I Remember My First Blog Post

It has been a little over a month living in Dijon, France the capitol of Burgundy and I am now finally writing my first blog post. That is a bit embarrassing but guess what? I've been a bit preoccupied going to school and drinking gallons (sorry, litres) of le grand vin de Bourgogne.  I am extremely excited to see what that future has in store for me in the next year. By that I mean I am eager to learn as much about the wine business as possible in France and see if I can get my mitts on some of the best wines in the world while I'm over here!

To clarify, yes, everything you've heard about France is true, the food and wine is the worlds best, the pastries and bread are ridiculously amazing (Apricot pastries = Game Changer), and people do not wear deodorant. It is strange because even the little old ladies that pass by leave a trail smelling like they just did five sets of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4CdxTuZaHg Okay, well maybe that is bending the truth just a little, I just wanted you to see that video because it is hilarious and to drive the smelliness of French people into your heads.  

People here also smoke a LOT. More than any other country I've ever seen. They aren't subtle about it either.  The school I am attending (ESC Dijon Burgundy School of Business) has a smoking area that consists of the whole French student population blocking the only entrance into the school. Also, at the school last week, the US ambassador to France came and did a speech for the students and I swear to God the longest time the crowd was silent during his chat was probably 15 seconds, and that is being generous. Time to kick the habit guys. Students were coughing so much I thought someone was attempting an assassination on the ambassador and planted mustard gas in the crowd. Then I realized no one would want to kill that guy because he was a huge tool. Talking about following dreams when your daddy was an ambassador and you attended Yale and Harvard Business School, doesn't really convince me that "anything is possible" Mr. Ambassador. Oh well. But the Champagne and hors d'oeuvres hour for American students was awesome (Me and two other guys). Thanks brah! 'Merica.

I plan on writing at least once every two weeks while I'm studying in Dijon so I can discuss the world of wine and probably vent about French people. My writing is rustier than Oprah in the sack so I'll definitely write my next blog post here in the near future.

Next time: I had the opportunity to work the 2011 vintage down in Nuits St. George with winemaker Ray Walker at Maison Ilan. He is the first American to make wine out of grapes from the world famous vineyard "Le Chambertin" in Gevry-Chambertin.  It was a great experience that I am looking forward to sharing.

Here is an article written about him in the NY times just so you have an idea of the kind of guy he is. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/dining/with-maison-ilan-an-american-winemaker-invades-burgundy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all