• WHAT ABOUT BORDEAUX PRIMEURS 2008?

    par | Avr 8, 2009

    By SUZANNE MUSTACICH

    The 2008 Bordeaux futures campaign began under trying conditions. The economic crisis has flatlined sales.  The 2007 vintage remains largely unsold.  And bad press following a difficult growing season wrote off the vintage despite a glorious Indian Summer.  For months — gloomy winter months, the brokers and négociants worked hard to persuade the chateaux to dramatically lower their prices on the 2008 vintage.  Then there was an increasingly public demand that the First Growths cut prices by 50% and start the campaign early.  The First Growths, typically, remained silent — until the end of last month.

    I had already spoken to Denis Dubourdieu to get his opinion on the quality of the vintage.  I headed to Pomerol to talk to Michel Rolland, followed by a long drive to Yquem to talk to Pierre Lurton.  From Yquem, I stopped in Bordeaux long enough to pick up fellow journalist Jane Anson, and from there we drove to Pontet-Canet for dinner with Alfred Tesseron.  The following morning, I began the day at Mouton Rothschild with Philippe Dalhuin and Hervé Berland.  By the time I reached Branaire-Ducru for the Union des Grands Crus trade tastings, I felt I had a handle on the vintage. (suite…)

  • ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC FROM BORDEAUX

    par | Mar 20, 2009

    By DEAN TUDOR

    The Time and Date: Friday, March 13, 2009  2:30pm to 6:30pm
    The Event: comparative tasting of organic and biodynamic Bordeaux châteaux, as repped by The Living Vine.
    The Venue: Fine Wine Reserve, King Street West at Spadina Avenue, Toronto, (416) 593-9463.
    The Target Audience: wine media and private customers.
    The Availability/Catalogue: every wine was available, although private orders may have to be taken for some.
    The Quote/Background: there were 18 wines from across the Bordeaux region, and at various price points. There were more than one bottle of many Chateaus. Indeed, some of the wines had been opened on Thursday 12 for another tasting, stoppered, and offered again for a comparison. One such Chateau even had yesterday’s wine plus a bottling with a label for sale in France only, in addition to the export market. (suite…)

  • À BORDEAUX L’ŒNOTOURISME CHEMINE

    par | Juin 9, 2008

    By MICHAEL JOHNSON

    BORDEAUX, June 2008 — I got my first taste of œnotourisme recently when I drove up the Médoc to Lynch Bages to sample their Pauillac cru classé and to have a look around this splendid property. The visit was not part of the current Bordeaux drive to boost œnotourisme. I just needed a day out of Bordeaux.

    The Château Lynch Bages is well organised for outsiders like me. A group of about 10 Americans, English Spanish and a Brazilian gathered in the château office to await the afternoon guided tour. We all knew that foreigners like to call the place “Lunch Bags”. This is one of the most interesting tours because proprietor Jean-Michel Cazes has invested so heavily in modernisation while retaining old equipment and processing space for its historical value. The 19th century vats, the indoor railway for transporting full loads of grapes still intact, left us all with a better understanding of how wine-making has evolved.

    At the end of a one-hour tour, we were assembled for a dégustation – clearly the moment we had been waiting for. Animation among the group suddenly increased. To our surprise, Mr. Cazes wandered past our group. I called out “Mr. Cazes – nous sommes très impressionnés.” He gave me a steely look and retorted “On se connait?” Uh-oh, I thought. I had revealed my brash American ways once more. M. Cazes never slowed down his démarche. We brash tourists had three or four samples of his Pauillac, enough for a treat on the pallet and slight buzz, but just under the blood-alcohol limit for the drive back to Bordeaux. The guide warned us that local gendarmes like to ambush visitors just outside the château.

    The season for organised visits has just begun. Bordeaux’s Office de Tourisme is expecting more than 30,000 paying visitors for various daylong trips around the region – to Graves country, St. Emillion and the Médoc. The designation of Bordeaux as a Unesco Heritage site is expected to bring a 20 percent jump in general tourism and the winemakers hope to do better than that. A visitor is a potential buyer.

    Michael Johnson is an international journalist based in Bordeaux contributing frequently to the International Herald Tribune. He is author of four books, including “French Resistance: The individual versus the company in French corporate life”, and “Workaholism: The plague of our time”.

    Notre “homme à Bordeaux” est le journaliste international Michael Johnson. Auteur de quatre livres, dont « French Resistance » et « Workaholism », il collabore fréquemment à l’IHT.

    Three sites describe all the trips available: www.bordeaux-tourisme.com, www.ugcb.net, www.bordeaux-fete-le-vin.com

    See below Il y a 5 ans, l’œnotourisme… (suite…)

  • WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT VINOTHERAPY

    par | Avr 30, 2008

    Things you never thought you could do with grapes

    By MICHAEL JOHNSON

    VINOTHERAPYBORDEAUX — I had heard from friends about the marvels of vinotherapy and was curious to know what it really was – beyond simply drinking. Experts informed me it’s a process of applying balms and creams based on white grape pits to the body to slow the aging of skin.

    The center of the Caudalie vinotherapy phenomenon, near Bordeaux, invited me to experience a grape juice bath and special massage to prove that the procedure actually works.I was led to a private room with an enormous tub, its bottom and sides pierced with power-jet holes of various sizes. An assistant helped me slide into place as she emptied a vial of grape essence into the warm water, then she flipped a switch.

    The grape solution was actually a combination of seeds, skins and pulp of white grapes that vineyards put aside after pressing the grapes for their juice and eventually white wine. Before the Caudalie people came along, this sludge was disposed of as waste. (suite…)

  • DES GRANDS BORDEAUX 2003 CHEZ LAVINIA

    par | Fév 25, 2008

    Dégustation mémorable le vendredi 17 mars 2006 chez Lavinia, la boutique culte du boulevard de la Madeleine à Paris « Bordeaux 2003, un millésime hors norme ». 2003 on s’en souvient, a été une année de canicule sans précédent de mémoire de vignerons vivants et d’archives existantes.
    Il y a du beau monde sur les trois étages du magasin. Les représentants des Crus Classés sont en service commandé pour défendre leurs bouteilles.

    D’abord Pontet-Canet (Pauillac, 5ème CC, 76 €). Je suis heureux de revoir Alfred Tesseron et de faire la connaissance de sa dernière épouse : « Quand revenez-vous nous voir à Pauillac ? » demande-t-il courtoisement. Son vin est bien réussi, pas de bois, du végétal, de l’acidité, de la jeunesse surtout. Le 2ème vin, les Hauts de Pontet est à l’unisson, avec un peu moins de tout, à égale valeur. Alfred conseille une consommation rapide du 2003.

    Un petit coup de Fargues (Sauternes, 74 €) servi par le marquis de Lur Saluces lui-même (ancien propriétaire de château d’Yquem, devenu propriétaire de Fargues, château dde Sauternes déjà dans la famille). Je lui dis que nous avons été vampés le samedi précédent par l’Yquem1998 offert par Jérôme Ségur (voir billet dans « Lire, voir, boire ») : « N’était-il pas trop jeune ? » s’enquiert le marquis avec componction. Peut-être, mais cette jeunesse-là m’sieur le Marquis, comme disait Carette dans La Règle du jeu, on se damnerait presque pour l’avoir en soi-même chaque matin. Une question à mon tour : « Votre ambition pour Fargues est-elle d’égaler Yquem ? ». Il tend l’oreille puis répond avec précision et une impeccable diction : « Impossible, Yquem combine 115 parcelles sur 105 ha, Fargues est moins étendu et son terroir moins divers ». (suite…)