A Three Star Lunch, Plus Some Wine...

Friday, September 25 -- We had long ago made a reservation for lunch at one of the signature restaurants in the region, Maison Lameloise.

Years ago Marcia's brother declared this to be his favorite French restaurant, one he and Margot discovered  during their travels in this region.  The small restaurant is located in a 16-room Relais et Chateau hotel.

Founded in 1921 just a few steps from the train station in Chagny, Maison Lameloise retains its three Michelin stars.  It is the only restaurant at that level in Burgundy.  Chef Éric Pras creates subtle dishes and classic staples based on foods from the local Côte-d'Or region.

Lunch was pretty fantastic.  I was not permitted to take photographs throughout lunch, so there are few pictures except those snapped surreptitiously on smart phones.




I should probably let Marcia's own Trip Advisor review of the restaurant and our luncheon there speak for it all.

The 3-course luncheon menu was excellent, and the experience was punctuated by vast array of delightful extras: six appetizers, an amuse bouche, a pre-dessert, and five different mini-cookies. with coffee.

Each course was presented with a perfectly clear and well enunciated description, which could be enlarged upon if you asked a question. 

Between lunch in Chagny and Pommard lies the village of Chassagne-Montrachet and the eponymous Chateaux Chassagne-Montrachet. Now, Rick Steve's France guidebook gives this high marks for the "elegant mansion" and the "informative tour" through the gorgeous cellars that date from the 11th century.  Well, as they say, "your mileage may vary."

There were no tours of the mansion or the cellars because the fermentation was already underway.  (You might wonder why the grapes -- fermenting nearby in stainless steel vats with no visible intervention by the staff -- prevents a tour?)

Well, we were there and thought we might as well try the wines.  that too was a less than stellar experience.  They put us in the hands of a young intern who managed our tasting experience.  I don't think he had done many however. He had trouble finding the glasses and his pours were very small, There was no water offered to rinse a glass between wines.

The good news was that he was reasonably knowledgeable about the wines and the  growing and harvesting aspects of the process.  He answered Dick's incisive "agricultural attache" questions pretty well.

And the wine itself was pretty good.  I would have to agree with Rick Steve that Michel Picard makes some pretty good product.  We even bought some to take home, in addition to paying for the tasting experience.

Fresh off that experience, we thought we would try again in Pommard.  We had seen the tasting room in the village belonging to Domaine Patrick Clemencet but it was closed before. Seeing it open, we thought we'd give it a try. 

Delphine at her best

There we were warmly welcomed by Delphine, whose enthusiasm and expertise made up for her somewhat limited English.  When you're talking wine, language is not too much of a problem.

Now, this was more of a wine store than a dégustation opportunity, at least when we were there.  We asked her to recommend a wine we could drink now, rather than one to lay down and save for future years.

This was where I began to appreciate that Pommard, and perhaps many of these small villages in Burgundy, produce very small quantities of highly valued wines.  They will never reach the U.S. marketplace, and in many cases are bought up by connoisseurs long before the wine distributors can get them either. Also, bad weather diminished the harvest in the years 2011-13.

In part, this reflects the fact that these vineyards have produced top rated wine for generations. Each time a distinguished vigneron passes away, the vineyard get smaller and smaller because it is divided among the heirs. 
Detailed maps show where the premier cru and reserve wines come from.

Pommard from the vineyards

We also learned that a clos is the term for a small walled section of a vineyard.