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Published: November 30th 2006
The Wine
Here are some of the wines we sampled...I am a packrat and collect the bottles.I think I am a little bit in love with Bordeaux. Can you tell from the title? I just spent a WONDERFUL three days there with my friends Dorothy and Janine, and even during the rainiest month of the year it was fabulous! What a beautiful city...dating back to pre-Roman Iron-Age times...full of ancient history, beautiful medieval buildings, bustling pedestrian shopping streets and a magnificent river that arcs gently towards the Gironde and the Atlantic Ocean. And who can forget the hundreds of thousands of vineyard acreage that distinguish Bordeaux as the wine capitol of France (of the world???)
Dorothy and I 'flew' down on the ultra-speedy TGV train on Friday morning to arrive in Bordeaux at about 11:30 in the morning. The worst part of the whole trip was waking up at 6 am and getting to Paris Montparnasse to catch the train!!! We arrived in Bordeaux to gray sky and drops of rain (England deja vu!), but since I knew it was supposed to be nice on Sunday I didn't let the winter weather get to me. After wrestling our tickets from the difficult tramway ticket-distributor, we zipped across town
Giant Tortoise & Robyn
I found this fellow in the Place de la Victoire...loved it! to find our hotel, right in the center of the city. That was the first nice surprise...the Hotel Studio only costs 13 a person per night for a triple room (whoo hoo!) but is located right behind the 'Triangle d'Or', a triangle of three big boulevards constructed c. 1700 that are the ritziest part of town. Not bad! Hooray for the Internet-era of competitive pricing.
Exemplary anecdote: I love breaking stereotypes. For any of you who still think the French may be cold, or anti-American, or simply ethnocentric, it is totally not true. The two guys at the front desk of the hotel were totally interested in hearing where we came from, and both had traveled extensively in the USA...one even lived on Park Avenue for two years while working for a top model!!! Both of them were quick to express their admiration for our french-speaking abilities, and eager to discuss politics with us...they are definitely aware of the government/public distinction in the States and realize that Americans are not a homogenous people who all think the same way. We had a lively discussion about franco-american relations and how important it is to travel in order to widen your
Marché de Noel!
This is definitely a good place for tourists...regional specialties, local population, gifts, and festive atmosphere all in one! horizons...perfect for an IR-junky like me! So that was also a good start to the trip.
Bordeaux the City (as opposed to the wine ; ) Our first stop in Bordeaux was the Marché de Noel, which had just been set up in the Allée de Tourny, a large rectangular square less than five minutes from our hotel. It's an outdoor market that lasts until New Year's, and there were tons of stalls selling everything from canelés (Bordelaise pastry specialty- very yummy!) to spiced hot wine, crèpes, Alsacian cuisine, decorative candles, games, Christmas crèche dolls, stuffed animals, clothes, jewelry-galore, alcohol, hand-made picture frames, household kitch, and more....the list goes on! At night the whole place was lit up with strings of Christmas lights and packed with locals enjoying the festive atmosphere. All of Bordeaux seemed to be there, and there was something for everybody: 20-somethings mingling at the bar, families with kids in tow, elderly couples strolling peacefully. A carousel and Christmas-tree market at one end of the square
completed the scene, which was utterly enchanting! Needless to say, we were in heaven, and I think we definitely spent at least 4 hours there over two
Monument des Girondins
This giant sculpture and fountain is located at the head of the Esplanade des Quinconces and dedicated to the Girondins of the French Revolution. The Girondins were a more moderate faction, several of whom came from Bordeaux. Unfortunately, they were all executed by the Jacobins. days... What a blast! I'm officially in the holiday mood now...only three weeks until I fly home for Christmas!
Bordeaux is the second-best city to visit at Christmastime...number one is Strasbourg, with it's world-famous Marchés de Noel, so I want to head there next...we'll see if I make it!
