France: Burgundy Wine - Loire Biking - Paris Friends & Food & Culture 12Jun17-28Jun17

The Great Summary... 26 tastings of 135 bottles of wine - 11 cases of Burgundy purchased. At least 25 awesome French meals - all with friends and two with very old Parisian friends. 14 chateaus visited in 90° weather. 6 art museums devoured with 100's of great impressionist paintings and sculptures. 4 major French rivers crossed, ridden and visited. Most awesome - now the play-by-play day-by-day.

Paris's Wonders... You are tired of my posts from France so this is the last. Kala Marietta, Steven Gordon, Anne Gordon, Peggy Dolinich, Scott Brantley and I visited with our good friends the Guillons for dinner and tourism and with friend Alain Barberi for dinner & debates. We also scurried about Paris on a big day with Steve & Anne and saw Monet's Water Lillies @ Musee L'Orangerie, and "all" the impressionists @ Musee D'Orsay (including Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cervante, Whisler, Kadinski); we went to the top of Paris @ Montmontre, stopped @ the Louvre, and walked the Luxembourg gardens, the bridges of Paris & the Jewish Quarter. The weather cooperated nicely. Kala, Scott, Peggy & I continued through the Latin Quarter, the Sorbonne, Les Invalides, Shakespear & Co bookstore (where many great authors hung out), the Pantheon and toured the Musee Rodin, the home and museum of a very special sculptor (the Kiss, the Thinker, the Barghers, Victor Hugo - I didn't add the Gates of Hell as its too awesome for just 2D). See you back in Colorado!

Champagne!... The daring tasters ventured by fast train to the Champagne region. We toured several champagne wineries and vineyards including Pommery, where the style of 95% of today's champagne was invented in 1874 with no sediment, no sugar, and bubbles by a business-woman looking to make wretched champagne more appealing. The caves were literally very cool. We spoke to the owner-farmer of Lelarge-Pugeot and tasted there and at Henri Geraud as well. We learned champagne can be of several types blanc de noir (white from red pinot noir grapes), blanc de blanc (white from chardonnay grapes), 100% meunier (a black skinned frost-resistant grape affectionately called the black sheep), and most prevalent, a 1/3 blend of each of these. Surprisingly we all like the au-current all black sheep version from Taillet. We picniced at the top of champagne in Hautvillers. We visited the Reims Cathedral where French kings were coronated (also why champagne is associated with celebration) and where a gorgeous Chagal stained glass window set is found. Champagne is not just for celebration any more.

Paris!... We finished the Loire Valley ride and caught a train to Paris, and immediately snapped the requisite selfie with the Eiffel Tower backdrop. Too we visited our good friend Alain Barberi in Paris over an excellent dinner tonight. We even have a view of the Eiffel Tower from our room - heh heh.

Chateaux & Jarden Du Roi [5th, 11th, and 15th Century Stuff]... Our ride in Loire Valley has taken us to many awesome old spots, including Leonardo da Vinci's house, Chateau Villandry, Chateau Chenonceau, Chateau Chambord, Chateau de Trousay, Chateau Cheverny, Chateau Villesavin, Chateau Ambois, and others. Wow. We also continue to eat great French food and enjoy now the wine of Loire like sauv blanc and chinon. We're riding about 30 miles & 1Kft per day now and it's still way too hot. Saluting is our leader Olivier. On to Paris soon.

Loire Valley Bike Riders... We moved west to the "garden of the kings" in France yesterday and began our bike riding along the Loire River. Our six-man team of Scott Brantley, Peggy Dolinich, Anne Gordon, Steven Gordon, Kala Marietta and me was joined by Stacey and Tom. We are enjoying a guided journey for bikes, guides, food, chateau entry fees, etc. - Marine, Olivier and Alan tag teamed effectively for a fine ride and picnic on bike trails and some backcountry roads of 36 miles but only 1,200 ft elevation. It's super hot and humid this week but that's likely better than cold and rain. France is keen and we are continuing our wine quest as well with the fine grapes, wines and vintages of Loire.

Cote de Nuits and Finding Rion... We headed to Nuit-Saint-George and discovered the most fun vinter we encountered on the trip. Domaine A&B Rion - they took us in, wined and feed us truffles and shared stories. That's one of the owners. We bought it all. We also hit Domain Ouivy and found a killer Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru.

South For The Great Whites & Pommard... The mighty and inexhaustible wine tasters headed south on the Cote D'Or today to sample some of the greatest chardonnays of Burgogne, Mersault and the Montrachets (Puligny & Chassange). And to taste the "bigger" among French pinot noirs - Pommard. We toured the vineyard and winery of Olivier Laflaive and then dined with an 9 wine pairing for lunch. Good friends can disagree; Scott preferred the more mineral-tasting Mersaults while I most appreciated the more flowery Chassagne-Montrachet and Kala Marietta, Anne Gordon and Peggy Dolinich enjoyed the Puligny-Montrachet most. Scott had a big wallet for these awesome whites. Of course, Steven Gordon liked them all. I'm a Pommard fan and tasting didn't disappoint - all we had could be held for years and the 2015 will be great we sense. The pan is of the Grand Cru of Puligny-Montrachet, the top tier of quality in Burgundy (followed by Premier Cru, Village and Regional). We finished with a great gastronomie dinner in Beaune. Tomorrow we head north to the Cote de Nuits.

Tastes From The Caveau De Beaune... We "crushed it" in Beaune in the heart Burgundy on the Cote De Or (Road of Gold) today. Tasted 24 burgundies from three different "negotiants" right in Beaune... Patriarche, Joeseph Drouhin and Bouchard Pere. Drouhin was the class of it all. Of course too we enjoyed great breakfast quiches & croissants at a cafe before our AM tasting and had an excellent lunch as well. We six are pro tasters so don't try this consumption outperformance at home!