Day Four - The Wine Flows

April 26. This time the bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 9 a.m. (so our "let them eat cake, I don't care if I'm late" person didn't hold us up). We drove to a different region. On the first day we visited chateaus on the left bank, this day we were to visit the right bank. Our first stop would be a lovely little chateau, Petite Village, which looked new, but was old and much more modest than the ones from the day before. This place had just recently completed a renovation making it into a very modern facility. The most unusual aspect of this chateau was that the fermenting tanks were made from cement instead of stainless steel or oak. The other difference was that the proprietress of the chateau, who was also our guide, was an American. This lady had been in France for the past 17 years and worked various positions in the wine industry over the years. This chateau is also owned by an insurance company rather than a family like all the others we visited during the two days. I'm sure that's why such an expensive/extensive renovation happened. This place is also used to entertain clients. The property is around 25 acres located on a plateau Pomerol which is the highest point in the Bordeaux region and produces 60,000 bottles a year. The chateau and more of this area has no classification, however, this is one of the best growing areas in the Bordeaux region and produces some of the highest quality wines in the area. The property adjoining this (the white house on the left) was only 4 acres, produced 200 bottles which sold for over 4,000 Euros each. Sounds like a great way to make a living. We tasted two wines and bought a half bottle which was enjoyed when we returned to Paris.


Back on the bus, we drove through several small villages until we finally reached the town of St Laurent d'Arce and Chateau L'Hurbe de Cablanc. This chateau was different from the others in that the property was leased, but had been leased by the same family since 1919. One of the owners, Marc, was our guide, but did not speak English. He had an interpreter, Lionel, who was also a PR person for the region. This property was not a business venture, but truly a way of life for a family. When the crop is bad, Marc has to find an outside job which he has done in the past. Marc lives in the oldest part of the house which was built in in the 16oo's and his sister lives in the other half built in the 1700s. Their grandfather began the winery after World War I. Marc and his sister run the vineyard together and had recently hired Lionel to help promote the business. Marc gave us a tour and what was different was that the aging took place in the stainless steel fermentation tanks. I think this was a matter of efficiency and economics. The wines produced were not of the quality of the ones we had previously tasted, but were very good everyday wines. After our tour, we tasted several wines and had pate, crackers and cheese in Marc's backyard. Then Marc's wife served us a four course lunch in the chateau. It was lovely with the French doors opened on both our left and right sides, a slight breeze passing through the room. The woman was amazing to be cooking a wonderful lunch for 20 strangers (even though I realize she was compensated for this). We again started with a poached salmon (must be the thing to serve these days), then another white fish with fresh vegetables, cheese course and dessert was tarte tartine, along with three different wines served during the lunch. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Marc and lucky that Lionel was at the same table. What was interesting was that Marc ate the opposite of how I was taught a Frenchman ate. He held his fork in his right hand and shoveled the food in. He was always the first to finish each course! But he was happy to pass more wine around to all of us. The wines were quite good and sold for less than 5 Euros each so we bought a couple bottles. Cheap wine with a year on the label, it must be good.

We said our goodbyes and boarded the bus for our last tour at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. This property has been around for centuries, but was bought by a successful French couple (almost celebrities), in 1990. They sold everything to acquire this place. What is wonderful about them is that they are very concerned about the environment and built the main public building and storage area out of recycled materials and do not use pesticides on their vines. All grapes are hand-picked. The property at 150 acres was the largest of all the places we visited, and they produce around 200,000 bottles a year. Also on the property is the Caudalie Spa which the owners' daughter runs. I forgot the name of our tour guide, but she was friendly and very French. We toured the fermentation area with oak tanks instead of stainless steel like most of the others. Then on to the cellars and a visit to the cooperage which is the on-site barrel maker. Most chateaus purchase their barrels, but this chateau decided that is was actually more economical to have a full time barrel maker. The barrel maker turns out two barrels a day, 600 barrels a year, so there is still a need to purchase some barrels. From there we went to the tasting room where one of the owners, Florence Cathiard, greeted us. She was quite charming and showed us the "James Bond" room which was a secret party room beneath the tasting room. The floor opened up and we were led downstairs to a very dark room with one back-lit wall with a blown-up picture of grapes. She explained that it wasn't quite finished yet, but it was a fun place to be. That concluded our tour.

