Tour de Laura: 60th Tastevinage

So why am I in France? Well, because a fraternity of men here in Burgundy (known as the Confrérie des Chevaliers) are proud of their region and it's wine, and wanted to support students like me to come and experience the wine practices and the life in Burgundy.

And so I am, and have continued to do so every day since I landed in Paris on July 11th.

While I have seen much of France and Burgundy during my vacationing, not until last Friday, September 3rd, did I get a glimpse and taste of what this fraternity is so proud of.

Friday, 3 September 2010, marked the 60th Tastevinage for the Confrérie des Chevaliers at the Chateau Clos de Vougeot. Dressed in suits and ties, the men paraded into the castle with their red tastevins hung around their necks. With a little unease, Caroline and I tried to follow suit, but did as good a job as two zebras could do in a hurd of giraffes. Like sore thumbs, we stuck out as the only women under 25, in a crowd of 100 men and maybe 10 other females. But once the tasting began and our introductions were announced, we settled into our seats with ease and picked up our glasses with confidence.

The 18 wines that I tasted through with my table were non-appellation specific and were marked as either "Bourgogne" or "Bourgogne -Pinot noir", and a few roses from regions unbenounst to me. The red wines, I later found out, were unique for my table, as all of the other 15 tables were tasting wines from different, specific appellations in Burgundy. All wines were presented anonymously in sock sleeves so that the Domaines were unknown and no biases could be made, and were tasted in groups of three.

As judges, we were asked to rate the wines from 0-20, 0 being terrible and 20 being the best wine you have ever had. If the wine was rated as 13 or higher it was then considered to have the Confrerie des Chevaliers stamp of approval, which is a sign of quality and distinction for all wine consumers. Along with this rating we took notes of the good and bad qualities of each of the wines, and discussed amoung the table our preferences among the wines.

Following the tasting we were served an extravagant 4 course meal in another grand room in the castle. As an interesting contrast to the tasting where I was seated with all very Burgundian, French-speaking men, at lunch my table consisted of the only English speaking people present at the Tastevinage. Which all in all, may have been for the best, as I was able to meet a nice lady who lives in South Africa and happens to know about the winery I will be working for come January! Small world..

As a general appreciation for food, I thought I would share with you what I ate during the lunch. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the main course as I develed into it very fast ;)