Burgundy Boot Camp
If you really — really! — want to learn all there is to know about Burgundy, consider Burgundy Bootcamp, which holds symposia in this wine-growing region of France — near Bouilland, to be precise. These are arranged by Becky Wasserman, an exporter of French wines, and her husband, Russell Hone.
You’ll be staying next door to “the farm” at the Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin. “Family-style” dinners served at the farm most nights are prepared by Hone, a Scot whose mastery of French country cooking is legendary. The final dinner often is at L’Ecusson, a must-stop for foodies visiting Beaune since 1984.
First up is “Clive Coates’ Burgundy A to Z”, set for June 21-26, 2009. This is the broadest of the symposia, covering both reds and whites and both the Cote de Beaune and the Cote de Nuits. There’ll be a second session in August, but the dates have not been set. Coates, a wine authority, has been awarded him the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole by the French government.
For the more expert among us, think about five days with Allen Meadows in a “collectors’ master-class” on wines of the Vosne-Romanée. This symposium takes place July 5-10, 2009. Estates to be visited include DRC, Méo-Camuzet, Cathiard, Liger-Belair, Grivot, Dr. Georges Mugneret, G. Mugneret and Anne Gros. A former finance executive, since 2001 Meadows has been publishing a quarterly newsletter, Burghound, devoted to the reds and whites of Burgundy.
