Beaune the Beautiful.

   

 

  

We headed out early to begin our excursion to Beaune. Upon our arrival, we were all amazed at how beautiful the city was. Beaune is known as the wine capital of Burgundy. The city is enclosed in circular walls. Beaune’s main exports are wool and wine. We entered the Bouchard Père et Fils, a major négotiant in Burgundy. The wine shop located at the entrance was filled with outlines of famous historical wine figures including Pasteur. Our tour guide took us down the cellars of the Château de Beaune, historically built as a fortress with fortified towers. Every corner was filled with old wine bottles. Each wine was categorized and labeled with an identification code. According to our guide, the cellar stores more than 2,000 different kinds of Burgundy wines and over 20,000 different wines in total. Their oldest wine dates back to 1846, a white wine called Meursault Charmes. After the tour of the cellar, we were taken to the towers that overlooked Beaune. Four of the original five towers still exist and are surrounded with beautiful flora. The tour concluded with a wine tasting of three reds and three whites. Each wine was so different from the previous. Our guide presented a red wine. After an hour of waiting and exposure to oxygen, the wine became completely changed! It had such a rich, oakiness to it. It was amazing to see how fast the wine had transformed. It was such a privilege to have such a professional wine tasting at an esteemed estate.

   

After wandering through Beaune and having a quick lunch, we boarded the bus to our next destination: the Palais des Ducs or the wine museum. It was rather small, but had a lot of great information! The open rooms outside displayed large grape presses made of wood. We entered the museum where we were given our secret assignment! The professors divided wine making into four parts. In pairs, we quickly became mini-experts on our subjects to teach our fellow classmates about wine making. Jamie and I taught aging and bottling. It was really incredible to see how the barrels were made! It took the entire day to make one barrel that had to be soaked, carefully fitted, and shaped from a straight plant into a curved, bolted barrel. The open ended barrels would be placed on top of a fire to create the smoky flavor associated with barrel-aged wine as well as to push the bottom of the barrel to come together with the help of constraining ropes. We also mentioned how the dimple on the base of some wine bottles was used to reduce settling on the bottom and instead encourage settling on the sides. Different regional wines also have varying shoulders. The Bordeaux for example has a much lower shoulder than the Burgundy wine.

  

Before returning back to Cluny, we headed to the Hospices de Beaune. The rooftops were patterned squares of slate, brown, and yellow. What is so remarkable about this hospital is that it is entirely funded by the wine auction that takes place every fall. It’s a wonderful symbol of community, religion, and wine! The beds were covered in red curtains on both sides of the room that led to a large stain glass window of Christ’s death. We continued to the medicine room or pharmacy that contained old bottles of different colors. It’s amazing to see the kind of medicine used during the Middle Ages. The one I read translated to “Lavender Vinegar,” showing how doctors relied on the medicinal properties of herbs and spices. We also saw old pill molds, scales, and syringes.