We arrived back at Bordeaux around 6 p.m. Since our day consisted of mostly eating and drinking, that evening we had only salad for dinner--and calvados afterwards.

Day Three - Let the Tasting Begin

April 25. After the hotel breakfast of croissants, yogurt, fruit, juice and coffee, we all met in the hotel lobby around 8:30 a.m. and were on the tour bus by 9 a.m. (you always have to wait for someone!). Since we did not rent a car while in Bordeaux, the bus allowed us the opportunity to see the suburbs and countryside outside of the city. Our tour guide was Wendy who was extremely knowledgeable of the wines and the area. Besides Wendy, we were greeted at each chateau by another guide who spoke English. We traveled for about 45 minutes until we reached our first stop shown above, Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste which is located in the Pauillac region. In my opinion, the first chateau was the best, but the others all had their charm. This chateau has been producing wine for over 160 years. It was also one of two chateaus we visited that had an official classification. The current owners purchased this property and business in 1978 and it showed that they had put a lot of time and money into this venture. Our guide was Simone who spoke perfect English and was very friendly and helpful. We toured the property grounds first, then entered the area where the grapes first are sent after the harvest where they are hand-picked. Once the grapes have been picked and selected, they are placed in large stainless steel tanks for a few months. This is where the fermenting takes place and when the winemaker is pleased with the results, the fermenting is stopped. From there, the grapes are transfered to French oak barrels and are kept in the barrels for eighteen to twenty months. Air can enter through the oak and too much air is not good. This process is closely monitored to make sure that the barrels are kept full at all times, so they are topped off with wine from the same vintage on a rotating basis. After about 9 months, the wine is filtered and transferred to new barrels and the aging process continues for at least another nine months to a year. Two and an half to three years after the harvest, the wine is finally bottled and stored for another three years before it is released to the public. At Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste Simone explained that the wine still was not quite ready for consumption, but would be in another couple years. It was recommended that Bordeaux wine needs to age at least eight to ten years and the longer the better. The chateau is located on approximately 90 acres and produces 300,000 bottles each year. After our tour of the chateau, the best part took place--the tasting. We were only given one wine to taste (they only made three types which were various grades of the same wine). At least we were served a sizable amount for the tasting. This is where Ken and I learned how to identify a young wine from a wine that is truly ready for drinking. The wine we had was 2003 which was a very unusual vintage and matured slightly sooner than usual. It was absolutely delicious. We spent about a half hour tasting and admiring the tasting room and the view outside.

Back on the bus, and off to Chateau Maucaillou in the Medoc region. The drive only took about 20 minutes to reach the next chateau. We were greeted by our guide, Nadine, whose English was not quite as good as Simone's, but we did understand her. This chateau also is on approximately 90 acres and produces 300,000 bottles each year but had a larger selection of wines. What we found out was the the French government controls how many bottles each chateau may produce. This chateau was quite old, but the buildings we were shown were much newer. Nadine showed us the facility and explained the wine making process which was similar to Grand-Puy-Lacoste, but as we found each chateau did something a little different than the others, be it the fermenting process, aging process, barrels, etc. This chateau also hand-picked their grapes. After our tour, we where treated to three different types of wines along with hors-d'oeuvres of French bread and pate. From there we were lead to a dining room where we had a wonderful five course lunch with a different wine for each course. We started with soup, then a poached salmon, the main course was a white fish, the cheese course with a selection of five different ones to choose from, then the dessert of creme brulee, coffee, and after we couldn't eat another bite, the chef brought out homemade chocolates--just perfect!

