On Friday, we left Cluny to go to the Côte d’Or, which is in
Northern Burgundy. We first visited the Fromagerie Gaugry, to visit their
facility and have a cheese tasting. This factory is family run, and makes raw
milk cheeses such as Epoisses. This cheese is so special because it is washed in a brine that contains Marc de Bourgogne, which is brandy.
The workers washing the cheeses in brine
The worker up close showing us how they wash the cheese in the brine. Unlike America, the workers do not have to wear gloves when they do this, so they can feel the cheese. Beforehand, though, they must wash their hands for 3 minutes, and if they have any sort of cuts on their hand, they must wear gloves. I thought this was extremely interesting!
Epoisses!!
Our tasting table
Our tasting plate! From the knife, going clockwise: Soumantrain, Plaisir au Chablis (which is cured with Chablis wine), L’Ami du Chambertin, Epoisses, and Le Cendre de Vergy (which is covered with the ashes of leaves). This order was picked for us to taste in, since we started with the most subtle tasting cheese to the strongest tasting cheese. My favorite was the Plaisir au Chablis!
After our tasting, we then traveled to Fixin which is where
we had our picnic. It’s home to a celebrated Grand Cru, which is a wine
classification used to designate vineyards that have a favorable reputation in
producing wine. Additionally, we took a short hike after our picnic and saw the
statue, Le réveil de Napoléon (The Awakening of Napoleon)! This statue was
erected in 1847 in memory of Napoleon, and it depicts the Emperor awakening to
immortality.
We then visited the Château du Clos de Vougeot, which was
established by the monks of Cîteaux in the 12th century. Now, it’s
owned privately by 80 different owners and make some of the best wines in the
world.
Old wine presses
We then visited the fromagerie Delin, which is a small
family run cheese factory. They specialize in making full fat pasteurized cow’s
milk cheeses, and many of them they have invented! They showed us some of their
cheeses that they sell in the shop, and we bought some for our picnic that we
were going to have the next day.
Mmmm. Cheese. My favorite was the purple one up front and center--it was a type of soft cream cheese covered in cranberries! So delicious!
The tanks where they receive the milk!
Overall, it was a very fun (and cheese) filled day!
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