Wine Tasting in Saint-Emilion

There are several wine-growing appellations here in the Bordeaux area.  All produce blended wines, but the blends consist of different percentages of each grape variety.  For example, the Medoc region makes wines that are more Cabernet Sauvignon-based and tannic, while Saint Emilion produces smoother-drinking wine blends with a majority of Merlot.  We had scheduled one last tour to do some tasting at a couple of wineries here.  Of course, at each chateau we did the required tour, walking around the grounds and hearing about the picking, fermentation, and oak storage process.  At least this time the tour was in English.

Enough with the tours, already!  We want to taste some wine!

At Chateau de Ferrand, we saw case after case of wine being stored.  They mentioned that some of it was ready for shipping to the US.  Their main re-seller?  Total Wine.

Cases of wine at Chateau de Ferrand

The gently rolling hills in Saint-Emilion are covered in vines.

The second place we visited was Chateau de Pressac, which was a beautiful and historic property (the treaty to end the 100 Years War with England was signed here in 1453).  Kevin took this photosphere to give you an idea of the place (put your cursor inside the photo for a 360 degree view).

Views: Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, France by Kevin Salt

The tasting room at the Chateau de Pressac

After some nice wines, we went into St. Emilion again had a chance to explore the town in the sunshine.  Our guide Remi took us to a couple of wine shops.  Most of it was very high end, so we opted to just browse and not buy (now that we know we can just go to Total Wine at home, haha!)

Oldest house in Saint-Emilion; at least one wine-seller had a sense of humor.

Bordeaux: Musee d'Aquitaine

We've had enough foie gras and truffles to last a while so the last couple of days we've had lunch at: a fish & chips place, a Thai restaurant, and an Irish pub.  All three were pretty good, actually (and not just because we are getting a little tired of French food).  The Fish & Chips place was actually called "Yes, Mum!" and they even had deep-fried Mars bars on the menu.

Since we were already in town for lunch, we decided to stop by the Musee d'Aquitaine which is a nice historical museum about Bordeaux and its surrounding area.  The city has been here in some form since before Roman times and it was neat to walk through the rooms and progress through the ages from neolithic to Roman to Middle Age up through to the Industrial Revolution.

Bronze statue of Hercules, stone(d) angel

Remnants of a stained glass window from a dismantled convent

This was a decent way to spend an afternoon.  On the way home we bought a nice bottle of sweet Sauternes wine and a block of ripe Roquefort cheese for dinner.  Maybe we haven't had enough French food after all.

Bordeaux: Landmarks

Cathedral Saint-Andre

Today we decided to go into Bordeaux and check out some of the local landmarks.  As if sensing the theme of the day, fate threw us into the path of these poor tourist office employees dressed up as the city's monuments.  They were definitely getting some attention.

The look on Green Shirt Guy's face says it all...

Our first stop was to check out the Tour Pey Berland, the belltower for the Cathedral Saint-Andre.  Back in the 1400's the archbishop had the tower built separately from the church because he was afraid that the vibrations from the bells' ringing would cause damage.  A spiral staircase with 231 steps leads you up to the terrace where you have great panoramic views of the city.  We just happened to be there at noon and the bells started ringing right on time.  Luckily, neither the church nor the belltower fell down.  Good planning, Archbishop Berland!

Bordeaux, with the Garonne River in the background

After we were back on ground level, we headed over to another one of the city's landmarks - the Gros Cloche, a bell tower and clock that was built into one of the old city gates.  Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pass through the portal on their way to Spain.  We actually saw a few backpackers that looked like they were doing the walk, or at least a part of it.

Gros Cloche

Other than wine, Bordeaux isn't really known as a tourist town.  Wine tours are the #1 attraction listed on Trip Advisor.  The #2 attraction is the Place de La Bourse.  It's a pretty square, but there's not much else to do there but take a photo...

Place de La Bourse

...unless you are Kevin, in which case you take a photosphere.  (By the way, I'm almost always somewhere in these photospheres...see if you can find me.  It's like playing "Where's Waldo?".)

Views: Bordeaux, France by Kevin Salt

Medoc Wine Region and Dancing in Bordeaux

Today we took a drive up the D2 road to the Medoc region of Bordeaux.  This area is famous for the pricey wines from the 1855 classification.  Most of these chateaux are closed in August for holiday or renovation, but we managed to get on a tour at chateau Kirwan.  Of course the tour was entirely in French, with me translating terribly for our group: "Grape grow.  Grape pick.  Grape become wine.  Wine crazy expensive." etc.

