Burgundy, by our Swedish Sommelier selling wines in the West: Fanny Wennerstrom

Fanny at the famous ‘L’enfant Jesus’ vineyard

A blog by Fanny Wennerstrom.

Our saleswoman in the West.

For me, wine is my life but I have had little opportunity to actually do a proper professional wine trip to different regions with other knowledgeable wine lovers. When we were asked to go down to Burgundy, Chablis and Champagne to visit our suppliers, my heart did a flip!

We all started off very early to be able to use the days to their maximum I guess and it was a great idea. We landed Wednesday morning in Paris and met up with a driver that was going to drive us around to our meetings. Some of us was a bit tired after an early start but I couldn’t get a second of sleep as I was so excited. Some of us are native French and some just have a natural way for the French language so we were always in such good hands. It was also good for our suppliers to be able to lean a bit on translation help.

First stop was Henriot in Reims and the beautiful Beatrice met us in the door and welcomed us all in to start off with something to eat in their tasting room, she also served a magnum of their 2005 and their rose Champagne. We all got a bit giggly and the atmosphere was on top with some company from 2 wonderful girls from Henriot export department. After the lunch, Beatrice gave us a great introduction to Champagne and Henriot and the great wine maker Laurent and his philosophy. We were all captivated by Beatrices enthusiasm and passion but foremost her knowledge. Jerome took the opportunity to ask questions for all of us which was great to get clarity and more depth. Photo session had to be done outside and as you can see, there was lots of laughs in between the champagne sips!

Later that evening we spend with Beatrice in Epernay and got served the most amazing dinner paired with Henriot wines. We started off with an aperitif and a glass of their very superb Henriot Cuve 38 which was a blend from the vintage of 1990 and all great vintages from there in one champagne.

The evening ended with a huge smile on all our faces as we headed back to Reims with our driver, good to have one when some of us need the time to have a nap!

Early start the next day for a trip to Chablis and William Fevre. The most beautiful little town that could make anybody think they are in a movie. Great tasting hosted by Nicholas and now we took our turns to ask the questions to let Jerome enjoy his tasting aswell. Nicholas gave us such a good background of soils and plots but the material we got was so valuable, we got a small USB stick among other things and it is a great information source as we all are on our computer a lot. Such a great idea! After a tour we jumped back on the bus to go to the absolutely gorgeous town of Beaune.

Pupitres under Champagne Henriot

Nigel suggested a small tour around town and I am happy I have long legs so I could keep up with his enthusiastic legs. We bought some cheese and went for a, believe it or not, BEER! It is like that little piece of bread in between a big tasting, you just need it.

The dinner that evening was hosted by Samantha from Bouchard pere et fils in a fairly new built house next to Beaune castle, we sat in a orangerie and had another superb dinner. Samantha inspired us all with her oenology studies and her background, from Mexico but now working with sales in south Europe for Bouchard. Samantha was so niced to also show us her favourite wine bar and we tried our way thru their amazing list and got some team bonding. Richard had by now been giving me a six pack abs by cracking great stories and jokes that you could pay to listen to. Great night but focused as we were, we headed to the hotel to start a new day with Charles and Bouchard tour.

Charles and Isabelle first took us to the winery which left us all feel like kids on Christmas day and then when we thought it peaked, we were taken to their Grand cru site L’enfant Jesus (Baby Jesus). We were all taken selfies (top photo) and just tried to take it all in while Charles gave us more information and history. I picked a cheeky grape and have to say, it was a sneak peak to Eden!

Tasting and lunch followed after THE tour of Beaune Castle and the wine cellar which left us gasping for air. One wine that stood out was a wine kept there since 1836, now that is a trip back in time just standing 1 meter away from the bottle. For me that is wine, a trip around the world without leaving your chair!

Thankful and tired happy campers, we headed to the airport to take us back to Dublin! For me this was a trip I will never forget and I am so thankful to work with such great people like the Tindal team, knowledge on high level and experience hard to find anywhere else!

Some notes made by Fanny Wennerstrom, sales in the west!

**Thank you to Fanny for such a great piece on the Tindal Team’s trip away.