Wine Tour Day. I paid 99euro for a coach tour to 3 vineyards - all inclusive with lunch and wine tasting.
I set off into town in the car. Quickly discovered that parking in Bordeaux is expensive and all the street parks I could find had time limits (except for Sunday when France is closed). Found a parking building - shuddered at the rate of 20.80 euro tout la jour. Shuddered even more when after going to a café I went to pick the car up and it charged by tout la nuit as well - 25.40 euro. TH\hat is more than I pay for my parking for a week in Wellington.
The first stop was Chateau Gravas in Barsac which is in Appellation Sauternes. They only produce 2 wines - both sauternes. One is a more fruity wine produced from grapes that failed to produce botyritis. The other is a sauterne according to French regulation.
The vineyard has been in the family for several generations. The current owner also uses the winery as an art gallery and each year an artist is selected to produce works that appear in the winery for a year - in the old barrel hall. There is now a new hall which is in a separate building that has less problem with temperature fluctuations produced by people coming and going for wine sales.
The next stop was Chateau Suisac in Lalande de Pamerol. This is an fine old vineyard that has been in the family for many years as well. The house is full of paintings of the current owners grandparents and great-grandparents. The family also own a vineyard in Pamerol and one in Saint-Emillion. The property is just across the "river" - really a stream that marks the boundary between Pamerol and Lalande de Pamerol. It is less than 2km from Chateau Petrous (is that spelt right) which produces the dearest wines in the world. The Chateau Suisac wines sell for 11euros for the second label and about 30 euro for the Chateau Suisac label so is way better value for money. We had lunch there and Paul the host just kept puring the wine. We got to taste 2 vintages of Chateau Suisac and 3 vintages of the second label, and also the second labels from Pomeral and Saint-Emilion.
Last stop was Chateau Southard. This is vineyard was sold off a few years ago by the family to an insurance company which has rebuilt all the buildings - though retaning the original external appearance. The winemaking facilities are all brand new and state of the art. We only got to taste 2 wines Chateau Lamant 2004 (owned by the same company) and Chateau Southard 20007 - not a good year so only 43 euro a bottle as compared with 82euro for 2010 which was a good year.
After the tour I went and hada few drinks with Marie-Claude from Montreal I sat next to on the bus and a woman from Italy who works in London, but is about to be made redundant, whose name I forgot.
I failed to mention the "storks nests" in the pylons near Rochefort. When I saw the first one I thought it was genuine then I noticed every pylon along the side of the motorway had one. The pylons further back didn't - so is the risk storks distracting drivers or storks electrocuting themselves or storks getting on the road?
When I went to get dressed this morning I discovered I had no clean clothes left so I am waiting for my clothes to wash before I pack and head off to Bayonne. Sunday and once again I didn't get my act together enough to find a church.
I set off into town in the car. Quickly discovered that parking in Bordeaux is expensive and all the street parks I could find had time limits (except for Sunday when France is closed). Found a parking building - shuddered at the rate of 20.80 euro tout la jour. Shuddered even more when after going to a café I went to pick the car up and it charged by tout la nuit as well - 25.40 euro. TH\hat is more than I pay for my parking for a week in Wellington.
The first stop was Chateau Gravas in Barsac which is in Appellation Sauternes. They only produce 2 wines - both sauternes. One is a more fruity wine produced from grapes that failed to produce botyritis. The other is a sauterne according to French regulation.
The vineyard has been in the family for several generations. The current owner also uses the winery as an art gallery and each year an artist is selected to produce works that appear in the winery for a year - in the old barrel hall. There is now a new hall which is in a separate building that has less problem with temperature fluctuations produced by people coming and going for wine sales.
The next stop was Chateau Suisac in Lalande de Pamerol. This is an fine old vineyard that has been in the family for many years as well. The house is full of paintings of the current owners grandparents and great-grandparents. The family also own a vineyard in Pamerol and one in Saint-Emillion. The property is just across the "river" - really a stream that marks the boundary between Pamerol and Lalande de Pamerol. It is less than 2km from Chateau Petrous (is that spelt right) which produces the dearest wines in the world. The Chateau Suisac wines sell for 11euros for the second label and about 30 euro for the Chateau Suisac label so is way better value for money. We had lunch there and Paul the host just kept puring the wine. We got to taste 2 vintages of Chateau Suisac and 3 vintages of the second label, and also the second labels from Pomeral and Saint-Emilion.
Last stop was Chateau Southard. This is vineyard was sold off a few years ago by the family to an insurance company which has rebuilt all the buildings - though retaning the original external appearance. The winemaking facilities are all brand new and state of the art. We only got to taste 2 wines Chateau Lamant 2004 (owned by the same company) and Chateau Southard 20007 - not a good year so only 43 euro a bottle as compared with 82euro for 2010 which was a good year.
After the tour I went and hada few drinks with Marie-Claude from Montreal I sat next to on the bus and a woman from Italy who works in London, but is about to be made redundant, whose name I forgot.
I failed to mention the "storks nests" in the pylons near Rochefort. When I saw the first one I thought it was genuine then I noticed every pylon along the side of the motorway had one. The pylons further back didn't - so is the risk storks distracting drivers or storks electrocuting themselves or storks getting on the road?
When I went to get dressed this morning I discovered I had no clean clothes left so I am waiting for my clothes to wash before I pack and head off to Bayonne. Sunday and once again I didn't get my act together enough to find a church.
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