Cote de Nuits Vintage

Today Brian and I headed along the motorway almost to Dijon and then down the Cote de Nuits, visiting little villages, negotiating narrow cobbled roads with tractors, buses full of pickers, semi-trailers and cars of other tourists like us, keen to see the vintage in action.

We started at Marsannay, then Couchey, Fixin, Gevrey Chambertin, Morey Saint Denis, Chambolle Musigny, Vosne Romanee and then Nuits St Georges before heading back across the hills to our village.  We stopped many times for Brian's essential photo opportunities, at a national park in the hills above Gevrey Chambertin for a picnic lunch, and at Nuits St Georges for a walk around the shopping area and coffee at an outdoor cafe.  There were large groups of pickers, vans that transport them and tractors that carry the grapes just about everywhere. 

And then this evening, Anka, Lincoln and Oscar took us out for dinner to thank us for chauffeuring them around this part of the world during the past 8 days - because their hire car is huge and not great for negotiating the narrow winding roads around the countryside and the narrow cobbled streets of the little villages - and also because we can now find our way around this area quite well.

And what a dinner it was - at a fabulous hotel/restaurant called Abbaye de la Bussiere located just over the hill from our village, about 20 minutes' drive away.  We arrived half an hour early so that we could walk around the gardens - a topiary garden, a huge parkland with enormous trees, a lake with its own island, ducks, geese and large otters in the lake, beautiful old buildings everywhere and such a serene atmosphere.  We went into the reception area just after 7pm and were invited to take pre-dinner drinks in one of the 4 drawing rooms upstairs.  We chose the smaller, more feminine room with seating for 6 or 7 (the one next door had hunting trophies, swords and knight's armour) and Lincoln ordered a bottle of Ruinart champagne - and with it we each received a small rectangular plate on which were placed 3 beautiful little canapés.


Then downstairs to the restaurant itself - a Michelin 1 star.  The service from the sommelier and our senior waiter in particular was impeccable, the other staff were all charming, and the food and wine were nothing short of sensational.  Exquisite tastes, textures and presentation, with a fabulous grand cru Chablis and a Chateauneuf de Pape.  

Then back to Anka, Lincoln and Oscar's cottage (driving very slowly due to the possibility of deer being on the road) for coffee and to say our goodbyes, because they are heading off on a cycling holiday tomorrow morning. 

We've had another fabulous day in Burgundy and it's now well after midnight and time for bed...