Way back while I was doing my WSET 3 last year, I mentioned to some of my classmates that I was going to Bordeaux. Verity's sister had been to Bordeaux and had gone on an excellent wine tour. Bordeaux Vertigo was the name of the tour company and Bogdan was the name of the guide.
I had already booked another tour company at this point - the number one guy in Trip Advisor - but I hadn't actually paid yet. Neither company was cheap but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I wanted to make sure that I made the right choice. I started emailing Bogdan and, really, had a very nice impression of the man so I decided to go with him.
That was not a mistake.
Bogdan is from the area and has a very good knowledge of, not only the wine, but also of the history of the area. We spent time discussing terroir, wine growing, French schools, culture, the Yellow Vests, cuisine, and wine making. He had many interesting stories and anecdotes that he shared with us during the tour. And he selected four excellent wineries that were somewhat different but all made great wine.
The final winery that we went to was with the quiet brother - Julien - or St. Julien. The winery is called Chateau Gruaud Larose and was a great way to finish off our tour.
She also snapped a photo of the two of us standing at the top of the tower.
Like the other wineries, we spent time with their fermenting tanks at the beginning of the tour. It wasn't repetitive, though, as we heard something different from each tour that we did.
We first went to this barrel room. Do you know why the middles of the barrels are red? That's so when the winemaker is tasting or topping up and there is a bit of wine spilled, you won't have this unsightly streak running down the barrel.
Wineries in Bordeaux, since they are so sought after, are often bought and sold by wealthy families or big companies. In 1993, a big industrial group bought Gruaud Larose. They poured a whack of money into the winery, including building this show barrel room. With its gothic arches and careful lighting, it looks more like a cathedral of wine than a barrel room. It was a wonderful place to hang around for, even for just a few minutes! Unfortunately, the industrial company had financial difficulties and sold to the current owner in 1997 - leaving this wonderful barrel room.
I have to say that I love going into all of these libraries of amazingly old wine. Chateau Gruaud Larose has a pretty large library with the oldest being a bottle from (gulp) 1815. Oh, for an hour with me, the library room, a corkscrew and a glass....
Our guide, as I mentioned before, was Sarah. I'm glad she wasn't trying to sell us something because I would have bought five of whatever. She was very personable and had a great sense of humour. When you meet somebody in French, you sometimes say 'enchanté' which mean enchanted. I was a bit enchanted with Sarah!
Sarah poured us two different wines, their second label and their first label.
I have to say that I love going into all of these libraries of amazingly old wine. Chateau Gruaud Larose has a pretty large library with the oldest being a bottle from (gulp) 1815. Oh, for an hour with me, the library room, a corkscrew and a glass....
Our guide, as I mentioned before, was Sarah. I'm glad she wasn't trying to sell us something because I would have bought five of whatever. She was very personable and had a great sense of humour. When you meet somebody in French, you sometimes say 'enchanté' which mean enchanted. I was a bit enchanted with Sarah!
Sarah poured us two different wines, their second label and their first label.
The first was a 1996 Sarget de Chateau Gruaud Larose ($36). On the nose there were dark fruits like blackberry, blueberry and cassis. On the palate there were additional flavours of oak and cedar as well as a bit of leather. There was also a hint of red fruit. The wine was 57% Cab Sauv, 31% Merlot, 8% Cab Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec.This was not a terribly complicated wine but was very enjoyable. It was really smooth and round and, with its beautiful garnet colour, was ready to drink. I would rate this as Good to Very Good.
The other wine was a 2003 Chateau Gruaud Larose Grand Cru Classé ($325). This ruby wine had black fruit flavours such as plum, blackberry, cassis, and blackcurrant. It also had a bit of jamminess (but in a good way) with interesting flavours such as caramel and vanilla. There were also those wonderfully complex tertiary flavours such as leather, mushroom, earth and forest floor. This velvety smooth wine - smoother than the first wine - really struck me as a food friendly wine. The grapes that went into this wine was exactly the same proportion as the '96 Sarget - 57% Cab Sauv, 31% Merlot, 8% Cab Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec. It;'s a testament to the terroir that two wines with the same composition could taste quite different. This wine was complex, balanced, intense in its interesting flavours, and had a wonderful long finish. Although I don't think I could quite afford a bottle of this (although I am so glad that I got to try this) I would definitely rate this as Outstanding.
And that was the end of our wine tour. Bogdan drove us back to town and we had several spirited conversations about a variety of topics. He finally arrived back at our apartment and, after everyone thanked each other for such a great tour, we said goodbye.
Yes, this tour was a splurge. But for me, it made sense. We had the benefit of someone who knew the area really well and could get us into the wineries for private tours - something that we could not do on our own. We did do some touring on our own in Graves and St. Emilion which I will blog about later and they were fine to do on our own. But visiting the three big brothers (Estephe, Julien, Paulliac) and the soft, velvety sister (Margaux) was a once in a lifetime experience with Bogdan.
Santé!
And that was the end of our wine tour. Bogdan drove us back to town and we had several spirited conversations about a variety of topics. He finally arrived back at our apartment and, after everyone thanked each other for such a great tour, we said goodbye.
Yes, this tour was a splurge. But for me, it made sense. We had the benefit of someone who knew the area really well and could get us into the wineries for private tours - something that we could not do on our own. We did do some touring on our own in Graves and St. Emilion which I will blog about later and they were fine to do on our own. But visiting the three big brothers (Estephe, Julien, Paulliac) and the soft, velvety sister (Margaux) was a once in a lifetime experience with Bogdan.
Santé!
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