Bordeaux’s Châteaux open at the weekends After breakfast on the Sunday quayside market in Bordeaux (fancy oysters and a glass of white wine?) head off to the vineyards for a visit and tasting and some of Bordeaux’s most famous châteaux that are open all hours (but make sure to pre-book by email in advance!). ST … Continue reading
Good yields of concentrated ripe fruity wine with good structure. Those that did not suffer from too much loss from the Mildew which was prevalent in the wet spring, have nothing to complain about in 2018. Piles of purple crumbly skins are starting to appear outside the ‘chai’ of the region. There are smiles as … Continue reading
Bordeaux is not California or anywhere else in the wine world where cheapest prices are found at source. In Bordeaux the châteaux do not sell their wine around the world, they sell it on exclusively to a specialised wine merchants based in the city of Bordeaux (négociants) who do all of their commercial work for … Continue reading
Ex-cellar master and wine writer François Martin invites you into his private tasting area where you can learn about the intricacies of the wines of Bordeaux before you head out into the vineyards. Over two hours he explains how to decipher the Bordeaux wine label and gives you lots of tips on what to look … Continue reading
It’s a very wet spring and early summer for the 2018 vintage and the mildew that everyone is suffering from is even heavier in properties that are biodynamic with their only defence copper and sulphate (allowed as they are ‘natural’ but in tiny doses) and infusions of nettle and Horsetail. Cellar master/vineyard manager Nicolas Cosse … Continue reading
For the last year or two it is now the fashion to plant plants in between the rows of vines and on land that is fallow that replenish the soil (as they did 100 years ago). Many of these are leguminous (clover, pea such as vetch, bean, alfalfa, lupin – the Fabaceae family) which naturally … Continue reading
Thoreau said “the price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it”. Well prices for 2017 seem to be about equal to ‘good’ vintages that have already matured in bottle and are closer to the exciting time when they are ‘ready to drink’ and you can pull the cork such as 2006 … Continue reading
For me archetypal St Emilion is a fresh fruity wine with good structure but not too full on. Rounded but at the same time not over the top. Elegant. Knows who it is. Fresh, pure. We have seen in the past a more full-blown style take the centre stage in St Emilion. I suppose we … Continue reading
With the increase in the number of tourists to Bordeaux (coming increasingly by cruise liner – around 50 come into the city’s port each year or since last July the TGV from Paris in just over 2 hours), the region’s wine châteaux have begun to open their doors (and kitchens) and offer a range of … Continue reading
Sevens are notoriously unlucky here in Bordeaux. There has been one outstanding vintage ending in a seven but that was back in 1947. Everyone has heard of the catastrophic very late frosts that hit at the end of April last year when vegetation was well developed (2 weeks in advance than normal). But what is … Continue reading