Wine tasting at Chateau Kirwan

The world-famous Chateau Margaux was closed for vacation, but we thought we'd take a look anyway.  The current price of +$350/bottle for the 2012 vintage is about $340 more than we are willing to pay for a bottle of wine, but just being able to visit the chateau and grounds was a nice experience, even in the rain.

Kevin at the gate to Chateau Margaux

We stopped at several other First Growth chateaux for a photo op.  If we can't afford the wines, at least we can afford to take pictures, right?

Chateau Lafite-Rothschild

Although the chateaux are closed, you can wander through the vineyards if you like.  At Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Don picked a grape and challenged Kevin to taste it.  Challenge accepted!  A bottle here goes for about the same price as the Margaux.  Kevin figures he ate a grape worth about two dollars, but it was extremely acidic.  I guess these grapes are better suited to drinking than eating. 

We finally found something more our speed when we stopped in at the maison du vin/tourist office in Pauillac.  On Thursday evenings, they have a large (free!) tasting of various family-grown wines from the area.  While maybe not as highly-rated as the First Growths of 1855, the wines we tasted here were very nice and it was nice to be able to actually speak with the wine growers (vignerons) themselves about their product.  Of course we couldn't help but bring home a few bottles.

Yay!  Free wine tasting!

At the end of the evening, we took the tram into Bordeaux for their "Dancing sur les Quais".  They do this every year in July and August right next to the river.  Each night, dance instructors from different studios around town give free group dance lessons to anyone who is interested.  Afterwards, a DJ plays music until after midnight.  Tonight's theme was the tango, and Renee was totally in her element!

Dune du Pilat

Our host family left us a very good list of "things to do" in the Bordeaux area.  Obviously, wine drinking tops the list.  However, once you sober up there are other things to see and do, too.  One of the top places to go is to the Dune of Pilat, the largest sand dune in Europe.

Hiking up the Dune du Pilat

We hopped in the car and could not believe the traffic -- it seemed like all of France was headed toward the Dune du Pilat in the middle of the morning on a Tuesday.  We weren't really sure what to expect, having only seen the dunes down in Yuma on the road to San Diego.  Those are just rolling hills of sand stretching across the desert.  This is quite different - it is bordered on one side by a massive forest and on the other side by the Arcachon Bay leading to the Bay of Biscay.  It is 330 feet high and more than 1.5 miles long, and it's quite a climb to the top.

Renee, Don, and Kevin mid-hike

Every year, the dune advances several meters, swallowing whatever is in its wake -- forest land, buildings, roads.  For the sheer scale alone, it was worth a day-trip, but there's not much else you can say about a huge pile of sand.  We came, we climbed, we conquered.  So now it's back to our regularly-scheduled wine tastings.

It was a pretty scenic view from the top, though.  Here is a photosphere Kevin took (click inside the image for a 360 degree view).

Views: La Teste-de-Buch, France by Kevin Salt

Wine Tasting in Pessac-Leognan

For inexperienced wine drinkers (like Kevin and me), the Bordeaux area can be overwhelming.  Unlike in Napa Valley, many chateaux in Bordeaux conduct visits by appointment only.  To help us sort everything out and give us an intro to wine tasting in the region, we hired Dewey Markham from DMJ Wineworks to give us a one-day tour.  He's an American by birth but has lived in Bordeaux and worked in the wine industry for over 20 years.  He teaches classes at the Ecole du Vin in town, and he also offers a variety of private tours.  It was nice to have our own "personal expert" who could answer all our questions.  (And we had a LOT of questions!)

Dewey had prearranged three chateaux visits and tastings.  It was eye-opening.  In Napa/Sonoma, Kevin and I just drove from winery to winery -- you pop into the tasting room, maybe pay a fee, try three or four wines, and head out to the next stop.  It was not like that here.  We spent more than an hour at each chateau, touring the vineyards, seeing the pressing equipment, walking through the barrel rooms, and then -- finally -- tasting the wine.  The nice part is that you basically receive a private tour of the winery, and you don't have to compete with other tourists for attention once you get to the tasting room.  The drawback is that the basic process is the same from one chateau to the next, so much of the information is repeated, especially if all the chateaux are in the same region/appellation.

Chateau Latour-Martillac

After Chateau Latour-Martillac, we went for lunch at the nearby Smith Haut Lafitte chateau complex. 

In addition to the winery, there is a five-star hotel, spa, and two restaurants.  We went to the more informal restaurant, La Table du Lavoir.  It was modeled after a 19th century wash-house.  It was a pretty spot, with a very nice lunch menu.

After lunch, we headed to Chateau Carbonnieux, which was once visited by Thomas Jefferson.  The basic winemaking explanation was the same, but the chateau owners' collection of antique French cars was a big hit with the gentlemen in our party.

