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Good Tastes, Great Sips, in Burgundy
Pernand Vergelesses, France – It’s the dream of any
wine-loving traveler to rest à table in a famed wine village,
overlooking the mythic vineyards in their peak of health, sipping
that wine.
And if that’s your dream, then the pleasant little family
restaurant, La Charlemagne in the Burgundian village of Pernand Vergelesses,
is for you. Here, the youthful Burgundian chef-owner, Laurent Peugeot,
and his Japanese wife Hiroko, have created a cheery modern oasis,
offering well-priced, clean and modern fare, with a selection of
local wines that will more than satisfy one’s cravings.
We sampled the bargain 22 € menu, that included a sparkling
fresh, delightfully creative starter of cubed herring
and cubed avocado, set in a small glass and tossed
with a brilliant red beet mousse. The colors were as alive as the
flavors, a fine play of textures, of salty and sweet. A main course “millefeuille” of
salmon was in fact very lightly smoked strips of
salmon filled with a soothing, warm creation of ultra-thinly sliced
leeks that had been cooked long and slow to a melting tenderness.
The bread was truly crusty and delicious, and the giant crock of
local Fromage fort – a fiery, spicy, devilish mixture of fresh
cheese, black pepper and white wine – made the palate tingle.
Here I discovered winemaker Philippe Delarche’s stunning 2002
white Burgundy, Pernand-Vergelesses, deliciously priced at 31 euros.
(A visit to the winemaker’s cellar later in the day found that
the 2002 had all been sold, so if you want some, you’ll have
to hunt.) The wine was textbook perfect, pure chardonnay, a brilliant
balance of fruit, acid, and alcohol, aromatic and soulfully satisfying.
Sushi lovers will be happy to know that the couple has installed
a Japanese chef in a brand new sushi bar in Beaune (Sushi-kai, 50
Faubourg Saint Nicolas, Beaune, Telephone 03 80 24 02 87.)
I wish that more winemakers would look at what Olivier Leflaive
and family have been doing for the past 10 years: In the center of
the charming village of Puligny-Montrachet they run a down-to-earth
little restaurant/tasting room – lunch only from March to the
end of November – where everyone is put into a good mood by
the outgoing and informative host and hostess, Pascal Wagner and
Marie-Chantal Dubois. You can’t not love a place where they
serve you tastes of everything from Chassagne-Montrachet to Meursault
1er Cru, on to Volnay and Pommard.
By 1 pm each afternoon the small rectangular dining room with ochre
walls, bared oak-topped tables and modern tile floors rings with
the sounds of good times. At one table a group of Australians discuss
their annual tour of French vineyards, while at another a group well-dressed
Englishmen are all seriousness, tasting with care and attention,
all the while discussing the merits and demerits of current cult
wine films Sideways and Mondovino.
English, in fact, seems to be the favored language here, and both
Pascal and Marie-Chantal can not only carefully explain – in
English – the merits of each and every wine, but also the gorgeous
selection of cheeses offered at the end of the meal. The fare may
well include soothing chicken cooked in “yesterday’s” white
wine (“No cream, no eggs, no milk”, Marie will tell you),
served with an avalanche of vegetables. The bread is outstanding
and it’s hard to keep your hands off the fresh and crusty morsels.
The Hostellerie de Levernois, in the center of a four-hectare park
lush with willows, ash trees and giant cedars, is a little slice
of paradise. The birds are so chirpy you think you might be hearing
a canned recording. The air is so still you want to hold your breath.
We arrived on a sunny evening just in time for a champagne on the
terrace, surrounded by those sturdy trees and a bevy of well-schooled
wait staff that seemed to be there Just For You.
The establishment has recently been taken over by Susanne and Jean-Louis
Bottigiero, and a new chef, Vincent Maillard, who attained Michelin
star status while chef at Alain Ducasse’s Bastide de Moustier.
In short, everything here should make it a perfect experience. I
have absolutely no complaint about the service, wine, bread, or cheese
course, all excellent, but the food, ingredient after ingredient
lacked luster, freshness, flavor, verve. I hope it was just an off
night in the kitchen, but it’s rare for a place on which so
much care and attention have been showered for the food to take a
back seat.
We sample two outstanding wines here, including Domaine Joseph Drouhin’s
2001 Beaune Clos des Mouches, 51 euros, an lush, rich Chardonnay
that is so full of minerals you want to just stop, sniff, and sip.
Equally thrilling was Domaine Hubert Lamy’s 2003 Saint Aubin,
Clos de la Chatenaire, 69 euros, also full of tasty mineral flavors
and a nose of ripened pears.
The restaurant – two bright dining rooms that are clean and
classic but could use a bit of an overhaul – is spacious and
lovely, and worth a visit if only for the wine list, bread, and the
outstanding cheese tray. You have to stop yourself to not sample
one of each cheese, and as we found all over Burgundy detailed information
is offered with each and every one. Two new cheese to sample include
young goat cheese from Nuits Saint George, one soft and creamy and
aged in a saumure, or salt bring, another aged in the fiery marc,
the clear alcohol of Burgundy.
Le Charlemagne
Route de Vergelesses
21240 Pernand Vergelesses
Telephone : 03 80 21 51 45
Web: www.lecharlemagne.fr
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 22 € weekday lunch menu.
Other menus at 34, 41, 54, and 70 euros. A la carte, 60 to 70 euros.
Olivier Leflaive Freres
Place du Monument
21190 Puligny-Montrachet
Telephone: 03 80 21 37 65
Fax: 03 80 21 33 94
Web: www.olivier-leflaive.com
Open for lunch only, Monday through Saturday, from March 1st
to November 30th. 38 € menu with 10 € supplement from
1er Cru tasting.
Hostellerie de Levernois
Route de Verdun sur le Doubs, Levernois
21200 Beaune
Telephone: 03 80 24 73 58
Fax: 03 80 22 78 00
Web: www.levernois.com
Menus at 65, 80, and 98 euros. A la carte, 85 euros.
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