was clear he loves what he does, and that enthusiasm rubbed off on all of us.
We started tasting through the wines with Marco before Eric Germain, Vincent Girardin’s Technical Director, joined us about halfway through the tasting. Together they really went the extra mile to make our visit special.
One thing that stood out was the interactive map they used during the tasting. As each wine was poured, they showed us exactly where the parcel was situated, explaining the soils, exposure and surrounding vineyards. It transformed the tasting from simply evaluating wines into understanding the place each wine came from. Seeing the parcels while tasting made it much easier to connect what was in the glass with the vineyard it originated from.
It was a brilliant way to present the wines and one of the most educational tastings of the trip.
A huge thank you to Marco and Eric for the time they spent with us and for making the afternoon both informative and thoroughly entertaining.
At around 18:00 we packed the cars and left Meursault, heading north towards Troyes – a 220km trip… It marked the end of our short but unforgettable stay in Burgundy and the beginning of the next leg of our journey—Champagne.
We would spend the next two nights in Troyes, a beautiful city with the most interesting buildings. The leaning buildings of Troyes I would say..
There we met Dimitri Skoutelas, another one of Etienne’s classmates from Montpellier. Dimitri had very kindly organised several of our visits in the Côte des Bar, and it was great to finally meet the person who had helped put together so much of our Champagne itinerary.
After dropping our bags at the apartment, we met up with Dimitri, had dinner together and drank some interesting wines. We had an early start the following morning. It was a long day.