So we got a good initation to Bordeaux at the Marché de Noel, and then Dorothy and I strolled all around the city for a couple hours, taking in the Rue Sainte Catherine (principal shopping street), the Place de la Bourse (on all the postcards!), the Garonne River (twice as wide as the Seine and heavily tidal-influenced), the Place de la Victoire (giant round plaza at the other end of the city and popular student hang-out), and more... We visited the Musée de l'Acquitaine, which was very good, with a collection ranging from pre-Roman times to today. Acquitaine is the region of south-western France stretching along the coast from Bordeaux (the capitol) in the north to the border of Spain in the south. The whole climate is much warmer than Paris, even though it's on a parallel with New Brunswick...not a bad place to live! One interesting historical fact
Grosse Cloche
THIS is the Grosse Cloche of Bordeaux, which looks remarkably similar to the also-famous Porte Caillou. Seen at night, it's quite impressive! is that for many years Bordeaux was actually English, having passed to the English throne following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II, king of England. This was the Plantegenet dynasty which yielded Richard the Lionheart and Henry the VIII...quite a distiguished family! So Bordeaux, and especially its vineyards, were heavily influenced by the Anglo-Saxons. Lots of immigrants settled in the region later on, in the 1700s and 1800s, too, and lots of vineyards bear Irish, English, Scottish, or German names today. And ditto: all that Sottish-named Cognac you drink? Produced just to the north of Bordeaux...by French people! I thought that was interesting.
So Friday was fun and culturally/historically-educating. I love learning about the regions I visit; it makes me feel as though I've done a bit more than stroll around the city for 48 hours and pop into a few tourist shops! I was also happy to FINALLY find EXACTLY the right color picture-frame that I was searching for as a Christmas present for Dominique...my X-mas shopping is finally complete! One month in advance...pretty good! My suitcase is going to be completely filled with gifts coming home- no room for clothes!
We ate dinner
Chateau Kirwan
In the gardens in the front of the Chateau Kirwan on Saturday afternoon. at a nice French restaurant Friday night and split a demi bouteille of my first Bordelais wine. It was a Cote de Bourg from the Rive Droite (right side) of the Garonne, and while not my favorite, it was not bad either. The wines the next day would be better... Early to bed that night because we were exhausted...not sampling the lively nightlife for us!
Wine-Tour of the Medoc Region On Saturday we walked down to the train station (the Gare St. Jean) to pick up our friend Janine, and after a quick (but good and really cheap!) lunch at a cafe on the Esplanade Quinconces (a huge central park/fairground space) we went to the Office de Tourisme to catch our wine-tasting tourbus to the Medoc vineyards. If you ever go to Bordeaux, you MUST take a vineyard tour- they are a ton of fun, and hugely informative!
Our tour was guided by a really nice french woman who knew everything there is to know about the wine industry and history of Bordeaux (duh). It was really well organized and not too expensive- only 24 euro a student. Our bus went to the Medoc region on
Couche de Soleil vue de Kirwan
Emerging from Kirwan at the end of our tour we were greeting by a magnificent sunset...you only get them like this in the countryside! A good portent for the day to come... the Rive Gauche, just to the north of the city. This is undoubtedly one of the best-known wine terrains in the area, and produces world-famous names like Paulliac, St. Julien, St. Estèphe, Moulis, and Margaux. We visited two chateaux, one in the Moulis appellation, the other in the Margaux appellation, and got to taste both wines. Both are majority Cabernet Sauvignon, although (like virtually all French wines) they are a mélange (blend) of several grape varieties. The second-largest component is Merlot, and there was some Petit Verdot in the Moulis wine, as well as some Cabernet Franc in the Margaux. I learned that a Cabernet Sauvignon is fairly tannic, and I also learned that I don't like a wine to be too tannic...so while both were good (although apparently still a little too young) my favorite was a good St. Emilion we bought later that night to compare. St. Emilion is one of the other most famous red-wine appellations in the region, and comes from the Rive Droite...majority Merlot.