After our lovely lunch, we were off to the last stop of the day, Chateau Rauzan-Gassies, which was in the Margaux region. This chateau dates back to the 1700's and has 50 acres. The owner is now the daughter of the family that have held this since 1945 and we were fortunate to have her as our guide. This chateau had a higher classification than the first one we visited, but I found the wine a little better at the first. This chateau chose to machine pick their grapes, but there were later sorted by hand. The reason for the machine picking was that the grapes could be picked in an afternoon once it was determined that they were perfect for picking. Machine picking also eliminated the need to round up 40 people to do the picking and the threat of weather ruining the crop. The building was a combination of old and new and done very tastefully. The cellars and fermenting tanks were located in original buildings, but the tasting/boutique room was a new building. At the tasting we tried three different wines which included a Margaux. In the background of the picture is a chalkboard with wines and prices. At the top of the list was a 1966 wine being offered for 160 Euros. One woman from our group bought a bottle of that wine! Ken and I bought a bottle but it was closer to 25 Euros for a 2001 vintage. The bottle we bought was put in a box and tied with a ribbon with the chateau's name woven into it. We got the same packaging as the more expensive bottle! By now it was after 4 p.m and back to the bus for our ride back to the city. After all the tasting Ken and I, we didn't feel like we had been drinking a better part of the day. Good wines treat you well. We were back around 5:30, brought our purchases (2 bottles) back to the hotel, then went out for a long walk. We were still full from our lunch so Ken and I only had salads for dinner.

Day Two - Off to Bordeaux

April 24. Since our train did not leave until 12:30 pm we did not set an alarm clock and woke up around 8 am. Showered, ate our supermarket breakfast and watched CNN, packed one suitcase for both of us and just took our time getting ready. We had booked this room for nine nights so it may sound extravagant keeping a hotel room in Paris for the three days we were gone, but it actually would have cost us more to stay one night, leave for three days and come back and check in for another five. It doesn't make sense, but anyway, it was cheaper this way.

Off to Gare de Montparnasse via le taxi. This was a way to see some of the city without wearing out our feet. The ride took about 15 minutes and we arrived in plenty of time for our train. This gave me time to get the cup of coffee I had been craving all morning.

Trains in France usually run very efficiently and on time. We boarded our train and sat at our assigned seats. The train we were on ran non-stop between Paris and Bordeaux at a speed of around 180 mph and the ride was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours. The seats were comfortable, but actually Amtrak is a little roomier. Anyway, take-off time came and went, but no movement. After about 15 minutes, an announcement was made in French that Ken and I did not understand. Another announcement was made later, people laughed and again, we had no idea what was causing the delay. After sitting there for an hour, the train finally left, and made up some time by arriving only 30 minutes late. A taxi took us to our hotel, and we later realized that he took a much longer route than he needed to take. So much for taking advantage of Americans. This is the outside of the Bordeaux train station in the picture just above.

We had not done much homework on Bordeaux, but it is a large city and quite old. Like Paris, it is easy to get around on foot or by public transportation. Cars are not allowed in the center of Bordeaux although the streetcars run through the streets. Bordeaux has money! All the high-end shops are there along with the quaint ones and numerous restaurants. It is a vacation destination for many French citizens. We were there for a wine tour of the area. We had booked this tour last fall and planned our vacation around this and a special dinner our last night in Paris.

We unpacked, got a map of the area at the hotel front desk and went off to investigate. We found a lovely chocolate shop, so of course we had to buy something there. Ken found a model train shop which was also high-end. He managed to refrain from buying anything even though he spent a while in the shop.

Our hotel was down the street on the left of the rounded building. It is the Hotel Continental which you can barely see in the picture at the top of this entry. Across the street is a performance center which is undergoing major renovations and was closed.

We had to be back at the hotel for an introduction to our wine tasting tour. This was conducted by Arblaster & Clark which is a British tour company. We found them on the internet and since they spoke the same language as Ken and I, we would get more out of this than a good buzz. Well, we messed up and arrived an hour late. We never rechecked our itinerary for the tour and relied on our travel weary brains instead. They were gracious, and two other people actually arrived after us. We did get to taste several of the local wines and were given a history and explanation of the wineries and classifications. There were 20 people in our group which was a great size. Ken and I were the only Americans with this group. After the introduction, we had dinner at a brasserie, I do remember having sausage and calvados afterwards.

