Every year, the Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) organizes a welcoming dinner for journalists and members of the trade. This year, the event was generously hosted at Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere on the outskirts of the medieval town of Saint-Emilion, at the southern foot of the slope. The 19.5 hectare vineyard has a complex, outstanding [...]

“Look at this terroir!” I exclaim, having just tasted the 2012 Château Haut-Bailly and its ‘petite’ sibling, the 2012 La Parde Haut-Bailly during a visit to  the chateau during the week of En Primeur. As you can see in the picture above, the  soil consists of sand mixed with the gravel that gives the Graves [...]

  Thanks in part to the exhaustive efforts of WMG member Mark Golodetz and the generosity of two top St. Julian chateaux, members were treated to several vintages of Chateau Beychevelle and Chateau Leoville Barton. The vintages started as early as 1986 and up to 2010. We were lucky to have Philippe Blanc of Chateau [...]

Do you see this beautiful chateau in the picture above? During En Primeur week, owner Paulin Calvet walked down these famous stone steps to greet me and walk me up the impressive entrance of his Chateau. During this week, journalists are divided into small groups to taste the wines of various regions each day. I [...]

. So what fun to attend the special VinExpo “Master Class” on pairing Sauternes with Chinese food. I was very excited to attend for two key reasons: First, I won an AXA scholarship for my ideas on the subject, and second, a benefit of the scholarship was a day at AXA property Chateau Suduiraut picking [...]

Did any of you happen to read Neal Martin’s blog today on the eRobertParker.com site? I first met this eRobertParker.com wine columnist a few years back at one of the parties surrounding the tasting of the VDP “Grosse Gewachse” in Germany.  In person Neal is charming and a bit subdued, yet his columns are bold [...]

Jean-Jacques Dubourdieu  "So," you might ask, was it worth it to attend a very dressy event wearing snowboots, mittens, and all sorts of snow wear? The crowd checking coats and boots at a fabulous downtown space last week seemed to think so. 17 Bordeaux château owners poured their latest vintages (as well as some earlier [...]

  Visiting Pichon Longueville AXA generously hosted the winners of the AXA Millesimes scholarship offered to students of the Master of Wine educational program a week in October 2010. It was an incredible week of excitement, learning, travel, exploration, and a fairy tale few days at this incredible Chateau (see that second floor turret? That [...]

Chateau Prieuré-Lichine   In March of 2010, several Master of Wine students – myself included – were invited to visit several prestigious Chateaux in Bordeaux. We were each assigned a Chateau to cover, and I had the good fortune of being able to write about Chateau Prieure-Lichine. Our Visit A gorgeous bright blue sky greeted [...]

Henri Lurton I just returned from Bordeaux where I had attended En Primeur, a week long tasting for international fine wine journalists to taste the new 2009 vintage. I had the good fortune to catch up with Chateau Brane-Cantenac owner and oenologist Henri Lurton, whose grandfather bought the second-growth estate in 1925. All week long, [...]

Florence Cathiard, standing "Ah, you are my house guest this Thursday!" exclaimed the glamorous Florence Cathiard, who, with her husband Daniel, owns Smith Haut Lafitte in Bordeaux. Though I can’t quite remember if Madame Cathiard was actually wearing diamonds, she seemed to sparkle with them, such was the charm of her dazzling personality. To set [...]

Jean-Jacques & Florence Dubourdieu   So here I am in Bordeaux the Sunday before the beginning of En Primeur, where journalists will sample the new 2009 vintage. Already the word is that 2009 is a fantastic vintage, and as I had some great early tastes this week (and was warned not to write details!) I [...]

Chateau La Papeterie So, you might ask, what were some of my observations on my most recent trip to Bordeaux for En Primeur — a week when journalists, members of the trade, and others come to taste the 2009 vintage? Of course I had many – perhaps the most poignant was realizing that a surprising [...]

Gorgeous sunny weather is this beautiful city is always a treat. I am here today, March 15 2010, on a four day study trip with fellow students in the Master of Wine program. Happily, I’ve met most of the group during our Napa educational week and then during what is called a ‘Course Day’ in [...]

Sopexa JoLynn Howe (right) … so I will be in Bordeaux in a few weeks to attend En Primeur … and so appreciated the snapshot of some of the 2009s showcased by Sopexa’s Le Cercle Rive Droite today for journalists and members of the trade. The 2009s were showing remarkably well! At the same time, [...]

Wearing a bright red, very elegant, fitted jacket with glossy dark hair spilling over her shoulders, Noemie Ruelloux, communications manager for Chateau Haut-Bailly, welcomes me to the Chateau. Haut-Bailly is situated on the left bank of the River Garonne, south…

Bordeaux Map Bordeaux. The name says it all. This whisper of a word conjures up images of luxury, gorgeous chateaux, elegantly dressed aristocrats, and lavish, sophisticated living. We won’t even get into all the centuries of romance novel-style drama that must have included arranged marriages for the sake of building a family dynasty and all [...]

Sauturnes … yummy! Luscious, sweet white wines with exotic, upscale Indian cuisine – who would have imagined it? When I received the invitation to attend a Cru Classes tasting of Sauternes and Barsac (both sweet white wine appellations in Bordeaux, France) with a lunch to follow, I already knew what to expect to eat. We’d [...]

Sauturnes … yummy! Luscious, sweet white wines with exotic, upscale Indian cuisine – who would have imagined it? When I received the invitation to attend a Cru Classes tasting of Sauternes and Barsac (both sweet white wine appellations in Bordeaux, France) with a lunch to follow, I already knew what to expect to eat. We’d [...]

“Robert Parker spent an entire day here,” says the charming matriarch Annick Saturny, whose husband bought and created Château Tayac many decades ago. So far, this is the first Château I have visited that actually looks like the American ideal…