Wine Country

I have just spent 2 glorious days in the Burgundy Wine region of France. What an amazing area! I based myself in Dijon (yes, of Dijon mustard fame) and then toured from there.

Upon arriving in Dijon, I was very thirsty (ie: ready to drink lots and lots of wine)... but wasn't sure quite how/where to go tasting. So, I signed up for a free 2 hour tour of the tastes/flavours of Dijon thinking they MUST be talking about wine. Nope - mustard and gingerbread tasting (the specialities of Dijon) - no joke! It was actually pretty cool though. I liked the hot mustards and the bread was also very nice, but pricey. I then took to wandering the cobbled streets and windowshopped at some vert glamourous places. I finally sampled some delicious burgendy red at sidewalk cafe with a glorious salad! The salad tasted terrific after so much bread! (don't worry Lindsay I'm getting my veggies!).

The next day may have been my best so far!

*** Okay - all you winos out there... you may need a glass of wine to accompany the reading of this section***

I started by hitting the open market and stocking up on supplies to make a killer bagette sandwich - AWESOME! I then made my way to Beaune (pronounced bone) which is about 20min away. Beaune is right in the midst of the best growing region. I started with a tour of one of the largest cellars which stretched for 5km underground - pretty unbelievable. I then reached the tasting area which consisted of 4 whites, 10 reds, 2 sparkling wines and then a taste of Cassis liqour. Did I mention the tasting was self serve... :) Don't worry, I was very well behaved. I had the little note book that they provided and wrote notes like "a sharp wine with a clean finish" and "full, bold taste". Most of it was bs - but fun to try; Everyones else was French so no one could read my notes anyways! The reds were much nicer than the ones that usually fall into my price range and the whites were lovely. The Cassis (blackcurrant) was so delicious! A certain set of parents may have some heading their way if I don't break it in the next 2 weeks. PS - Did you know that Pinot Noir is actually a white grape with red skin?? Now you know!

After all that wine, I thought a bike ride was in order! I rented my velo and spent the next 2 hours leisurly cruising the vinyards and stopping randomly for tastings. I would recommed this type of holiday to anyone. It was completely idyllic - the vineyards to my left and fields of sunflowers on my right. The whole day was relatively cheap too .... (you just have to watch how much wine you BUY at the end of the day!) I was pretty spent after that, so it was back to Dijon for a good night sleep. If I had more time, I would definitly head to the Champagne region next. Anyways, I've just arrived in Belgium so I'm sure there will be much to report shortly! Take care!