Burda 8433

This jacket has been cut out since Memorial Day, but I did not have a chance to work on it until late June. The muslin for this was made prior to Memorial Day and fitting this was fairly easy. Anyway, I posted my review on Pattern Review. This jacket did not give me any problems and I was very happy with the drafting, especially the sleeves. I made some changes to this pattern leaving off the cuffs and just finishing the slits at the wrist. Once again I decided to underline this jacket with silk organza. This stuff is really easy to work with and provided just enough body so that the linen of this jacket doesn't go limp. I finished off the seams with rayon seam binding which turned out much easier to do that I had originally thought. Yeah!--I'll definitely use this technique again. Well I have already worn this to work since it fits in quite well with what I already own. Anyway, a black jacket usually works most of the time. No inside pictures since the details just won't show up. Maybe I'll make one up in a lighter fabric and post that.


One thing that held me up was that my sister-in-law, Nadine, came to visit with her boyfriend on their way to Ireland. They live in Phoenix, so Boston is a definite vacation destination for them since it is so different than the desert. They stayed with us for four days during which time we visited the annual crafts fair in Cohasset (where the very well-to-do live by the ocean), ate out most nights and spent Sunday along the Coastal Wine Trail. My husband, Ken, and I first followed this last year and just loved it. The wineries on this trail are very much like the one in the Finger Lakes, New York.

We only had an hour drive from our house to the first stop, Westport River Winery. We arrived a hour before they opened so we went off looking for a place to have a quick lunch. We found a place on Main Street, which was more of a rural road than the name suggested and found a place named someone or other's dry good and kitchen. There were two young women (the cooks) in the rear of this gift shop who served wonderful homemade sandwiches, soups and all types of dessert goodies. Of course, we all had dessert. When we arrived back at the winery, they were open and we decided to take a tour which took an hour. At the end of the tour, we did our tasting outside overlooking the vineyards. This winery specialized in champagne since it grows so well in this part of the country. The tour brought back all hat Ken and I had learned when we visited Moet & Chandon back in 2001. Anyway, it was a perfect day for tasting, around 75 and sunny.

Then off to Sakonnet Vineyard which was about a 20 minute drive down windy back roads. This place is also in a lovely setting, but I guess we were so absorbed in the tasting we forgot to take pictures. Sakonnet has been around for a while. Ken and I remember buying their wine back home before we had kids (and they are now both Marines, so it was quite a while ago). Anyway, it is worth the stop.

Our last stop was Greenvale Vineyards. They have one of the prettiest barns I have ever seen. All tasting takes place in the barn. This was the most low-key, less crowded place of the three we visited. When I retire, I want to work here pouring wine. What a life!!

Needlesstosay, we did also buy. We have a wine rack in our cellar which holds 126 bottles and it was getting a little bare, especially lacking in white wines. So this little adventure helped us stock up until we go off to the Finger Lakes for our annual wine gathering trip.

After Greenvale, we headed for Newport, RI. Nadine and Vic had never been there, even though I have been trying to talk them into visiting this place. Once there, they loved it. We spent our entire time on the waterfront looking at the small shops and taking in the views. We had dinner at a restaurant on the water, and of course, had wine with our meal. Sounds like our day was a big drunk, but trust me, it really wasn't. Everything was spread out over the entire 10 hour period and we really did not drink that much at each winery since they give out only a couple sips of each wine. Anyway, at least Ken and I have learned after a taste to dump our wine into the vessel provided at each winery. Did you see Sideways? Remember towards the end of the movie when Miles (Paul G) was at a winery tasting room and drank out of a pitcher--that was the wine leftovers everyone dumped. Mind you, we only drink from wine glasses.