Food, Wine, Photography Cycling & Gardening. Discover more about Life in Burgundy on The Hungry Cyclist Blog
Short days. long nights, deep mists and damp air. Winter in Burgundy has its downsides but one of the benefits of the arrival of this new season is the abundance of good shellfish at the local market in Beaune.
Read MoreAfter a glorious morning cycling in Burgundy, you arrive at your picnic spot and it's time for lunch. A rug is laid out on the ground, crusty bread is cut and the cork is pulled from an excellent bottle of wine. In the shade of of a tree you rest the legs, enjoy the view and refuel on healthy salads and local produce.
The best cycling picnics are made from the best seasonal ingredients and are prepared in minutes. In the late summer in Burgundy succulent figs hang on their branches and it is a crime not to enjoy them. These jammy-sweet sacks of goodness, pair perfectly with a well -aged Comte from the mountains of the Jura, that lie to the east of Burgundy.
Good Comté should have a nutty flavor, which becomes more pronounced the older it gets. Most Comtés are sold having been aged a minimum of four months, and those that fall between six and twelve months have a milkier, creamier flavour than the older, slightly dried cheeses. For this salad I like to use a cheese that has been aged for at least eighteen months. It breaks up easily and the nutty 'twang' of the cheese pairs with the super-sweet flavour of the figs and the salt of the ham.
serves 4
1. Add the salad leaves to a shallow bowl. Add a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a cap full of vinegar and turn through with your hands,
2. Cut the figs into quarters and place on top of the salad.
3. Loosely tear up the ham in your fingers and add to the salad, making sure to discard any chewy pieces of rind.
4. With a sharp knife whittle away at the cheese so that thin slices fall over the salad.
Nothing betters eating outdoors in the summer months in Burgundy and wether we are enjoying a gourmet cycling picnic or a bbq in the garden, we eat outside as often as we can.
Read MoreAnother cycling tour here in Burgundy and this week I am lucky enough to have a couple of vegans cycling and tasting wine with me. On first inspection the Burgundian regime might not be the first choice for our animal-loving friends but one thing Burgundians do get right is growing first-class produce.
Read MoreWhen the mercury rises and the sweat pours, it’s those little things that make all the difference. A glass of chilled water by the bedside, a cool towel across your forehead, ice and a slice in your water bottles… but why stop there.
Read MoreThose red currants that make it back to the kitchen are perfect for a quick cycling picnic. Their sharp tang pairs perfectly with the creamy mascarpone and sweet meringue.
Read MoreAbove lush tendrils and leaves, swallows swoop and dart picking-off the insects that hover and glisten in a balmy evening light. The air smells sweet and the rhythmic hum of a tractor dilutes the calm, methodically climbing and descending the luminous rows of vines that carpet the landscape.
Read MoreA rigid wind tugs and pulls at tree-tops. In the low sky, herds of dense cloud push East across the horizon. There is a promise of rain in the air and as the church bells ring out the hour, vingerons in their tired white vans hurry from their lunch tables, along dirt roads back into their vines.
Read MoreA meticulous task that can only be done by hand, this selective process involves the inspection of each and every vine in order to determine which young buds will go on to produce the years vintage and which will be cut away to enable the vine to focus all its efforts into its remaining branches.
Read MoreThe villages of the Cote d’Or are eerily quiet in late April. Cats sleep in sharp late morning shadows; tree blossoms scatter and mix with dust disturbed by gusts of wind channeled through narrow streets. Lazy silences are broken only by the wispy clapping from the wings of the doves moving from the safety of a medieval belfry to a new roost.
Read MoreThe nights are fresh, the days are hot. Bird song and the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker mingle with the distant hum of a lawnmower and juvenile butterflies navigate between the years first wild-flowers. Spring has arrived in Burgundy.
Read MoreA cool glass of aligote to quench my thirst at the end of a days ride and perhaps a warm gougeres to nibble on. Made from ingredients that are almost always at home, these warm cheesy puffs make a perfect snack for any Apéritifs.
Read MoreTorrential rain is driven by a stiff wind. Falling on the steep hillside it forms streams that run energetically between rocks and vines. Beneath dense clouds, that roll in from the west, the village of Meursault wakes up to another cold and wet February morning.
Read MoreIn January the previous season vine growth is cut away from the vines and burned in make shift braziers. In freezing temperatures and wet conditions this work goes on late into the month filling the air with a sweet scent.
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Hunting is a big deal here in Burgundy and every weekend in the the cold months of winter men in high vis jackets march around the country side blowing horns and tracking the powerful packs of 'sanglier' that inhabit the dense forests of the region. A fiercely territorial beast the wild boar of burgundy are all muscle. Combined with razor sharp tusks and a furious appetite they devastate the local crops, gardens and vines and are very much considered a pest.
Read MoreTaking a break from renovating The Hungry cyclist Lodge and planning tailor-made cycling holidays in Burgundy I decided to slip into my wellington boots and pick grapes for a few days in the prestigious village of Gevry-Chambertin. Last year the pickers and porters were bathed in late summer sunshine that ripened the fruit. In 2012 an autumn chill filled the air while heavy rains mixed with the regions famous 'terroir' to create thick mud. Waking in the dark, getting back into damp clothes and trudging in heavy mud is not a huge amount of fun, but like it or not, these weather conditions are vital in creating another unique harvest for Burgundy wine in 2012.
Here is a gallery of images that I hope give some insight into the human element that goes into each years vintage. Click on the thumbnails to scroll through the gallery.
'Terroir' on a bicycle: experience the sun that ripens the grapes, climb the slopes that provide drainage for the vines and that afternoon's rain-shower which arrives unannounced may make or break a year’s vintage. A two-wheeled trip around the vineyards of Bordeaux introduces the 'terroir' better than any other mode of transport.
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