A Note on the Appellation System and Vineyard Distribution I am using the terms 'region' and 'appellation' here almost synonymously, because in France wines are classified according to a
Vue de Bordeaux
Seen from the top of the Tour Pey-Berland next to the Cathedrale Saint-André. What a gorgeous vista! geographical-territory system called the 'appellation system.' Any wine falling under this system has a mark "A.O.C."- "Appellation d'Origine Controlee". If it doesn't have this mark, it's not as good a wine. There are something like 150-300 of these AOC territories in France. Which makes it difficult to "learn" French wines, but also makes the process life-long and highly intellectual! No wonder people spend so much time drinking wine here...there is so much to learn!
This classification was created in 1855 to control the quality and labeling of wines, preventing wine-growers from free-riding on a high-quality neighboring region's reputation by putting the same name on their own bottle. Since all French wines are a blend of multiple grapes, rather than one single blend (like the California tradition), the best way to get to know French wines is by learning the region. The appellation system assigns wines to villages or regions, and strictly controls which wines are authorized to use an appellation. All wines seeking a certain appelation must adhere to certain standards of production, must use a set proportion of different grapes in their blending, and their annual production is capped. All of these measures ensure that the taste of
"La Vieillissement"
Barreled securely, these 'barriques'each contain about 300 bottles of wine, aging for at least 18 months before they will be bottled. The barrels are French oak and cost on average 300 euros each...replaced every three years at this Chateau- Maucaillou! a particular region is roughly uniform and identifiable. The best-quality wines have a village-appelation, such as Margaux, which is a village grouping around 10-30 different vineyards??. Margaux is in the Medoc appellation, the greater area stretching roughly 50 miles from Bordeaux towards to ocean.
So we visited the Medoc region, and within this region there are smaller village-appellations if high-quality. There are seven "top" villages in the Medoc...we visited a vineyard in the Moulis and the Margaux village region. Within these two villages there are multiple chateaux. (Getting confused???)
Each vineyard is called a chateau ("castle"), or a domaine...basically a family-run enterprise producing roughly 150,000 bottles a year on average. Some are owned by bigger companies, such as Chanel. We visited one of the largest chateau (Chauteau Maucaillou) in the Medoc and it has roughly 200 acres of vineyards...so pretty small. The second chateau we visited was the Chateau Kirwan (origin: Irish, now owned by a German family) in the Margaux appellation.
All the wines with the 'Margaux' appelation are known to be very good, but there is a definite hierarchy even within each appelation. In general, in Bordeaux, you have: 1st Grand Cru (super-good and really
Jardin Botanique
Popular jogging-spot for the Bordelais, as well as a nice spot for a Sunday stroll! expensive, only 10-30 in the whole region). Think Rothschild now, or Chateau Margaux (the eponymous domain from the village appelation we visited). Next, you have 2nd Grand Cru, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. After that, you have a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, a Cru Bourgeois Superieur, and lastly a Cru Bourgeois. Being the last on the list doesn't mean it's a bad wine, however- all the wines in Bordeaux are good! Some wines are not even classified, but they can still be good...the classification doesn't mean everything!
Chateau Maucaillou was a Bourgeois Superieur, and the Kirwan was a 3rd Grand Cru. Difference in bottle price c. year 2002: 20 euro vs 60 euro! Yikes! And you can spend WAY more for a really good millesime (year). Needless to say...I didn't.
One last thing: geographical distibution. In Bordeaux, the Rive Gauche red wines are majority Cab. sauvignon, the Rive Droite are majority Merlot, and the white wines to the south (Sauterne, Barsac, Graves) are sweet OR dry and majority Semillion, Muscadelle, or Sauvignon.
The reason for these distinctions is the that the soil is very different depending on the location. The Medoc is very gravely and pebbly, while the Rive
Place de la Bourse
This is the most commonly-reproduced iconic image of the city...the Place de la Bourse, seen reflected in the newly-installed 'water mirror' along the waterfront. Droite is more limeston-ey and hilly. Slope, soil, drainage, and altitude makes a huge difference, so vineyards adapt their production to the land- you pick the grape that grows best in a certain terrain. Hence, a high diversity of wines and cepages (types of grapes). (Ex: the region "Graves" (super-famous sweet white wines) gets its name from the "gravelly" soil...logical!)
