All Roads Lead to Burgundy

Burgundy for kings, champagne for duchesses, claret for gentlemen.

Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

It shocks me how quickly my body loses conditioning. It probably shouldn’t. I am old, I am eating terribly, and I have been drinking mightily. It is devastating what regular alcohol does to the body.

Still, I am only a week out of the gym, and the changes are impressive. My arms have shrunk, my chest is sagging noticeably, and I have developed a paunch in very quick time.

I am not worried, but I see pictures of myself or catch my body in the mirror, and it is a little disheartening.

I will be back in the gym as soon as I get to Seoul. The routine of school will sort my nutrition out. I don’t drink on work days; my body seems capable of maintaining some resemblance of fitness drinking on the weekend.

“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.”

Lao Tzu

I slept well.

No run this morning. I can’t bear the idea of traversing these hills at walking pace. A run is out of the question.

Breakfast is provided. Local produce, eggs from the chickens next door. Excellent food.

All roads lead to Burgundy is a wine saying. At some point, when you start to explore wine, you inevitably end up in Burgundy. There are incredible wines from all around the world, Barolo and Brunello from Italy. France also has the Bordeaux, Alsace, and Rhone. Australia has its Semillon and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; Spain, the Rioja.

I got the Burgundy itch in Melbourne, about ten years ago. I scratched so hard that the Melbourne Burgundy Social Club was started. Burgundy is complicated, not just the complexity of the wine itself, but the entire system. A hierarchical assortment of Grand Cru, Premier Cru, and Villages, all based on regions and vineyards. Tough going for the beginner.

It almost sent us broke, and that is only a slight exaggeration.

It is expensive. At the top end, thousands of dollars for a bottle. At the low, even for a decent Premier Cru, hundreds.

We have found out that, like the wine, the accommodation is also overpriced. A Burgundy boudoir is as costly as a Burgundy Bernard Dugat.

A detour, our road is not to Burgundy, but to Alsace.

Almost as famous, but more suitable for our budget.

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”

Epictetus

The trip takes around six hours and is something special. From Italy, we wind our way up the Swiss Alps until you can touch the sun. Steep, narrow, and many blind, hairpin turns.

We cross into Switzerland, take in the magnificent landscape, and down we go.

The pictures do not do it justice.

Guebwiller is a cool little town that punches well above its name.

We settle into our bohemian abode before heading out for some groceries. Too late for lunch, too early for dinner, we head to the local supermarket.

It is impressive what supermarket chains can do here. The produce is supplied by local butchers, bakers, and artisan producers. A bread delivery is underway as we arrive, the baguette still warm.

The delicatessen is loaded with homemade goods, the name of the producer written on the tag. We get carried away. To go with our baguette, chausson aux champignons, a pastry filled with mushrooms. Quiche, chicken terrine, and some ham to go on the baguette.

As we leave, Shell grabs some duck rillettes.

I get some local Riesling and Pinot Gris to go with dinner, and as we are heading home, we pass a pâtisserie and Shell chooses from the beautiful range.

The whites are not cold, so we open a bottle of Italian leftover from last night.

Everything is perfect.

We finish the red and open a white, even though it is not chilled enough.

Tonight’s win –

2019 Federico Pilieogo Valentina Superiore Inferno Nebbiolo (Lombard, Italy)

Rich and powerful. A completely different wine to its more famous cousin.

2023 Domaine Ginglinger Riesling (Alsace, France)

Laser sharp with incredible acid. Everything good Alsace should be.

“That eating should be foremost about bodily health is a relatively new and, I think, destructive idea-destructive not just the pleasure of eating, which would be bad enough, but paradoxically of our health as well.”

Michael Pollan