France’s Quintessential Wine Village

                               Grand Cru vines surround the medieval village of St. Emilion

Out of the several hundreds of wine villages in France, the one I would pick to visit is o St. Emilion in the Bordeaux district.  Located <25 miles east of the city of Bordeaux, this village has it all:   enchanting history,  stunning hilltop location surrounded by a sea of vines, spectacular medieval architecture, and of course stellar wines.  I’m in St. Emilion today and this town of 2,000 feels like it may have doubled in size---it’s swarming with visitors from around the world who have come for the annual Ban Des Vendanges (wine harvest festival).    

St. Emilion is named after an 8^th Century monk who was traveling to the Holy Land.  As the legend goes, when the monk reached Bordeaux his gourd of water supposedly turned to wine.  He took this as a sign that he was supposed to stay there….and he did so until his death, taking care of the sick pilgrims who were also bound for the Holy Land.

       St. Emilion's limestone was used to build most of the grand buildings in the city of Bordeaux

The village of St. Emilion is legendary for its limestone.  Bordeaux's Opera House and its beautiful Stock Exchange buildings are just a few examples of stone from St. Emilion.  Quarrying has left St. Emilion with large underground areas from where the limestone blocks were removed.  Some of these subterranean parts are so large that they will fit hundreds of people.  Others are small chambers with secret passageways under St. Emilion.  

The limestone also serves an important purpose in the area's wines.  Grapes love limestone soil because it provides a perfect drainage system.   Many of St. Emilion's vineyards sit on top of subterranean caverns from where stone was quarried.   When touring these underground caves it’s normal to see vine roots cascading down through the ceiling from vineyards located 20-30 feet above.

Centuries-old ramparts still surround some of the hilltop St. Emilion

The village of St. Emilion is also a medieval architectural jewel-box.  It’s no wonder that several movies have been filmed here as the city appears much as it was > 500 years ago. The United Nation’s cultural arm now protects the entire village and its surrounding vineyards.  Under UNESCO, no changes can be made without approval of the World Heritage Council.     

Wine-Knows has several special events planned this weekend.  Tonight is a private dinner at Chateau Coutet with the owner/winemaker, and tomorrow is dinner at Chateau Guadet at the owner’s home.  Sunday Wine-Knows will breakfast with the Mayor of St. Emilion at City Hall, and then indulge in the festivities of the harvest festival:  the blessing of the wine at a formal mass, followed by a 3-4 hour lunch with the members of St. Emilion’s esteemed Jurade.

If you're ever in southwest France, St. Emilion is definitely worth a detour.  Plan to spend at least a couple of nights as there is much to soak in...wine included.

Bordeaux’s Right & Left Banks

              The Gironde Estuary divides the Bordeaux wine region into Right & Left Banks

Bordeaux is mecca for any serious wine lover.  This wine region is massive (eight times larger than the Napa Valley and has >7,000 wineries).  Bordeaux is divided into several districts with sub-regions.  Today, we’ll discuss the two largest areas, the Right and Left Banks---home to some of the world’s most famous wines and wine-making chateaux.

The Bordeaux wine area is naturally divided by a huge river estuary called the Gironde.  Everything west of the Gironde is referred to the “Left Bank.”  This area is also called the Medoc.  To the east of the Gironde are the "Right Bank" wine estates.   Cabernet Sauvignon is the "King" of the Medoc as the Left Bank climate and its gravel-based soils are perfect conditions for this hearty grape.  In contrast, the clay soil and harsher temperatures of the Right Bank work much better for the “Queen” of the Right Bank, Merlot.

The Left and Right Banks also differ in the size of their wineries, as well as their wine laws and classification systems.  The Medoc (Left Bank) has very large estates while the Right Bank chateaux are significantly smaller in size.  The two areas are governed by completely different wine laws and methods of classifying their wines.  The wine chateaux of the Left Bank were classified in 1855 based on which estates at that time were the best at that time (this law has only been altered once in the last 161 years).  In contrast,  the Right Bank’s laws were enacted during the 20th century, mandate that wineries be classified every 10 years.

Wine-Knows will be visiting this September both the Right and Left Banks, in addition to two additional districts in southern Bordeaux, Graves and Sauternes.   The tour is sold out, but those lucky 15 persons to have a seat will be visiting some of the world's premier wineries.

