Easter Monday with the Borgeots

Lundi de Paques

Those of you who have followed these posts in their various guises over the years know that Easter Monday at our house means that the Borgeots are coming. It’s become such a tradition that we don’t even have to ‘invite’ them anymore; they just turn up! Pascal Borgeot makes wine in the southern part of the Côte de Beaune. Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault. We have known each other since the 1989 Saint Vincent Tournante in Santenay. We have watched the family grow and go. He and Christine are grandparents now. And their youngest, Emma, is 10. Lundi de Paques is a big outing for them. Small-production winemakers have a hard time pulling themselves away from their work. There is always something. So even though it’s not much more than an hour from home, for them it’s a change, a drive in the country. And for us all it’s like the new season has begun.

They come bearing gifts. This year it’s a basket of eggs from their hens and geese. And of course, a few bottles from the Borgeot production that Pascal thinks are drinking well now, to serve as aperitif. Today it’s a Puligny-Montrachet ‘Charmes’ 2010. And then a red Santenay ‘Vieilles Vignes’ 2009 for later. But the theme today is Italian. And among other things, Ellie’s done a grilled quail and truffle risotto with the first asparagus of the season.

And that gives us a chance to satisfy Christine Borgeot’s love of Brunello de Montalcino. It’s occasions like this that you save wine for. And we have (or at least used to have!) a pretty respectable collection (by Burgundy standards) of Brunello 1997. So we had a little ‘table tasting. Good winemakers are farmers first. So talk turns to the weather, to the last harvest, to the crisis that that has caused in the Beaujolais, and to the ugly rearing head of the esca fungus. But today is not about business or work. It’s about friends and food and the quality of each.