Month: February 2023

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Wake up to Bordeaux wine tourism in 2023

After a dormant winter, everything wine tourism is now coming back to life. Messages in my inbox announce the latest wine tourism offerings for the upcoming year and there’s always something new. 

It’s important to mix things up on a wine tour, properties vary in wine styles, in architectural styles and in the way they receive you. You don’t want the same spiel about wine making and barrel ageing at every château you visit. Once you’ve got those basics under your belt, choose visits with different experiences to see what each property is doing differently and why.

Waiting to discover the new cellars at Pichon Baron

What’s caught my eye for 2023 so far? In a recent blog post I mentioned the fabulous new cellar at Château Balastard la Tonelle in Saint Emilion. There are more new cellars in Bordeaux to visit in 2023 including Château Pichon Baron in Pauillac opening up to visitors this Spring and Château Leoville Barton in Saint Julien not far behind.

Château Haut-Brion recently renovated “Le Chai Neuf”, the manor house at the entrance to the estate. Built in 1801 it is now Le Pavillon Catelan, in homage to the original owner the Marquis Jean-Antoine de Catelan. The four year renovation includes, reception rooms, a wine boutique selling wines from all the Clarence Dillon vineyards and a huge, vaulted cellar on the lower ground floor for tastings.

La Cave du Château at Haut Brion

Going green .This spring La Route de Bordeaux Graves et Sauternes launches the first low carbon wine road trip from Pessac Leognan, through the Graves into Sauternes and Barsac. Thanks to La Bulle Verte you no longer need a car to discover the region, take the train from Bordeaux and join an itinerary that links seven properties you can explore on foot or electric bicycle for tastings, lunches, dinners, picnics and even a siesta. Make it half a day, a day or stay longer overnight thanks to accommodation options along the route. Charging points are available for electric vehicles.

La Bulle Verte is no stranger to Bordeaux, they already offer their slow exploration experiences across the region including Château Prieuré Lichine in Margaux  and at Château Guiraud in Sauternes. Now Chateau Sigalas Rabaud, Chateau de Cerons, Château de Portets, Chateau Carbonnieux, Château L’Arrivet Haut Brion and Doisy Daene have joined the adventure.

Keeping it green

If you stay over, the Lalique hotel at Château Lafaurie Peyrauguey re-opened on 3rd Feb (just in time for a special Valentine’s day experience). 2022 was a great year for Chef Jerome Schilling, with a second Michelin star for the restaurant and the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF).  

Two star chef and Meilleur Ouvrier de France Jérome Schilling

Nearby Château Guiraud has also started work on a new hotel, it won’t be opened for a couple of years but in the meantime their Restaurant Le Cercle Guiraud will relaunch in June. It’s in the heart of the village of Sauternes, it will serve local products alongside the wines of the château and the other vineyards in the group, Château de Bachelards, Domaine les Aurelles, Château de Callac and a wine selection curated by Denis Verneau, le chef sommelier MOF de La Mère Brazier.

Le Cercle is just around the corner from the newly renovated Maison du Vin, the perfect show case to discover and taste wines from across the appellation.

Further North in Pessac Leognan, Château Leognan will open the doors of its new hotel  this year. Already welcoming guests with their restaurant and a few guest rooms, now you can choose from over 30 rooms in the chateau and the converted stables. 

There’s new accommodation in Saint Emilion too. Château Clos du Breuil, Classified growth is perched high on a limestone hill in Saint Christophe de Bardes. Renovated as a small almost Provencal style hamlet around a running fountain last year, a wine bar serves their wines and different food options. They have now finished renovating the gorgeous guest house overlooking the vines. With six suites, a gorgeous kitchen, sitting and dining rooms overlooking the vines and a billiards room. It’s available for rent as of mid-May and a perfect base for a group right bank wine tour. Never one to sit still, Benoit Trocard is also opening a four star hotel in the village of Saint Emilion this summer in partnership with Laurent Lartigue.      

Un petit air de Provence at Clos du Breuil

Wine walk. Work up a thirst with a 2 km walk around the village of Cerons. Guided by an app created by Château de Cerons, discover insider secrets you would otherwise miss. The 12th century church, the old ‘lavoir’, the carrelets on the banks of the Garonne where they catch the alose fish and their new plantations of different cereals used as green fertilizer for the vines now under conversion to organic certification. If you’ve worked up an appetite enjoy a picnic in the park. Choose your menu by colour, based on their wines: red, white, gold and orange – yes I said orange. 

