Beaune, France

Beaune is a small town in the Burgundy region of France.  It's so small, that even French people don't have a clue about it or maybe it was our pronunciation.  Nonetheless, it is a very quaint and prosperous little wine capital.  It is known for making, tasting, selling and drinking wine.  For me (Joyce), it was a little taste of wine heaven.  On our first night, we bumped into two young, proper British guys who were driving around France on holiday.  We ate dinner and had some great Beaune wine.  I (Joyce) tried escargot for the very first time and it was DELICIOUS!  The snail is presented in the shell, where you're given a tong to hold it and a fork to get the snail out.  I recommend everyone to try it once.  FYI: the seasoning of the dish matters a lot.  Joh did taste one and thought it was okay. 

The next day we were off to do tastings in the wine cellars of Beaune.  We were excited to taste different authentic French wines.  Our first wine tasting of the day was at Couvent des Cordeliers, which is dubbed one of the oldest cellars in Beaune.  Our wine connoisseur, Gerard, was extremely knowledgeable and patient as he explained to us the two grapes /four wine classifications about french wines.  Burgundy grows pinot noir grapes for red wines and chardonnay grapes for white wines.  The four wine classifications listed are from lowest to highest grade of classification: Regional Appellation, Villages Appellation, Premiers Crus, and Grands Crus.  Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 2004 was the last out of the five wines we tasted.  This red wine was one where you breathe in the intense aroma as you slowly drink and savor the smooth, robust and elegant flavors.

The second wine cellar we went to was Marche aux Vins, which was a self guided tasting of 15 different wines (white/red).  You're given a Tasse de degustation (a wine tasting cup...google a picture of it), which you fill up yourself (you're only suppose to pour one tasting per person but you can get away with more than one if you're really feeling the wine).  So you can imagine that one can get pretty "happy" after 15 tastings.  The other plus about this cellar is that half of it is held underground in an actual cellar and the remaining 6 wines are upstairs in a chapel.  It was so much fun and we met a fun older American couple from San Francisco and two Dutch guys.  We became friends with the Dutch guys and they invited us a nice bbq dinner at their camp site. It was a great day.