Brilliant Bordeaux Bargains

I belong to a very high-end group of Bordeaux wine-lovers called the Commanderie de Bordeaux.  One has to be recommended to join, and then must be vetted via several personal interviews with members of the club. (Some of the questions I was asked were:  How large is your cellar?  What percentage of your wine is Bordeaux?  Burgundy?)  Many of their events are black tie and held in San Diego’s finest restaurants or at swanky private country-clubs….and older vintages of the top Bordeaux chateau are always served.  So, how could I turn down the opportunity to attend the Commanderie’s seminar on bargains from Bordeaux?

Each attendee was asked to bring a bottle of red from the 2011 vintage with a price of <$40.  Each person was asked to decant their wine for one hour prior to the seminar.  All wines were tasted blindly (always my preference).  Wines were tasted in flights of four.  Wines were scored in each flight with a 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th place rating.  At the end of the full tasting, the top three scoring wines were then re-tasted against one another and then re-ranked. 

Before I list the winner, let me say that the wines were quite diverse.  There were wines from both Left and Right Banks, as well as from Graves.   A few didn’t offer much in terms of aromatics.  Some were thin and didn’t have a finish.  As expected because of their youth, many had rough tannins.  A couple of the wines were inspid (my tasting notes indicated “no there, there” for aroma, taste & finish).

Here are the group’s top three scoring wines.  The first two wines are definitely worth buying, representing great quality/price ratio.  Both of these should be cellared for another 2-3 years minimum.

• 1^st place:  Chateau La Pointe (Pommerol)
• 2^nd place:  Chateau Montlandrie (Cotes de Castillon, just east of St Emilion)
• 3^rd place:  Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion (Pessac Leognan)
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Hope you find lots of bargains in 2016!

Bordeaux’s Wine Districts

The Bordeaux wine region covers a vast area, approximately 300K acres of vines, making it the second largest wine region in the world behind the Languedoc.  (Napa Valley, in comparison, has only 45K acres of vines.)  With 8.5K winemaking chateaux, Bordeaux is physically divided by the Gironde River and its tributaries, the Dordogne and Garonne, into the “Left Bank” and the “Right Bank.”  Both banks have sub-districts.

The Medoc, referred to as the Left Bank,  is the name used to denote the land located on the left side of the Gironde estuary.  The Gironde,  which empties into the Atlantic, exerts a powerful effect on grape growing.  In the case of its Left Bank, the soil as well as the micro-climate are dramatically impacted by the Gironde. 

The Right Bank is composed of two small wine areas, St Emilion and Pomerol.  Located on the right side of the Gironde, both of these districts are reigned by Merlot due to the clay soil.  Cabernet Franc is also prevalent, especially in Pomerol.  The climate and damper, cool soils of the Right Bank makes it difficult for Cabernet Sauvignon to fully ripen, hence, it is not used as often.

In contrast to the Left Bank’s large chateaux, the Right Bank’s St Emilion and Pomerol is composed of small producers.  Moreover, the Right Bank growing area is miniscule in comparison to the Medoc.  Similar to the Medoc, however, there is little white wine vinified in either St Emilion or Pomerol.

Graves, located on the Left Bank of the Garonne River, is directly south of the city of Bordeaux and encompasses the sub-regions of Pessac-Leognan as well as the sweet wine district of Sauternes.  The area is known for its intensely gravel-like soil brought down via the Garonne by glaciers during the Ice Age.  In fact, Graves in French translates to “gravel.”  Both red and white wines are produced.  Cabernet Sauvignon is the most prevalent red varietal.  Whites allowed by law include Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle.

Entre Deux Mers, the least known of Bordeaux’s wine regions, is named for its position between the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers (actually, the literal translation is “between the two seas.”).   The soil is alluvial, washed down from millenniums of sediment from the Pyrenees and Central Massif mountains.  One of Bordeaux’s largest districts, it produces mainly whites (most of which are sweet wines) although red is also vinified.   The area’s wine offers good value as prices are very fair and quality has been improving.

Coming on this Fall’s trip to Bordeaux?  We will visit all of the areas with the exception of the last, Entre Deux Mers.  Additionally, Wine-Knows will be renting wine-making chateaux in the Medoc, St Emilion and Sauternes.