A celebrity in Bordeaux and throughout the wine world, Professor Denis Dubourdieu has been Professor of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux since 1987. He owns five wineires (Château Doisy-Daëne, Clos Floridene, Château Reynon, Château Cantegril and Château Haura) and is a widely respected consultant to some of the best Chateau in Bordeaux, [...]

Chateau Kirwan was generous enough to host a fabulous tasting of the wines from Moulis-en-Medoc, Listrac-Medoc, Margaux and the Medoc.  Co-Owner  and publicist Sophie Schyler-Thierry – always stunningly dressed – met us at the door and escorted us into the tasting. As you can imagine, this tasting offered some of the best wines in Bordeaux [...]

It was a delightful treat to blind taste the 2012 vintage of Saint Julien, Pauillac, Saint Estephe and Haut Medoc at 3rd Growth Chateau Lagrange.  Head winemaker Bruno Eynard welcomed journalists to the Chateau in a charming fashion, and made everyone feel comfortable. Given the four regions to be tasted, it was a rather challenging [...]

I love all the wines of Bordeaux, yet there is something so unique about Graves and Pessac-Leognan. This blind En Primeur tasting was very exciting for exactly that reason! Latour-Martillac were excellent hosts, and as I wrote before, the hosting chateaux all scored very well so they must have known early on they had a [...]

Fabulous tasting of wines from Chateau Beauregard for En Primeur on April 10 … What was most interesting the entire week, the Chateau hosting the tasting often had the highest rated scores! In earlier posts, I explained that two groups of journalists (including myself) taste “blind” in that we make our notes before we get [...]

Always such a pleasure to visit Chateau Cheval Blanc!   The 2012 vintage was challenging … buds broke later than usual, and the vines grew very unevenly in April as a result of the difficult weather conditions.  The harvest began on September 27th for Merlot and October 6th for Cabernet Franc. Despite this, the composition [...]

How curious an entire year has passed since I last sipped various vintages of Chateau La Faurie Peyraguey with fellow journalists, under the delightful care of technical manager Eric Larramona, an attractive man in his thirties who looks a bit like a very handsome Clark Kent (you know, Superman) with dark hair, sleek designer glasses, [...]

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 [...]

So the Tasting of Sauternes and Barsac this year was at La Tour Blanche — very generous of them to host the tasting this year! As always, I am in one of the two “blind” tasting groups which means that we all taste the wines and write our notes without knowing the winery. The other [...]

“Oh, you’re coming to our Chateau Wednesday night!,” says Jose Sanfins, technical director of Chateau Cantenac-Brown in Margaux. We have just exchanged cards, and are sitting together at a festive Diner d’accueil at Chateau Canon la Gaffeliere in Saint-Emilion.  It is Monday night – the kickoff night for En Primeur 2013 – and over a [...]

“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 [...]

A lovely experience visiting Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Capdemourlin during En Primeur 2013! This chateau in Saint-Emillion is said to be the oldest in the region and had been in the family for hundreds of years. At the end of the 1970s, Jacques Capdemourlin established the unification of the vineyards, grouping together a total of [...]

  John Lewis Brown purchased what would be Chateau Cantenac Brown at the start of the 19th century, put his name on it, and designed the chateau in the Tudor style. The property changed hands several times until the latest to the famous Cognac producer, Remy Martin,  who then sold it to AXA, the insurance [...]

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 [...]

“What a gorgeous chateau!” I am here, inside Chateau Lafton-Rochet, speaking with Basile Tesseron, the son of the owner. Other journalists from around the world are here to taste the 2011 vintage of wines from Saint-Julien, Pauillac, Saint-Estephe, and Haut-Medoc. These represent some of my favorite vintages in Bordeaux and overall, the quality is excellent. [...]

    On April 4, I was invited to a fabulous party celebrating the marriage of art and wine. Each year, Henri Lurton, owner and winemaker of the 2nd Growth Brane-Cantenac in Marguax, invites an artist (of song, photography, other forms of art) to kick off the new vintage. Last week,  Eric Boissenot, a famous [...]

  See that turret? Can you imagine how exciting it would be to spend a few nights in it? That was one of the most incredible experiences of my life living in that fairy tale castle for a few days as a result of a scholarship I won from an AXA sponsored competition for Master [...]

  “Welcome!” says vivacious yet petite Laure d’Aramon, nee Manencourt, who grew up at Chateau Figeac. The driver has just deposited me at this famous wine estate in Saint-Emilion and since I have a small collection at home, am very excited to talk about the wine and taste some classic vintages during dinner. At 8:00, [...]

“2011 was a tricky year that required precision and care,” Florence Cathiard explained, standing in the picture above near husband Daniel, before a tasting of the 2011 Smith Haut Lafitte vintage.  “It was especially important to pay close attention to the tannins.” Luckily, all the care of the Smith Haut Lafitte team worked out, for [...]

“Do you know the significance of a golden carrot? Especially when 14 people are dining with you?” The spell-like meaning of a carrot with a gold sauce, served to 14 people, is luck. Perhaps today at En Primeur with the tasting of Haut Medoc and Pauillac and Saint Estephe it means “luck for the vintage” [...]