La Percee du Vin Jaune 2010 - Help

J

Joe Perry

Joe Perry
Amy and I are thinking of making our first trip to France for "La Percee du Vin Jaune" in 2010. Has anyone been? What should we expect from the area and from the festival? Any reccos for lodging? Should we fly into Dijon?

Thanks,
Joe
 
I was there last year.

Here's a writeup from my blog.

The area is beautiful but absolutely frigid at that time of year (except last year, which was exceptionally mild). It's outdoors. It's very festive & drunken. All the producers except a few (really good ones, unfortunately) are there. (I.e. there is no Stphane Tissot, no Houillon, no Puffeney.)

No idea about lodging, especially as the town it's in changes every year and I'm not sure which town it'll be in in 2010.
 
Thanks, Sharon:

Even though they aren't there to pour, are there places to buy the wines of the really good producers (other than the auction)? On the subject, is the auction just for rich folk or can poor people like me take part?

Best,
Joe
 
The Perce is great fun and a drunken bash. You would do better going yourself at a quieter time and making appointments at the producer's cellars.

There are huge crowds and it is not my idea of a fun time or place for serious drinking and eating.
 
originally posted by Joe Perry:
La Percee du Vin Jaune 2010 - HelpAmy and I are thinking of making our first trip to France for "La Percee du Vin Jaune" in 2010. Has anyone been? What should we expect from the area and from the festival? Any reccos for lodging? Should we fly into Dijon?

Thanks,
Joe
Click to expand...

If you go, make time to visit the beautifully situated town of Baumes-les-Messieurs and the surrounding area. A bit more of a trip, but very accomodating in a nice rustic valley is the Hotel Taillard in Goumois. Good local dishes the last time we were there (admittedly years ago). The town of Chateau Chalon itself is well worth the trip, festival or no.
 
originally posted by Joe Dressner:
The Perce is great fun and a drunken bash. You would do better going yourself at a quieter time and making appointments at the producer's cellars.

There are huge crowds and it is not my idea of a fun time or place for serious drinking and eating.
Click to expand...

Is it hard to make appointments in the Jura? Part of the appeal was the cheap flights at that time of the year, though I have already had one e-mail warning me away from rural France in Feb...

I certainly do not want to have my first trip to France be less than FRANCE. And, I do want to have meaningful conversations with the people behind Tissot, Puffeney, Montbourgeau, Labet, Macle, Bourdy, Berthet-Bondet, Vandelle, Lornet, Rolet, La Pinte, and Houillon.

Not to mention a mixed case of Vin Jaune from the above producers to bring home...

Thanks for the tip, Joe. You are probably right.
 
sounds like an excellent adventure. i myself would time it to make best use of the cheaper flights, but i'd avoid the Percee, as seeing the locals and surrounding area in more or less normal mode attracts me.
 
Flights are pivotal. $400 for flights during La Percee, $900 x 2 for flying during temperate weather. Booh.
 
Surely you could fly a few weeks before or after the Percee and still get a cheap flight.

I for one would not be afraid of February travel in rural France. Especially since you have a clearly-defined specialist mission. You're not going for a typical postcard scene, you're going to make your own postcard!

Of course it obviously depends on your personal family calculations for what would make the trip worthwhile.
 
originally posted by VLM:
BourdyIf you can, try to find out why the wines are so horrible.
Click to expand...

There are ever only four answers to that question, right?
 
Joe, the Jura producers are some of the most accessible in France.

As I said before, and as Joe Dressner hits home, the Perce is a big drunken party in a town (they cordon off the town 10km around, and you need to walk/take a shuttle-bus to get to the town). It can be 25F. (OK, not too horrible for a New Englander, but still.) And there are not some of the producers you would want to see. But the others are there. (I did it in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, Domaine de la Pinte poured the 1979 Vin Jaune, which was rockin', plus they had cubes of old Comt.)

So, depends on your angle.

As far as old wines go, I can give you an address or two in Dole. But the auction is worth it, too. Sit next to Franois Audouze if you can. (OK, that was a joke.)

Visit Baumes-les-Messieurs, visit Chateau-Chalon (astounding), visit Salins-les-Bains.
 
The edit function is great, but the preview-without-Sherry function is even better.

But don't mind me. Lustau "Almacenista" Olorosa Pata de Gallina (Juan Garcia Jarana) 1/38 here.

(Sharon, you missed the moment.)
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Joe, the Jura producers are some of the most accessible in France.

As I said before, and as Joe Dressner hits home, the Perce is a big drunken party in a town (they cordon off the town 10km around, and you need to walk/take a shuttle-bus to get to the town). It can be 25F. (OK, not too horrible for a New Englander, but still.) And there are not some of the producers you would want to see. But the others are there. (I did it in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, Domaine de la Pinte poured the 1979 Vin Jaune, which was rockin', plus they had cubes of old Comt.)

So, depends on your angle.

As far as old wines go, I can give you an address or two in Dole. But the auction is worth it, too. Sit next to Franois Audouze if you can. (OK, that was a joke.)

Visit Baumes-les-Messieurs, visit Chateau-Chalon (astounding), visit Salins-les-Bains.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sharon.

I run naked in the snow at 25F, so that isn't so much the problem.

1979 La Pinte pours sound amazing. The 1994 La Pinte Chateau-Chalon was my epiphany Jura wine.

I want to have meaningful conversation with some of these producers, which might be the wrong time. Also, I want my non-geek wife to have a good time.

I'm torn. I certainly want my first trip to France to be in the Jura, but if it must be postponed longer so that we can save for a better experience

Thanks for the info.

Best,
Joe

p.s. I'm fairly sure that Audouze is transported from place to place on a litter carried my ancestral cousins.
 
Exactly. I'm on glass seven, I think.

(Sharon, Joe typed "is" where he meant to type "are". Which he then edited, after which I erased my response.)

See, isn't everything better when it's explained? Granted, I don't have the energy for a multi-paragraph version, but still...
 
Joe, as for traveling to France, I really like October. April can be OK. Later than that, and you're in tourist season. (Obviously, never go in August). But October is a great time to go; later if you're on the plains/near a river, earlier if you're in the mountains.
 
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