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French #Winophiles Admire Bourgogne
January is Burgundy month for our French #Winophiles group. Just back from our first trip to the region, we celebrate by featuring our new favorite mustard and by enjoying two wines purchased from the cellars in Burgundy. (click on a photo for slideshow, escape to exit)

Tasting with Thibault Morey in the barrel room at Morey Coffinet

Raymond Boillot opening his wine for me to taste.

Who knew a rainy day tour of a mustard factory would create a new mustard fan?

Visit and You’ll Never Be the Same
Once you visit a place and meet the people who live there, you’ll never be the same. After cellar visits with winemakers, I think of visiting with them every time I open a bottle of their wine. My wife, Julie, comes from a ketchup family (I know!), and never was a mustard fan in the past.  After our rainy day tour of the Fallot Moutarderie in Beaune, Julie is a Fallot Mustard convert. Unbelievable!

Mustard chicken with a couple of beautiful burgundies

Mustard Chicken with Cornichon Cream Sauce
Way back in 1995, Sarah Leah Chase wrote a fun little cookbook based on her travels in Burgundy as a cycling guide.  The recipes are woven in with stories of her favorite people and places.  No surprise, she’s a big fan of Fallot mustard.  Her recipe uses rabbit, which is a bit of a challenge to find in Minneapolis, so I went with chicken this time.  The mustard and cornichon flavors are wrapped into the lush cream sauce, so good!  I’ll be making this again.

Edmond Fallot Mustard brought home from Beaune, luckily we can buy more in Minnesota.

Edmond Fallot Moutarde de Bourgogne (8 € at the Fallot Moutarderie in Beaune)
Fallot Moutarde is the last remaining family run mustard manufacturer in the world. Their mustards are made in the traditional way, with the seeds ground slowly at very low temperature to retain the most piquant mustard flavors.  If you can find their Moutarde de Bourgogne IGP, give it a try. A little history lesson in itself, mustard seeds from Burgundy are combined with vin gris (similar to vinegar) from white Burgundy wine for a truly local product.  This was the original recipe for “Dijon” style mustard.  Today, most producers use mustard seed from international sources and normal vinegar.

Burgundy Wines – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
For Burgundy newcomers, white Burgundies are made from 100% Chardonnay although you’ll almost never see the word “Chardonnay” anywhere on the label. Red Burgundies are made from 100% Pinot Noir, again, no mention of the grape on the label.

Burgundy Wine Classification

All Burgundy wines are rated by the quality of the vineyards.  At the base level they will be labeled simply “Bourgogne”. The next level up is village wine, which will carry the name of the village, such as “Puligny Montrachet”.  Next come Premier Cru wines, from officially classified Premier Cru vineyards. You’ll see “Premier Cru or 1er Cru on the label along with the village and perhaps the vineyard name. Finally, the peak of Burgundy is “Grand Cru”, a mere 2% of all wines. These wines are so exclusive, they only carry the vineyard name, like “Batard Montrachet” and no longer list a village. As you go up the ladder, price goes up very fast.  Bourgogne wines are often available for less than $20 in the US. Village wines often range $30-75. Premier Cru wines often go over $100, and for Grand Cru, the sky’s the limit. Yes, even $1500 per bottle for a coveted Grand Cru wine.

Domaine Morey-Coffinet Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru 2012

Domaine Morey Coffinet Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru 2012 ( 34 euros at the winery, also available in Minneapolis, $79 at South Lyndale Liquors)
Now that you know the code, you can see this is a Premier Cru White Burgundy from the En Cailleret vineyard in the town of Chassagne Montrachet (and it’s made of 100% Chardonnay)
Eye: Clear, medium intensity, very pretty pure gold color.
Nose: Fresh nose dominated by white flowers, a bit of stoniness. A creamy richness on the nose with no obvious oaky notes. Will develop more over time, seems quite youthful.
Mouth: Dry with a rich, creamy mouthfeel. Medium acidity, not tart or obvious, but mouthwatering. Beautiful balance with a nice, long finish.

Domaine Albert Boillot Volnay “Les Petits Poisot” 2013

Domaine Albert Boillot Volnay 2013 (20 euros at the winery)
This is a village level red Burgundy from the town of Volnay, and this wine happens to be from a single vineyard: Les Petits Poisots. 100% Pinot Noir.
Eye: Clear, pretty ruby color of pale intensity. The purity of the color is just beautiful.
Nose: Clean nose with medium + intensity, more than usual for Burgundy. Ripe cherries, flowers:  violets, and a bit of clean, damp earth. Youthful still but developing very nicely.
Mouth: Dry with good acidity and medium+ tannins. Ripe cherries carry on in the flavor. Lean but not shy with good power. A lovely wine and quite forward for my usual expectations for a red Burgundy.

The cream sauce paired beautifully with the Morey Coffinet Chassagne Montrachet

Wine Pairing with Mustard Chicken with Cornichon Cream Sauce
I knew from the outset this dish would be perfect with a white Burgundy. The tip? Cream sauce.   The Chassagne Montrachet had a creamy texture, perfect with the rich sauce.  The wine had the acidity to cleanse the palate from the cream sauce, with enough body to match the richness.

Even so, the Volnay was nice, it just didn’t sing with the food the same way the Chassagne Montrachet did. Interesting, the Volnay seemed less tannic and even more fruity with the mustard chicken with cream sauce, but the tannins showed more when tasted on its own.

See What Burgundy Wonders the #Winophiles are Sharing

Lyn from BinNotes shares “Meet The Formidable Mdm. Anne Parent of D. Parent’ from Pommard”

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Vol au Vent served with a 2014 Chablis”

Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva shares “Classic Burgundy”

Jill from l’Occasion shares “Risotto with Forest Mushrooms & Shallots, a Meatless Match for Aegerter Les Enfants Terribles”

David from Cooking Chat shares “Pouilly-Fuissé with Goat Cheese Pasta and Chicken”

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Cod Grenobloise + a Louis Jadot Chardonnay”

Michelle from Rockin Red Blog shares “Burgundy: A Taste of Terroir”

Martin from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog shares “A Taste of Burgundy”

Jeff from Food Wine Click! shares “A Virtual Visit with Burgundy Friends”

Mustard Chicken with Cornichon Cream Sauce

Pedaling through Burgundy by Sarah Leah Chase. I enjoyed this book so much I bought a copy (this one was from the library)

Photo lighting hint: the wine is NOT blue or green. That’s a reflection of the cold blue Minnesota sky.

Pure gold in the decanter

What a beautiful color in the glass

Fun to remember our brief visit to Burgundy