Keeping wine zen. In Margaux Château Kirwan, as well as a cellar full of old vintages they are happy to share, join a cooking class including how to make colourful French macaroons, a wine and chocolate tasting with the delicious Hasnaa chocolates, discover wine aromas by making your own perfume and, this year, a new wine and sophrology experience. 

Wine and wellness A little further afield Les Sources de Cheverney reopened late January. From 12th to14th March  three days of ‘Ludipilates’ is a great way to start the year in the vines of the Loire valley.

Back in Sauternes, the doors to the Sweet retreat, wine and yoga weekend close in a couple of weeks, there’s still a few rooms left in June (2nd-5th) let me know now if you’d like to join us.

Ready for yoga at Château Sigalas Rabaud ?

 Food and wine. From March, Château Troplong-Mondot, home to the Michelin star restaurant Les Belles Perdrix, will host private table experiences once a week on Thursday nights. Held in the kitchen, this immersive experience includes rare and local products. If you can’t wait until then you can always get your hands dirty this winter with a visit that shows you how to both prune the vines and blend the wine. 

Château Malrome in the Entre deux Mers has a new Chef this season, Chef Gilles Demaure will be championing regional products at the Les Abeilles Restaurant. Chef Olivier at Château Malartic Lagravière in Pessac Léognan has added another string to his bow, with a grill version of his ‘Picnic Chic’ one Friday a month from May to the end of September as well as the ‘Gourmet break’ served at lunch time and cooking classes if you want to be more hands on.

Picnic chic at Château Malartic Lagraviere

Vertical or horizontal? Tastings that is, not the state you’re in afterwards! Many chateaux offer the possibility of tasting older vintages. These special tastings need to be booked in advance (I recommend booking all tours in advance to avoid disappointment). Two of my favourites are  Château Leoville Poyferre, where they offer the choice between 2014, 2015 and 2016 or 2008, 2009 and 2010 and pair them with cheeses or chocolates, from Hasnaa. At Château Cos d’Estournel alongside the G d’Estournel, les Pagodes and the Estournel Blanc, you can choose between a tasting of  2019, 2014, 2008 or 2020, 2016, 2009, 2005. At Chateau de Ferrand in Saint Emilion, a sommelier will take you through six vintages. 

A vertical at Château de Ferrand

Right bank – left bank. After a soft opening to visitors for a couple of months last summer, Classified growth of Saint Emilion, Château Grand Corbin is looking forward to opening their doors again this year with tastings, a boutique that offers international shipping and access to the Château gardens. As they are also owners of Château Cantemerle, Classified growth of Haut Medoc, they offer a  unique left bank right bank tasting of the first and second wines of both properties. 

Château Grand Corbin

Kids come too. At Château Marquis d’Alesme in Margaux children are as welcome as their wine loving adults thanks to Le Petit Marquis, a free treasure hunt organised for 6-12 year olds. Nathalie Perrodo who owns and runs the property is a young mum herself. There’s a visit and tasting option for grown-ups too and La Table de Nathalie offers simple, fresh and local food on their sheltered terrace surrounded by a herb garden, some of which might find their way into your lunch. 

Château Marquis d’Alesme welcomes children of all ages.

Townies. Open for 7 years now, The Cité du Vin has just renewed and updated their exhibitions. It re-opened on 4th February with a new interactive multimedia permanent exhibition highlighting both the natural environment and the people behind the bottles.   Bordeaux 360° takes you on a virtual voyage across the Gironde tasting from an oyster fisherman’s village in Arcachon to a chic Bordeaux rooftop as well as across the vineyards of the Medoc and Saint Emilion. 

Wine and design. I usually start The Wine and Design Tour at the Bordeaux Decorative Arts Museum. It’s a cool space split between a 18th century bourgeois Bordeaux residence and an old prison with exhibitions that are just as innovative. It has just closed for a 2-year renovation. It’ll be worth the wait.

