France Trip 2012 – Back to Bordeaux!

I had never visited this part of Bordeaux before and was surprised to see how lushly green it is with rolling hills and many ancient chateaux and fortresses. It was only a 20 minute drive from the restaurant to Chateau de Crain, and yet it felt like we had quickly entered another world. Entre Deux Mers is one of the oldest parts of Bordeaux and it seems to have a magical unspoiled quality – almost as if fairies might live in the fields and trees. We found Chateau de Crain quite easily as there were signs posted, and even though [...]

Since May 8 is a holiday in France, we were not sure if we would find restaurants open. So the evening before we attempted to make an online reservation at the very famous Jean Marie Amat in the gutted Chateau du Prince Noir. Barnard from Chateau Monlot had recommended it – providing a nice article written by the New York Times. However, by morning we had still not heard back from them, so I telephoned and was delighted to hear them say they had received my request and were holding a table for us at 1pm. Unfortunately finding the restaurant [...]

Only about a 5 minute drive and we arrived at Haut-Bailly to be greeted by Noemie, the Marketing/PR Director who provided an excellent tour. We started in the vineyards, where we saw that they had a mixed field blend of cab, merlot, and CF – fascinating. The soil is gravel and sand – very porous and as they are on a small hill (48 meters), it is excellent for cabernet sauvignon of which they have 64% planted on their 30 hectares of red. Some of the vines are quite old – up to 90 years. Double guyot, 8 buds. 1x1 [...]

On Friday we woke for the first time to cloudy skies, but the day was still rather warm at around 67F. Rather sadly, we got in the car to head out for our last day of winery visits. Once again Google Map failed us and we had to call Ch. Carbonnieux to apologize for being late and to ask for directions. They told us to go all the way to the town of Leognan and then to turn left at the cemetery. This worked beautifully and we were happy to arrive and meet the owner, Philbert Perrin, who provided a [...]

It was only about a 10 minute drive from Yquem to Ch. de Malle outside the small town of Priegnac. We were met by the winemaker, Vincent Labergere, who was also the general manager and wore other multiple hats including direct sales to visitors. While we were there, several other people dropped by, and soon we had a small party of people touring and tasting with us. It was quite enjoyable. Vincent explained that they had 27 hectares of sweet wine (70% sem; 27% SB; and 3% muscadelle), but they also had 13 hectares of red Graves and 3 hectares [...]

Our appointment at Yquem was rescheduled to 3:30, which turned out to be a blessing because we actually didn’t arrive until 3pm. Taking the back roads in France – though scenic –takes much longer than the freeways. We met with David Marc, the assistant winemaker, who provided a very informative whirlwind tour of the estate. Beginning in the vineyard, he explained that Yquem is situated at the highest point in Sauternes – 80 meters – and that the region gets 92 days of fog per year. He said that fog and wind are needed to make good sweet botrytised wine, [...]

After our very pleasant visit at Haut Brion, Naomie invited us to stop by La Mission, which we did. Another lovely estate. From there, we decided to drive the 45 minutes west to the ocean and have lunch on the beach at Archaron. The drive took longer than we thought because of road work, but we enjoyed the charming seaside town with its colored houses of white and red stone. Wandering along the beach boardwalk, we found a café and purchased sandwiches and sparkling water and sat on a beach to watch the waves. It was around 70F with a [...]

I was surprised to see how close this very famous chateau is to downtown Bordeaux. Since it is so old – dating from 1525 – I’m sure that the old city of Bordeaux was much smaller when Haut-Brion was established, and that no one expected the Bordeaux subdivisions to spring up around such a famous wine estate. We were greeted by Laetitia, the PR Director, and she began our tour with an overview of the vineyards using a model of the property. Haut Brion has 48 hectares of red grapes (45% merlot, 45% cab, 9% CF, 1% PV) and 2.8 [...]

We actually made it to the outskirts of Bordeaux from Palmer in 20 minutes by taking the D209 along the river as suggested by Google Map. However once we reached the city, the directions quickly disintegrated and we found ourselves hopelessly lost in a strange section of town. I telephoned the hotel and they told us they were located near the Grand Theater and to park at Tourney. From this, we were able to use our Hertz map to painfully make our way into the heart of the city and finally find the hotel. Parking prices are rather sharp at [...]

It was a short drive to our 3pm appointment at Palmer where we were welcomed by Celine, the PR Director. As she walked us to the vineyard, it felt as if it were in the high 80’s F and we wished we had brought lighter clothing. Palmer has always been a personal favorite of ours as a special occasion wine, and it was nice to finally visit the chateau. Celine informed us that they have 55 hectares and adjoin Chateau Margaux. They have no clay, and are primarily gravel with sand – situated on the top of the Margaux terrace. [...]

Do not follow Google Map directions to Chateau d’Issan or you will find yourself on a road that passes the front of the chateaux, but where there is no access. By the time we had figured this out, we were 15 minute late to our next appointment with Clarisse, the PR Director at Chateau d’Issan who had spent time studying English in both New York and Seattle and had a delightful American accent. She also has exuberant energy and walked us around the vineyards and through the ancient fortress from the 1600’s with its own moat -- explaining the history [...]

After Cos, we headed South on the D2 and stopped to take photos of Lafite and Pichon – two estates I had visited last year while it was raining. Finally I could get a nice photo of them in the sun. Then we drove to the small village of Arcins where Caroline had kindly made reservations for us at this very famous Medoc restaurant, and we were impressed to find that every table had a reserved name tent on it with the name of person dining – including ours. Bottles of all of the top chateaux filled the wine shelves [...]

Another sunny day and beautiful breakfast at Chateau Beausejour, and then we checked out because we were relocating to downtown Bordeaux that evening. It turned out to be an extremely hot day – in the mid 80’s, which I’m sure broke some temperature records for the region. When I called home to Sonoma, we discovered it has been raining there since we left—while Bordeaux had been sunny and warm. Rather ironic that California was much cooler than France, but then Sonoma/Napa really needed the rain. Chateau Cos d’Estournel, 2nd Growth, St. Estephe – we were greeted by the Marketing Director, [...]

When Mike and I visited Bordeaux in 1996, we toured Ch. Mouton-Rothschild and stayed overnight at Chateau Pomys where we had a memorable stay. Wanting to revisit such a happy memory, we made dinner reservations at Pomys and found it to be just delightful as the last time. It was a warm evening and the crickets chirped cheerfully as we made our way to our table around 7:30pm. Though their wine list is not extensive, we wanted to try the estate wine, which is St. Estephe AOC – one of my favorites, as I really enjoy the austere style. The [...]

Next stop was Chateau Talbot, about 10 minutes drive south of Pauillac in St. Julien, and hidden behind a lush curtain of green ivy covering its ancient walls. We were met by Jean-Pierre Marty, and appreciated his practical approach to winemaking and international experience – having worked all over the world making wine, including Australia and China. Starting in the vineyard, he explained that St. Julien has a different quality of gravel and sandy clay than Pauillac and with less limestone. Like many estates they use no weed killer or insecticides, but will use non-organic sprays when necessary to combat [...]