Rutgers-Microbiology and Culture of Cheese and Wine

July 17

 

            It’s been a few weeks since my departure from France and my prediction was correct! I’ve been talking about this trip since I’ve gotten home. I reminisce with myself and whoever will listen about cheese, wine, food, French landscape, people and my experiences and am truly missing our hostel Cluny Séjour. Taking this trip to France honestly gave me the ability to look at the world from a different perspective and not just one from New Jersey. Being submerged in French culture for two weeks allowed me to see a wide array of differences between French and American culture. For example, the French value of local food production. Here in  America I feel like you often see bumper stickers for “no farmers, no food” but in France that is something you don’t see. Kids are raised, and even brought in from the city to the country, to learn of how important farmers are to their communities and the country as a whole. 

          I am so thankful for Rutgers being for providing me with experience. It was incredibly well organized with passionate professors that knew the ins and outs of French culture as well as the science behind wine and cheese production. This experience was not one I could organize as a standard traveler as we were given opportunities that would not otherwise be offered to anyone but our academic group.

I highly recommend anyone interested in both science and going abroad to look into this program. The opportunities and memories gained from this trip are unparalleled and I am very thankful to have been a part of it. Hopefully one day I can return to the vineyards of Burgundy and spread my numerous facts about the production of cheese and wine. Until then, my memories will live on in the hundreds of photos I have taken. Thank you for following my blog post, bon voyage!

June 23

 

          In the blink of an eye our trip is coming to an end! Tomorrow we will be departing Cluny back to Charles de Gaulle airport for our return home. Our first day back from our excursion, we spent Saturday going back at the market and buying the last of our souvenirs, fresh food, and practicing our French. I also got to experience what it is like to go to a French doctor where I was treated for Lymes disease. I guess I had a Bacterial companion that followed me from that states that also wanted to study cheese and wine. For most of Saturday, I was out of commission and spent most of my day in bed recovering but worked alongside my friend to work on our final presentations of a selected wine and cheese! The cheese I was researching was a Neufchâtel cheese and a Sauternes wine. A Neufchâtel cheese cheese is a heart shaped cows milk cheese for the northern part of France and a Sauternes is a dessert wine. This means it is a very sweet wine, often paired with a dessert like a fruit tart and is meant to be sipped not gulped! This wine is actually made through the use of a bacteria called Botrytis Cinerea that shrivels the grapes increasing their sweetness and changing the flavor on a metabolic level. How cool! The shriveling of the grapes though lowers the yield of grape juice, therefore lowering overall yield of wine, making these wines traditionally more expensive.

        Today was presentation day for our selected wine and cheese and it was very interesting to see everyone’s selections and discussions. The room was filled with a wonderful energy and it was a nice way to spend our last day in France together. Along with our presentations we all assembled a picnic filled with fresh market bought fruits, salads, and cheeses. Lucky following my day of rest from Lymes, my energy returned and we all ventured to have our last meal at the first restaurant we went to in Cluny at Brassiere Du Nord. It was a relaxing way to end our trip and ending it where we began made the trip feel like it came full circle. The time I spent in France will be nothing I ever forget and will likely be something I talk about for years to come. 

June 19th

 

          Today marks the end of our 3 day journey to the Jura mountains where, just like everywhere else, was filled with breathtaking views. Over the course of this program I have been pleasantly surprised that each experience continues to top the last. We began our excursion by driving to the Gaugry fromagerie which is a cheese production facility specializing in epoisses cheese. (ep-wass) through glass windows, we were able to see firsthand the large scale production of this companies cheese supplemented by instructional videos and graphics. We even got to watch a short video explaining who the owner is and the process the factory follows everyday. We also got to do a vertical sampling of their epoisses cheeses from a young epoisses to an older epoisses! This cheese, in my opinion, is very strong in both scent and flavor and reminds me of being on a farm. Next we ventured to a grand cru vineyard, some of the most expensive real estate in the world, where some of the most expensive wine in the world is produced. Here we got to see how wine was made hundreds of years ago by monks. 

            On our next day, we ventured to Dijon France, the home of the famous Dijon mustard! Here we went to an indoor market, similar to the one in Cluny, and explored the city of Dijon. As this was a busy day, we next shuttled to an underground salt mine in the mountains of Jura where we saw how salt was extracted by pumping up water from deep underground! Hundreds of years ago before refrigeration, salt was known as white gold and was crucial for preserving food. We were even able to taste the salty water that was pumped up from the ground as our guide explained how the salt was evaporated from the water using large vats and heat from coal.

