Elden Wine

Based in Burgundy and specializing in small-production wines little known outside of France. Our services include:

• Elden Wine Estate-bottled Burgundy delivered to your door.
  
• Elden Selections, a twice-yearly newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the complex world of Burgundy.
• Burgundy Food and Wine Tours and Weekend Getaways to the Burgundy countryside.
• The Burgundy Wine Institute is a glass-in-hand exploration of the Burgundy vineyards.
• Past Issues of ‘Elden Selections’ back to 1996. With a Search function.
• Winemaker Profiles ‘Get to Know the Growers’.
• Ask the Winemakers We can put you in touch with the Producers… just ask!
• At Home in Burgundy What’s great wine without great food? Ellie’s book out now!
• Foodstuff  It’s a lifestyle thing….
  

And be sure to look for Ellie’s  book
At Home in Burgundy by Eleanor Garvin
on amazon.com

And for more about our life here At Home in Burgundy see
Foodstuff

eldenwine@gmail.com

Fall 2011
No News

We’ve heard from many of you recently, asking what’s up with Elden. And it’s not true that just because we’ve spent much of the past year in Scotland that we’ve lost interest in wine! It is true that Scotland is magnificent; true too that we have been happily surprised by Highland gastronomy; we’re calling it ‘oat cuisine’. But still nothing compares to Burgundy. And here the winemakers are on a roll, with 2009 already a classic and a beautifully structured 2010 coming on to the scene as we write. No, the reason you have heard less from us than you normally do is that we have been working to re-jig the Elden model in the face of recent changes in the way shipping manifests are drawn up. We used to be able to consolidate all of your orders into one. Now each order is considered a separate shipment, meaning higher shipping costs. In the short term, we carry on as usual. But we’re in the process of setting up shop in the US. We will then be able to hold an import permit, which will take care of this problem. But pose several others. Stay tuned as we adapt to these changes and others in the weird and wonderful world of wine.

BURGUNDY 2010

Burgundy 2010 is a small harvest, even smaller than expected.  Uneven flowering and a subsequent cold snap in early summer mean that all but the best-exposed vineyards have given greatly diminished yields.  The exceptions are…exceptional. Michel Arcelain in Pommard (who completed his 64th harvest this year!) told us that while his Beaune ‘Siserpe’ (a village AOC) was down a third in quantity, his Beaune 1er Cru ‘Clos des Mouches’ (in red) gave him the same as last year.  It’s the exposition, he says.  And that, in short, is what makes it a premier cru .

A hot and cold summer combined with (in the Côtes) too much moisture brought the threat of rot, and meant that the growers had to be particularly vigilant with their treatments, and then again at the sorting tables–meaning even less crop.

But the good producers are not complaining (much), because the quality is there.  With good natural sugar levels, and remarkably tame acidity, the wines were promising right from the outset.  Both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay like to come to maturity slowly, and 2010 gave them this opportunity.  So if the phyto-sanitary side was seen to (which is what it means to be one of the good producer), we are looking at rich bright voluminous wines, both red and white, and from south to north.
BURGUNDY 2011

While the East Coast of the US is sweltering in 100°+, I am sitting in a sweater at the end of July wondering what’s happening. We’ve had a couple of weeks of too much rain and sub-70° temperatures after three months of no rain and the sort of heat we should be having now. What that has meant for the vineyards is that flowering took place very early. First calculations had the harvest beginning in the latter half of August. Bountiful fruit set beautifully, with just a touch of millrandage to give the fruit space to grow and keep the bunches well aerated. There was no risk of mildieu, and oidium treatments could be kept to a minimum. Aside form cursing the precocity of the harvest (ie, no vacation this year), the growers were thrilled. Now, after a good bit of rain has fallen, everyone is looking to the sky. No one is worried…yet. But we need a sunny August. The harvest projection has been pretty much pushed into early September. But even early September is early. If the weather shapes up soon, we will be looking at another good vintage. And with some quantity this time to make up for 2010.

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

The climats of the vineyards of Burgundy (what we used to call terroir:don’t ask!) form a site unique in the world. Here in Burgundy we are campaigning for this exceptional place to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The campaign has a great website, and there is an English version that’s pretty well done. We feel strongly about this issue. European bureaucrats are constantly tinkering with rules and regulations that play havoc with cultural traditions. One of the ideas batted about is dropping the appellation controlee system. If that were to happen, Burgundy as we know it would cease to exist. Please have a look at the site. And if you would like, join us in support.

http://www.climats-bourgogne.com/fr/#/Accueil

BURGUNDY FOOD AND WINE

You may have heard that our activities with Papillon Select Tours will be winding down slowly over the next couple of years. Plans are to stay closer to home and morph into Burgundy Food and Wine. We’re proposing both wine and cooking programs, starting with short weekend getaways this winter and expanding into more ambitious tours over the coming year. We would appreciate your support in these early days. So if you know anyone coming to France who might be interested in seeing Burgundy from the perspective of our 25 years’ experience, the Foodstuff site will introduce Burgundy Food and Wine.

http://www.eldenwine.com/foodstuff/?page_id=86

AT HOME IN BURGUNDY: THE PAPILLON RECIPES

Here’s another recipe from Ellie’s book…available on amazon

BOUILLON DE CRESSON AU RAGOUT D’ECREVISSES ET GIROLLES
Watercress Bouillon with a Crayfish and Chanterelle Ragout

10 Servings

For the watercress bouillon:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 leeks cleaned and sliced thinly
8 cups water, light chicken or vegetable broth
4 large bunches fresh watercress
2 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in â…“ cup

For the crayfish and chanterelle ragout:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms cleaned
2 small shallots minced
30 peeled raw de-veined crayfish tails
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper

To make the watercress bouillon, melt the butter in a soup pot and add the sliced leeks. Let soften for a couple of minutes over medium heat and then add the water or broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree the soup using a hand held immersion blender or mixer. Return the soup to the pot, whisk in the cornstarch, bring back to a simmer and season with salt and white pepper. Keep covered and warm.

Cut the watercress leaves away from the stems and rinse the leaves under cool water. Bring 4 cups salted water to a boil and blanch the watercress leaves to wilt them. Drain and rinse under cold water to preserve the vibrant green color. Puree in a mixer or processor, adding a little cold water to smooth the purée.

In a sauté pan melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add the cleaned chanterelle mushrooms. Season with salt and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid. Strain the mushrooms and discard the liquid. Return the pan to the heat and melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shallots and then the crayfish. Cook them for 3 minutes or so until the crayfish tails turn red, then add the chanterelles back to the pan. Reheat and season.

Reheat the soup and whisk in the pureed watercress and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Taste for seasoning and ladle into warm shallow soup bowls. Add 3 crayfish tails and a spoonful of the chanterelles to the center of each bowl, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve hot.

All the best from Burgundy!

Posted by Dennis December 2007