Chateau Carbonnieux

Each of the chateaux we visited today are classed as a Grand Cru Classe of the Graves region.  This is a classification system that separates the elite wines from the rest of the field (although honestly we haven't met a wine we didn't like).  Each of the three chateaux is well-known for both its red and white wines, so there was something for everyone.  Definitely a good introduction to the vineyards of Bordeaux.

Chateau Bouscaut

Saint-Emilion

Although today was rainy, the four of us decided to explore some of the countryside around the Bordeaux area.  One of the more popular towns to visit is Saint-Emilion.

 

It's a charming town, with tile roofs, cobblestone streets, narrow passages, several cafes, and lots and lots of wine shops.  

The Saint-Emilion appelation is known for its Merlot wines.  Kevin and I enjoy drinking wine but don't really consider ourselves very knowledgeable.  For that reason, most of the time we stick to pretty inexpensive wines since we're not sure if we could tell the difference.  But at a wine bar in St. Emilion, they offered wines by the glass at varying price points.  We decided to put our palettes to the test.  First we ordered an 8-euro glass of a 1994 wine, to see if older wines tasted better than the ones we usually drink.  In this case, not really.  Then Kevin went all in and ordered the most expensive glass on the menu - the bottle sells for 130 euro but the glass was a modest 26.  When we ordered, the server gave us a small smile of approval and said "its VERY good".

The infamous bottle

Kevin was ready to take the Pepsi (er...St. Emilion) challenge.

Can YOU tell the difference?

And the result is that we both could definitely tell there was a difference between the two wines.  BUT...the more expensive wine didn't taste any better (to us, at least).  So at least now we know, and can continue to happily buy our cheapo wines without worrying that we are missing out on something spectacular. 

We opted not to buy from the "Prestige Menu".  1300 euro a bottle for a bottle of 2001 Lafite Rothschild...hmmm, that seems expensive.  (By the way, with everything from the hotel continental breakfasts, to the tolls and gas on the highway, to the 20 euro umbrella that we bought when it really began to pour..."that seems expensive" is quickly becoming our catchphrase for this trip.)  We did end up buying and enjoying a fantastic wine to bring home for dinner that night -- Emilio.  A real steal at about 4 euro a bottle!

Check out the rest of the wine list.  Yep, that seems expensive!

We do have a wine tour scheduled for this region in a week or so, and will have a chance to come back to the town to walk around some more.  Hopefully it will be sunny then, but even with all the rain we found this to be one of the prettiest towns we've seen in France.

Bordeaux, France

We got an early start on Wednesday from St. Malo and drove almost the entire way to Bordeaux in the pouring rain.  It was pretty exhausting and finally Kevin agreed to switch and let me drive.  I was very proud of myself, even though it's been years since I drove a stick shift, I didn't even stall once!  Although I did lose our toll road ticket at a rest stop, which ended up costing us a ten-euro fine at the toll booth when we got to Bordeaux.  Whoops.

Of course as soon as we neared Bordeaux the rain cleared up.  The plan was to meet up with our friends Renee and Don at their home exchange in Talence (a Bordeaux suburb), drive into town and return the rental car, then walk around and explore the city a little.  Things went *almost* according to plan, except that when we filled up the tank prior to returning, the pump shut off before it got past the "F" on the gauge (actually the "1".  For some reason "0" means empty and "1" means full...).  We didn't notice it until we were nearly at the Hertz return.  So returning the car took considerably more time than we thought since we then drove to two more gas stations looking for one that would accept our credit card to fill the last teensy bit of the tank to avoid the 60 euro fuel surcharge.

After all that hassle we were ready for a glass (or two!) of wine.  First stop: the Bar a Vin, a great place to order various Bordeaux wines by the glass.

Confession time: the prices were so good at the Bar a Vin that we actually have been there twice since we arrived.  For just a few euros you can relax at a table, order a plate of cheese or fois gras and sample some very nice wines.

Our friends Renee and Don

Thursday we went back into town and checked out the P'tit Train, which drives around town.

The fountain at the Place de Quinconces

Friday was a gorgeous day.  We all had a nice lunch at a brasserie in town, then walked up Sainte-Catherine street (the main shopping street in Bordeaux) to the Opera House to have a look around.

The interior of the theater was gorgeously lit, and all the surfaces seemed to glitter under the colorful lights.  It was very small, so I imagine any seat there would be a good one.

In addition to displaying costumes and set pieces from some of the recent shows, there were some weirdly interesting Alice-in-Wonderland themed displays.