| Last spring I was invited on a wine-lovers dream | | | | is primarily the St. Emilion region which focuses on |
| vacation - a tour of several major wine regions to | | | | merlot. |
| barrel sample the latest vintage. The French believe | | | | We started our Bordeaux tour in St. Emilion at |
| the 2005 vintage could be the best in 40 years. As | | | | Chateau Cantenac. Other local wineries toured |
| this is occurring now for the 2006 vintage (and is an | | | | included Chateaus Ausone, Cheval Blanc and Angelus. |
| annual event), I thought this experience is worth | | | | Of these, I was struck by the sheer elegance and |
| sharing. | | | | silky texture of Cheval Blanc and the layers of black |
| Our first visit was to the Rhone Valley. Northern | | | | fruit in Chateau Angelus' wine. These were two of |
| Rhone is mountainous and has steep vineyards. The | | | | my favorites. |
| primary red grape is Syrah, with bold, spicy and | | | | To give us an overview of the 2005 Bordeaux |
| peppery notes. We visited Domaine Vernay and | | | | vintage, we visited several leading wine wholesalers. |
| were treated to outstanding 2003 - 2005 vintages of | | | | As some tasting rooms had samples from literally |
| Syrah. We had in-depth conversations concerning | | | | hundreds of Chateaus (wineries), I asked the staff to |
| proper root stock height, techniques to force the | | | | please show me the top 20 in the room to narrow |
| roots to grow deep down into the soil, leaf purging, | | | | the field. You had to constantly use spit buckets to |
| trellising the new shoots and the use of organic | | | | survive. In general, the 2005 vintage is big, tannic and |
| fertilizers. Grape growing, after all, is farming. | | | | has layers of fruit. It should prove to be a great |
| Next we traveled to the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region | | | | vintage. |
| in Southern Rhone. We visited Chateau Domaine | | | | We started our left bank tour in the Northern Medoc |
| Berthert-Nayme, where the vineyards are literally | | | | region and worked our way south. The appellations |
| covered with round, baseball-sized limestone from the | | | | we covered included St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien, |
| nearby Rhone River. The friendly Chateau owners | | | | Margaux, Graves, Pessac-Leognan and Sauternes. We |
| generously treated us to a sumptuous dinner. To | | | | visited from four to eight wineries per day. Probably |
| reciprocate their hospitality, last October, the same | | | | our most impressive single day included Chateaus |
| Chateau owners were in the United States for an | | | | Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Haut-Brion and Chateau |
| extensive wine tour and we were pleased to | | | | d'Yquem. Without question, these are some of the |
| entertain them at our home. That evening, we | | | | best wines I have ever tasted. |
| enjoyed American fare and a selection of local and | | | | The Chateaus themselves were magnificent and |
| California wines. | | | | some were virtual works of art. I can better |
| Heading west toward Bordeaux, we traveled to the | | | | appreciate the sense of pride the French feel |
| Cahors region and visited the Clos Triguedina winery, | | | | towards their wine industry, with its rich history and |
| whose wines have been used by President Chirac for | | | | tradition. I was truly barreled over in France by their |
| state dinners. They make a wonderful red with 100 | | | | architecture, culture, cuisine, warm hospitality and the |
| percent malbec grapes called Prince Probus, an | | | | 2005 vintage. Magnificent! |
| elegant white dessert wine and a specialty wine using | | | | As this trip covered wines ranging from Rhone's, |
| ancient wine-making method which dries the grapes | | | | dessert wines and Bordeauxs, their diversity does |
| in an oven before the fermentation process. This | | | | not allow for specific food pairings nor specific |
| darkens the color, concentrates the flavors and is | | | | recommendations this month. |
| aptly named Black Wine. | | | | Please visit your local wine merchant and ask for their |
| For our second week, we traveled to Bordeaux, | | | | recommendations. The 2005 vintage is probably not |
| divided by the Gironde River into two major wine | | | | yet available, but the 2000 and 2003 vintages were |
| regions. The left bank includes the Medoc and Graves | | | | excellent. The only current vintage that is average |
| regions featuring cabernet sauvignon. The right bank | | | | below average is the 2002 vintage. |