The Silk Road of Wine: 2000 JM Boillot Puligny Montrachet

We are big fans of Bourgogone blanc in its old-country form since it pairs so nicely with food, and this one was a real beauty. Spotted it on the wine list of Bistro Elan, one of the best restaurants in Palo Alto (in case you are in the California Ave. vicinity), and decided it would pair well with our meal. Not only did it complement the meal (Florida red grouper chowder, California bass with wild mushroom pancake and saffron beurre blanc), it significantly enhanced it by bringing out several underlying flavors that were hiding just beneath the surface. The rich flavor of the wine's lemon fruit and toasted oak notes worked wonders -- highly recommended and a good price point ($50-60) for an upscale restaurant's wine list.

Region: Burgundy, France

Grape: Chardonnay

Food-friendly? Absolutely, Bourgogone blanc sings best with food, particularly French (or Cal-french) cuisine.

Swirl by the fire? It can easily hold its own without accompaniment, but will serve better as a lighter aperitif than a full-blown alcohol and oak bomb like a typical California chardonnay.

white burgundy

Tags: white burgundy, chardonnay, bourgogne blanc

Recommended books on wine

Andrea Immer Robinson's excellent teach-yourself course on wine
The other great wine & food pairing book on the market
One of the two best wine & food pairing books on the market
Encylopedic reference tome on all regions and wines. Very educational.
Well-written and very informative.
A great compact reference book -- extremely helpful when trying to decipher wine labels in other languages.
Easily digestible sections for each micro-region in the world. Fantastic maps
The gold standard -- read this cover to cover and you'll know more than most wine shop employees

Great wine shops

Vintage Wine Merchants
More than a destination shop -- you can easily spend the whole day talking with Alex, Joe, Mike, Harry and the gang and learning a ton about fine wine. Santana Row wouldn't be nearly as much fun without their shop!
K&L Wine Merchants
Great selection and newsletter. One of the best-designed wine websites around.
The Wine Club
Some real hard to find gems, good futures prices and a great newsletter.
Joseph George Wines
Think about it -- how many wine shops do you know that are 3rd generation family-owned, provide you the owner's name and phone number on their website (and invite you to call for assistance in selecting wines), and are only open noon-5pm Monday through Friday ...! A sign of how well the shop is doing.
Vin, Vino, Wine Bottle Shop & Tasting Bar
Tucked away on California Ave. in Palo Alto, this is truly a shop for the connoisseur -- not as comprehensive as some of the bigger shops, but they more than make up for it with deep collections of exceptional red and white Burgundies. Their newsletter is required reading each month.

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