A Return to Burgundy
By Mary Margaret McCamic MW | General Manager, Karolus Wine Imports
For the past few months, I’ve been reminiscing about my return trips to Burgundy. Like almost everyone, I was not able to travel abroad from the United States until the summer of 2021, and the moment France began allowing business and pleasure travel, I got on a plane to visit my beloved Burgundy. I found myself there in both June and October of 2021, awestruck as always with the beauty of the region and simultaneously affected tremendously emotionally at how much it meant to be there. Breathing in the air, seeing the vines, realizing that the land itself knew nothing of a pandemic - it simply kept on living, and has for so many centuries - it was like seeing an old friend after a decade apart. You can read my first stab at capturing this in the 2021 Letters to Burgundy, a piece I write for Karolus members each year with their vintage shipments.
The trip included a tasting of some phenomenal vintages, including the 1999, 2009, and 2019 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne in the vineyard at sunset. Emmanuel Hautus, Bonneau du Martray’s winemaker, and I discussed the 2020 and 2021 vintages at length, including their triumphs and challenges in terms of weather and yield (more to come on this!) I walked the vineyards with Fabien Esthos, vineyard manager, and learned even more about the incredible work put in at the estate relating to biodynamics and soil health. I also got to enjoy a home-cooked supper at fellow Master of Wine Jasper Morris’ house (he was so excited about the release of the 2nd edition of his book Inside Burgundy) where we drank the 2018 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne along with a 2011 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Genevrieres - both beautiful expressions of white Burgundy. My friend Charles Curtis MW was also traveling through Burgundy tasting through for his writings for Decanter Magazine, and I loved hearing him share the excitement surround his latest book on Champagne vintages over several bottles of Roulot and Coche-Dury. Sufficed to say — it was an incredible trip with so many memorable bottles and experiences.
It proved to me something that I already knew: great wine has a way of bringing us all back together. No matter how long it’s been or how far away we might be from each other, a bottle of Burgundy can almost transcend time.
I returned home to the holidays refreshed, and head into 2022 with hope and excitement. There is an element of peace that keeps worry at bay knowing that the land, the vines, the people, and the faces of Burgundy that mean so much to me will be there when I travel again this year. Until then, I’ll pop open my favorite bottles of Burgundy, thumb through my photos, and daydream about another return to Burgundy. Cheers!
Photos from left to right:
Gorgeous selection of wines enjoyed with friends; yours truly in Chablis Grand Cru; the grumpy white cat of Pernand-VergelessesEmmanuel Hautus, winemaker at Bonneau du Martray; the view from atop the Hill of Corton fall 2021.