How It All Began

As I begin my blog journey, I thought it was only fitting that I talk about another beginning, the beginning of my wine journey.  We all have moments that are permanently etched in our memories and the moment I got into wine is one of those for me.

I visited Europe for the first time after my freshman year of high school and discovered two loves on that trip – wine and Paris.  I fell in love with Paris almost the second I stepped off the plane.  I remember being woefully sleep deprived but still marveling at the beauty of the city.  Tree-lined streets, parks, gorgeous limestone buildings, the Eiffel Tower, it simply took my breath away.  And the food, oh the food.  There is nothing as good as a pain au chocolat in Paris.  But I digress … though my wine ‘epiphany’ did also involve food.

My dad decided to splurge on a special dinner at La Tour d’Argent.  It currently has one Michelin star but had two at the time, and it lived up to the hype.  We arrived for dinner and were seated at a window table with a view of Notre Dame.  We were presented with menus and a voluminous wine list.  My dad began the task of sorting through the wine list to find a bottle, and to this day I am not entirely sure how he found the bottle he did, nor is he.  Perhaps the sommelier helped a bit, though it may have simply been luck.  My dad ordered a 15-year-old bottle of Meursault.  (Meursault is a sub-region of Burgundy that is famed for its chardonnay, not that I knew this at the time, of course.)

The bottle soon arrived at the table perfectly chilled with a big fanfare of presentation.  Here’s the label, here’s the cork, please take a sip of the wine and confirm it meets your expectations, let us pour a glass for everyone.  Then, finally, the presentation is over, and I can take my first sip.  This is before I knew about swirling and smelling the wine, appreciating the color, etc.  All I did was bring the glass to my lips and take a small sip.  And wow.  Even now, 20 years later, I can still feel the weight of it and can sense how balanced it was with the acidity perfectly offsetting the fullness.  I can still taste the mix of light buttery notes and subtle floral notes that only a properly oaked chardonnay, especially a properly oaked Meursault, can impart.  I can still remember how the finish lasted and lasted, and how I was drawn to my glass to enjoy another sip and to pair it with the food on the table.  In short, I might not have known anything about wine, but I knew I was drinking something exceptional and I was hooked.

As with all first experiences, I’ve never quite been able to replicate the perfectness of this moment, but I still think about it every time I enjoy a sip of Meursault.  And I later discovered that Meursault is famous for producing chardonnays just like this one.  It is the sub-region of Burgundy most likely to have wine described as buttery.  Now if you’re imagining the artificial butter flavor they add to popcorn, that’s not it at all.  It is more of a richness and fullness of flavor that you enjoy when you have fresh creamery butter.  These butter notes come from the oak and the fermentation process.  Wines that come across as buttery have almost always undergone malolactic fermentation, meaning that the tart-tasting lactic acid in the wine has been converted into softer-tasting malic acid.  Said a less technical way, wines like this have a lovely mellowness to them that makes them enjoyable to drink and easy to pair with food.

Needless to say, when I returned home this burgeoning hobby had to go on hold for a bit since the US has a very different view about teenagers consuming wine than France does.  I still had sips of wine here or there and did manage to discover my great love of bubbles, but the overall quality of the wine I was exposed to was nothing like what I’d experienced that night in Paris.  Thus, ever since I reached the magical age of 21, I’ve been delving into the wine world, learning all I can and enjoying many amazing wines in the process. 

I hope that if you are a burgeoning wine lover – or even an experienced wine lover – that my musings will help you find wines that you love.  And I hope to I learn from you as well.  I find that the best way to discover delicious wine is simply to ask for a recommendation.

Speaking of which, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a few suggestions of wines similar to the life-changing Meursault I enjoyed in Paris:

• Robert Ampeau et Fils – Family winery in Meursault.  I sadly cannot find a good link to share but check for this on wine menus.  It is expensive (often $150+ retail) so it’s perfect for a celebration.  It’s also interesting to note that they do the aging before they release the bottle so it is ready to consume immediately upon entering the market, though certainly can be aged for longer.  As an example, I enjoyed a bottle from 1995 in 2013.
• Chateau Montelena Chardonnay – This is a great example of well-made, age-worthy California chardonnay.  It’s not a perfect dead ringer for Meursault, but it did win the 1976 Judgement of Paris where French and American wines were compared blind, so let’s just say it’s pretty good.  It’s still not in the everyday price range ($58 retail, current vintage: 2017) but it’s worth it.

All links are provided for your convenience. I make no money if you use them to purchase the wines.