            Next our travels brought us to the town of Arbois, the town where the famous Louis Pasteur lived! Here we actually got to go to Pasteur’s home and laboratory and see where he conducted his experiments. The house still contained his original flasks with his original writing and to me it was similar to walking into the home of a celebrity since, as a science major, I have been discussing Pasteur and his work since middle school. Together, we ended our second night with dinner at Tavern la Finette where we enjoyed various local specialties and fabulous cheese fondue. 

            Our last day was spent traveling to Frutière Fromagère, a local cooperation where farmers from the surrounding areas sell their cows milk to the facility to be made into cheese, specifically comté and morbier cheese. Again we saw the production of their product and were even granted the privilege of going to the storage facility to see where thousands of cheese wheels are aged before sale. The Comtè cheese, which is a harder cow’s milk cheese, were so fabulous that I even had several chucks wrapped and vacuum sealed for my trip home. Our last trip on this excursion was to the co-op Fruitère Viticole de Voiteur where local vineyards sell their grapes to this company to make their unique Jura wine that 80% of the first time drinkers don’t like…at First! (the common theme of these excursions was the emphasis on the use of cooperatives where local farmers and production facilities work together to make a product) With all of our souvenirs, finally returned back to Cluny and marked the end of our three day excursion. Needless to say, it was an amazing, well organized, thoughtful, and immensely memorable trip. 

 

June 16th

          The last three days, just like every other day, has been filled with a wide array of new experiences and fun facts about wine and cheese. Friday we spent the majority of the day in lecture learning in depth about the processing steps of wine and cheese. What, it takes, metabolically and mechanically, to turn grape juice into wine and milk into cheese is very interesting and it is a process so many people take for granted. It is easy to overlook such complexities when you simply pick your desired item off the shelf of a grocery store. People in the United States do not think about where their food comes from and this is not the case for many parts of France where local food is highly valued and where the customer vendor relationship is almost palpable. 

          On our first Saturday we got to experience the Cluny markets where local farmers, producers, and vendors come to sell their goods. This market occurs every Saturday morning without fail and is a place where restaurants and townspeople can buy their groceries while talking to the individual who produces the goods as well as socialize with others. It is a very large community event that is held in many towns in France and it was an amazing opportunity to shop like a local and even practice my French. 

          Following the market, my classmates and I got the pleasure of getting a tour of Cluny’s horse stables where we were shown several of the horse breeds and the carriages they would pull before cars were invented. Did you know that you can tell the age of a horse by the length of their teeth? Because I did not! We also got our very own performance of dressage where a very experienced horse and her rider showed us various trots and tricks the horse has learned and competes with in dressage competitions. Equestrian life is important here in Cluny, and this town is even hosting the national Horse Ball Championship during our stay here. If you are not familiar with horse ball, I highly recommend looking up a video!

         Today we enjoyed a day off and got to do our own exploration on a bike ride and picnic. The countryside here is beautiful and breathtaking. We have had great weather for the most part so far, have had the most incredible meals, and have become very close friends. This trip so far is everything I could have hoped for and more!

 

June 13

          Bonjour! Today is day 3 of our microbiology and culture of cheese and wine program in France and so far I have confidently learned how to say “je ne parle pas Francais.” For those of you like me that don’t speak French, that means…I don’t speak French! This phrase has come in handy many times as we have explored the wonderful area of our host town of Cluny France which has proven to be more beautiful and quaint than I could have ever imagined. So far we have learned about the rich history of the Abbey of Cluny which, until the creation St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was the largest monastery in the world. The monks who inhabited the Abbey were critical in the formation of the surrounding town and consequently the production of wine. With the monks came the ability to write and allow for the record of wine making practices, its refinement, and ultimately the wine’s prestige. 

          When not exploring the town, my classmates and I have enjoyed our in depth lectures with Dr. Haggblom about the tedious production of wine including vineyards, wine production, and especially the microbiology behind it all. For anyone that has ever been curious, the definition of a dry wine is one in which the sugars of the grape juice have been primarily converted into ethanol! This is why a dry wine is more bitter tasting and not sweet. Another other pivotal lesson of wine making we have learned is terrior. This term refers to the climate grapes are grown, the soil content, and the skill of the wine maker, all which ultimately lead to either a delicious finished product or a less than favorable one. Consequently, the terrior is one reason why a Bordeaux wine is much more coveted than wines from other regions.

          Today we ventured to the fantastic and breathtaking wine country, specifically the town of Pouilly-Fouissé, and also visited Domaine Perraud winery to talk about wine production. Her we saw how grapes were harvested, crushed, fermented, aged and were even given the opportunity to taste wine directly from aging barrels. Next we visited Lycée Agricole de Davayé, an agricultural high school where students come to learn about how to manage a vineyard and produce wine.

           This trip so far has truly taught me more about wine and cheese than I could have imagined and I’m happy to be experiencing it with my group of students who are all so kind, excited to see France, learn about its culture, and learn everything with me.