Day 11: Not such a Grand start

Day one of the Grands Jours de Bourgogne, a biennial wine trade fair in multiple venues in Burgundy. There were apparently a lot of complaints about the stacking of events on two days after the previous edition in 2008, the first time I attended, but nothing seems to have changed.

Not only are the most appealing events crammed into two days, but the first two days of the Grands Jours clash with the last two days of Prowein in Germany.

Oh well, there is no lack of people focused on Burgundy, as I found out when I turned up in Chablis on day one at a respectable hour -- after midday -- to find most people's snouts already in the trough of free grub (and getting their photo taken with a pig on a spit, appropriately enough).

That seemed like good timing to get around some of the more intriguing of the 90-odd producers on hand, but my mood was soured when I found their were no guidebooks available. These have all the producers' contact information, what they are exhibiting, and more importantly where they are located in the three tasting rooms.

How could you not have one book for every person who registered, I asked. We did, they responded. Well, clearly not, I said. But more people turned up than we expected, they said. Stuff them, you should have kept a guide for those who registered in advance, I replied. Well, finally came the admission, we didn't think everyone who registered would turn up, but they have, and that's why we don't have enough books.

I borrowed one from an acquaintance who was off to have a rice cracker for lunch, and proceeded to tick off my major targets. I was looking for a new producer to replace the cad Jean-Claude Bessin, who sold to another importer after agreeing to work exclusively with me in Australia. That importer subsequently told JC that I was selling his wines too cheaply and he refused to sell any more to me. So there you go: not only was the other importer happy to make 20% more per bottle at wholesale, but the producer actively encouraged such extravagance. He didn't seem to care that I was using refrigeration for transport and storage, or that I had his wines listed in several top Sydney and Melbourne restaurants.

Sadly for me the two standout producers of the day already seemed to be tied up. I don't want to cut anyone else's grass, and after checking with a respected colleague that he was going ahead with an order, I confirmed to the winemaker that I wasn't interested. The wines were fantastic, and cheap, and he made it more difficult by offering to sell me the same wine under different labels! I would hate that if he did that behind my back, so I was happy to walk away.

I eventually made a shortlist of four or five other lovely producers to revisit in a couple of weeks, and after wearing myself out with 200 or so samples, I pulled up stumps and dashed back the hour and a bit to Beaune for refreshing bottles of champagne and riesling with Gav & Gen.