Hopefully I have not TOTALLY confused you to this point, but the thing to take away is that Bordeaux wines are:
*incredibly numerous
*both red, sweet white, and dry white
*best known for the reds
*classified according to soil and appelation
*pretty darn good!!!
To learn more, go to: http://www.bordeaux.com/tools/Interstitiel.aspx?returnTo=%2fDefault.aspx&culture=
en-US&country=FR
Or
http://www.terroir-france.com/wine/bordeaux_map.htm
I better get back to Bordeaux the city before I transgress my limits of recently-acquired 'expertise'. Grandaddy, I know you'll have liked this previous section...we'll have to test out my wine-tasting abilities next visit!
So that was a very-educational and mellow Saturday afternoon. We saw numerous pretty chateaux and got to taste fine red wine...we even got to keep a classy wine class from Maucaillou! That night we ate in a little restaurant in the Place du Parlement and bought ourselves
Le 'Miroir d'eau' in Action!
Not JUST a mirror, the water-mirror also creates a mist periodically...transforming the space into a misty, mystical world! a bottle of St. Emilion (Rive Droite, remember, a Merlot!) to "compare"!!! Ultra-classy, we drank it in our hotel room out of engraved Maucaillou glasses and polished off a loaf of artisanal bread...hooray for vacation! We also took a tour of the city by night and found a giant blue lion sculpture that fascinated Janine and Dorothy...they named him Aslan...we took about 10 pictures. Go figure.
Sunny Sunday On Sunday we got up to brilliantly blue skies and warm weather: 65 + degrees! Immediately in the best of spirits, we strolled through the Botanical Gardens and spent several hours browsing through a giant antiques festival on the Esplanade Quinconces (the Brocante and the Foire d'Automne. There were hundreds of antiques dealers and numerous food stalls, and about a million people during the afternoon!!! The highlight of my day was finding a huge collection of antique silver souvenir spoons...which I promptly bought six of, to commemorate my travels of this semester. I think my fascination with these spoons mystified Janine and Dorothy...what
The Pont de pierre
The "Stone Bridge" which traverses the Garonne is equally beautiful by day or night! can I saw, I'm a throwback. ; ) We muched on almond cakes and canelés and baguettes from the numerous food stalls and sipped free apératif-samples, amounting to full stomachs but high spirits!
After our improvised lunch we walked all along the riverfront and visited the Cathedral Saint Michel and its flèche ('spire': the second tallest in France). Next, we visited the Cathedral Saint André and climbed the Tour Pey-Berland for fabulous views of the entire city. In the evening we detoured back by the Brocante to buy my spoons (needed to visit an ATM first!!!) and ended up back in the hotel with..what else...another bottle of alcohol, this time a bottle of Lillet, the Bordelais apéro of choice. We were modest...only drank half...and finished off our fabulous weekend with a good meal in an Indian restaurant. It was Janine's first Indian meal- ever- so that was kind of fun to initiate her! It was also a nice break from French food and baguettes...never thought I'd say that.
Monday morning came quickly, but the 8:30 train back to Paris passed smoothly and comfortably...I love the French transportation systems!!! Got back to Paris in time for lunch, a run, a shower, and some reading, all before my 5pm class Monday evening...can't ask for better than that! What a fabulous weekend. Bordeaux is possibly my favorite city here in France (after Paris, I suppose!) and one of the best trips I've made yet. Loved it! Hope you enjoyed it too, visiting vicariously through me!
Love from Paris,
Robyn
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Lawrence
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wonderful wine tasting journey
thanks for the absolutely educational and entertaining travelblog. i'm going to france in late May too, now i'm seriously considering Bordeaux in my long list of wanna-visits!