Bordeaux’s Best Wine Bars

As a local and obviously into wine, here are my list of the best five wine bars in Bordeaux. Win e Bars have only become part of the french culture some 15 years ago. Before then wine always accompanied meals but was rarely drunk on its own. Things have changed and now Bordeaux like any …

A Limited Edition Case of Wine for Christmas

Lost in Bordeaux & SIP (Small Independent Producers) Christmas Case Limited Edition individually signed bottles by the winemakers 6 bottles of red wine from both the right and left banks of Bordeaux made by passionate small independent producers in Bordeaux (2 bottles of each from 3 different producers). Each have been selected by wine expert …

2011 Bordeaux Primeur my thoughts so far classic smooth wines…and Left Bank notes

For The 2011 vintage sorted the men from the boys. There are some lovely wines made at the top of the ranking but also by many petit châteaux. The key was to be reactive during the harvest and sort the grapes well. For those who were able to pick when ripe (despite the risk of …

First Taste of St Emilion 2011: Bordeaux Primeurs

For sure 2011 is not another 2009 and 2010 but there are some nice wines for those that waited to pick and sorted well. I think the Merlots are particularly successful. It was a difficult year when producers had to react on the ground. The Spring was very hot which got things off early which …

First Taste of 2011 in Paris with wines from oenologists Duclos, Pauquet and Toutoundji

Café Salle Pleyel, 16 March 2012 Here are some of my favorites from the 30 or so producers supported by these oenologists attending this press tasting; Château Béard La Chapelle, Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2010; This predominantly Merlot wine is voluptuous and rich with its intense blackcurrant and black cherry fruit, ripe yet keeping the fruit's …

My Favorite 2010 Wines En Primeur

Last year in the first week of April I tasted a wide range of wines from the 2010 vintage and found the wines to be outstanding and generally a notch above the sensuous 2009 vintage. I think the 2010 vintage to be as good as 2005 across the board with its concentration of ripe fruit, …

Resumé of Primeur Week 2010 (1st week April 2011, Bordeaux)

My most complete tasting ever of the Primeurs and loved it. It is a great year full of rich fruit and smooth tannins - ripe grapes but with the freshness that is the signature of fine Bordeaux. Here are my favorites; PESSAC LEOGNAN (at Ch Malartic Lagraviere) Bouscaut Blanc:   ST EMILION (at Ch Couspaude) …

Tuscany Food & Wine Tasting at the Ateliers on the Quais in Bordeaux

Tuscan Food & Wine Tasting Wednesday 11th May Atelier de Dégustation, 22 Quai de Chartrons, Bordeaux (Cité Mondiale) Presented by Viviana Vechionne (www.maisondelatoscane.com) Wine 1 (white); IGT Malvasia di Toscana 2009 with « une cuillère gourmande with fennel and orange with breadsticks (rosemary, oregano, nuts) Pale golden colour, thick in the glass. At first a minerality …

Second Wines from Top Bordeaux Chateaux: verdict

I meet every month or two with a group of women who work in and around the Bordeaux Wine Trade (yes they do exist in this male dominated domain)  for a convivial wine tasting. Round at someone's house, a few bites to eat and a tasting that runs along the lines of; each person brings …

Fresh Fruit and Elegance…and it is Spanish?

We had just finished our sixth glass of a dark spicy, cherry sweet wine at our Winetasting club (all women working in the wine trade living in Bordeaux - Irish, English, French, Dutch representatives). The theme was 'Grenache/Syrah' and we were pretty much 'shirazed' out. Each of us girls brings a bottle and serves it blind to our …