My first exposure to Pinot Noir was many years ago when I was backpacking in Europe. Problem is, I didn't even know it was Pinot Noir.

I was travelling with a good friend but we decided to split up for a few weeks as I wanted to tour around France and he was not so inclined. There might have been a girl involved as well, it's a bit hazy with time...

I wanted to visit Burgundy and try Burgundy wine because I had heard it was good. I ended up staying at a cheap hotel in Beaune for a couple of nights and went off in pursuit of this thing called Burgundy wine - made from, I erroneously thought, the Burgundy grape.

I finally stumbled on the Marché aux Vins - a place that still exists today but with many more restrictions on the tastings. I had long forgotten how much it cost but I remember getting a shallow metal cup to taste with. After rummaging around in my photos from that time (1983) I found my actual entry ticket with the price 25 Francs - about $5 at that time. That gave me an hour with all that wine....

After rummaging around some more, I found my actual tasting sheet. At this tasting, the first group of wines were the white wines. There were six different ones ranging from a plain Jane Bourgogne to a Pouilly-Fuissé to a couple with Montrachet in their name - I think there were pretty fancy! You walked up to the bottle, poured a sample into your tin cup, and then drank your sample. It was a very quiet day, however, and I was basically on my own. If I liked a wine, I would fill up Monsieur Tin Cup a few times with the same wine!

Next were the first room of red wines where the process repeated. There were wines from all over including Morgon and Cote de Nuits. Finally, the last red wines. Even with what was, at that time, my very limited palate, I could taste that there was something pretty special about these wines - Pommard, Corton, Vosge Romanée - if I knew what I knew now, I would have sipped and savoured these wonderful wines. Unfortunately, I felt compelled to drink as much of these fancy wines as my little cup would repeatedly hold.

I bought a cheaper bottle of wine at the end of the tour and staggered to the bus stop. I found myself in some equivalent to a pub where I ended up opening my bottle and sharing it with some newly made friends, my French language skills improving with each additional glass.

As I said, I was given a sheet of the 30 plus (!) wines that I tried that day. I took notes which become more and more difficult to decipher as I progressed through the tasting. I have included it as I still can't believe some of the wines that I tried.

I was going to blog about my Pinot Noir experiences at my WSET class but I think I've said enough for now. Hope you enjoyed this story of vin, vin, et plus vin!