One of the major events in the world wine calendar every November is the "Trois Glorieuses" in Burgundy - a traditional festival of excess for the invited few to participate in 3 great feasts on Saturday at Clos Vougeot, Sunday at Beaune and Monday lunchtime at Mersault. The excuse for this party is the annual "Vente des vins", a charity auction at the Hospices de Beaune.
Local resident John Scallon reports: "The weekend of 18 and 19 November 2006 are the dates this year. It is here that the prices are set for the new vintages. The repercussions of the auction go all around the world. Last year was the first year that the old "candle" style of auction had been replaced by the standard "bidding" type but there was no less interest. Sadly for the general public admission to this part of the festivities is only for the great and the good of the wine industry. Mere mortals will have to be content to wander around picturesque Beaune sampling the local produce, both food and wine are well represented, and the various "sports". There's always a competition to discover who can pull the most corks out of wine bottles in a given time. Try doing five in quick time with a standard corkscrew and see how much your arms ache. At least you've got some wine to drink afterwards!
All the big negociants are open during the weekend, most offering tours. It can be advisable to see if you can book ahead as some of them are very popular. There are lots of stalls in the streets selling vin chaud (mulled wine) with gougères which are a sort of savoury profiterole. We usually go to the Scouts stand for these as you get a small glow of smugness as well as a large glow of warmth (It's the middle of November. You need as much warmth as possible). There's live music in the Place Carnot on the Saturday night and away you go! Dining in the evening is predominantly for those with good foresight or a hotel in the centre as most of the restaurants get booked up very early. However on the way out of town towards the motorway junction 24.1 (South towards Lyon etc) there are several restaurants including a Buffalo Grill where you'll get a good steak at a reasonable price. These are all part of national chains but quite acceptable. Buffalo Grill was in deep trouble a couple of years ago when British Beef was banned in France, for illegally importing it! One in the eye for French protectionism."
All this jamboree follows close on the heels of Beaujolais Nouveau day on 16 November,
"Wed 15th November at 2359 and 59 seconds the noise in the main street of Beaujeu will be approaching a crescendo. Two seconds later the only sound will be that of wine being drunk! Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arriveé. Beaujolais Nouveau has received a mixed press over the last few years. All of it deserved. In a bad year (2002 for example) it is a wine, to quote Monty Python "best laid down and avoided". In a good year (2003, 2004 & 2005 for examples) it is a light, refreshing drink with just a slight touch of effervescence.
The atmosphere in Beaujeu is strange. Wandering around the village at about 2100 Hrs you would be forgiven for thinking you've come to he wrong place! The only sign of anything out of the ordinary is a stage & sound system in the main square, about 20 trestle tables with associated tents around them in the main street & the fact that the wine exhibition centre is open. All the bars are full as are the restaurants (book in advance) but the village is quiet. At about 2300 Hrs there is a fireworks display in a nearby village (frequently obscured in Beaujeu by mist & fog) and then the locals start a torchlight parade towards Beaujeu dousing their flaming torches into large barrels at the start of the main street. Sneakily at about 2230 Hrs a couple of unmarked Transit vans have unloaded about 36 litre bottles of unlabelled wine at each of the trestle tables along with vast quantities of small plastic glasses. It is now that the village starts to fill and, if the weather is fine, up to 15,000 people gather around these tables! One second past midnight more fireworks and the pouring commences. The atmosphere is great, there's no pushing & shoving because everyone knows that there's enough for all. The drinking goes on until there's none left and that's it for another year and Beaujeu returns to it's peaceful ways."
John Scallon runs a B&B in the region - see www.bandb-burgundy.com. "We'd suggest that you keep the wine theme going either by visiting a couple of vignerons in the Jura to sample their unique wines or, should you wish to stay in Burgundy, a couple in the Hautes Cotes de Beaune and Cote Chalonnais. All can be arranged."
For more info on Beaune and the Trois Glorieuses see www.ot-beaune.fr