Meanwhile in 2023, the amazing and diverse cellars of Bordeaux are ready to welcome you, whether you are spellbound by their architecture or by the wines they produce. 

 Please sign up here to receive future blog posts delivered directly to your inbox. To learn more about Bordeaux, read Bordeaux Bootcamp here. 

Watch the free Daily Detox webinar here, buy your copy of The Drinking Woman’s Diet  or discover the new online 7 days to a Liver friendly Lifestyle  here and join me 2-5th June for The wine and wellness Sweet Retreat.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I look forward to your feedback.

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The Best of Bordeaux Women

Bordeaux might seem to be a bastion of male dominance but think again, dynamic women have been and continue to be, leaders in the wine industry.

Françoise-Joséphine d’Yquem was born in 1768. At 17 years old she was orphaned and married, and by the dawn of the French Revolution at just 20 years old she was a widowed mother of two. As a noble woman, she was imprisoned twice during the revolution, but managed to hold on to both her neck and her property, Château d’Yquem. She transformed the vineyard, bringing it to its current size of 113 ha, built a new cellar, aged her wine at the vineyard at a time most wines were aged by wine merchants in the city, and introduced the practice of ‘tries’ to Sauternes harvesting. Transformational for the quality of the whole appellation.

Francoise-Josephine d’Yquem

The Countess 

In 1692, Therese de Rauzan, inherited her father’s Pauillac vineyard. In 1694, when she married Jacques de Pichon Longueville, the property took his name Château Pichon Longueville but was never the less run by women of several generations whilst their husbands were busy being politicians. In 1850, when the then Baron Joseph died, the property was divided between five siblings. Virginie Comtesse de Lalande took over the management of the sisters’ share, creating a separate property, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Adding her name to differentiate it from her brother’s. The two properties are known locally as Pichon Baron and Pichon Comtesse.

Comtesse Virginie

In 1978, Pichon Comtesse became again under the ownership of a woman, May Eliane de Lencquesaing. The Comtesse’s legacy was still there, the chateau had not been lived in since Virginie’s death in 1882, with furniture hidden in the attics from the occupation in the second World War.  Mme de Lenquesaing redesigned the estate and travelled the world as a passionate ambassador for Bordeaux wines. In 2003, she purchased Glenelly Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa where she opened a new winery in 2009.

Feisty

When 19 year old Baron Pierre Jules inherited Chateau Cantemerle in 1834, he was a minor, so his 51 year-old mother Caroline Josephine Francoise Josèphe de Raymond de Lalande stepped in to manage the property. Upon her son’s death just ten years later, Caroline continued to run the property with her daughter. When a neighbour, started using the name Cantemerle to sell his wine, Caroline was having none of it. She challenged him in the courts and won her case. The first Bordeaux counterfeit case perhaps? 

In April 1855, the famous Medoc Graves and Sauternes classification was drawn up based upon the sales prices of wines recorded over several vintages. Château Cantemerle was not included, our heroine was not happy. At 72 years old, armed with a history of sales prices she challenged the syndicate of courtiers and negociants until she obtained satisfaction. In September 1855, Château Cantemerle was included in the classification as a 5th growth. Today Chateau Cantemerle has a woman at the helm again. Since April 2021 Laure Canu runs the vineyard. 

Laure Canu, Cantemerle has a woman at the helm again

Chateau Margaux is owned and run by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, but she is not the first woman to be at the head of this prestigious vineyard.  Pierre de Lestonnac is credited with creating Chateau Margaux, but it is his daughter, Olive de Lestonnac that we have to thank for what is perhaps the first ‘Bordeaux wine Chateau’. Château Margaux was just part of her business interests. Her great wealth allowed her to act as a banker to the great and the good of Bordeaux, for financial return but also political influence for her and her three husbands.  She lent money to farmers in and around Margaux and calling in loans helped further consolidate the estate. Upon her death in 1652, at the age of 80, Olive, known as ‘La Dame de Margaux’, was the richest woman in Bordeaux. She is remembered more for her philanthropic work and gifts to the church than for her influence at her beloved Margaux. 

Corinne Mentzelopoulos and her daughter Alexandra at Château Margaux

From past to future 

La Marquise Marie-Antoinette de Lambert des Granges inherited Château Sigalas Rabaud, first classified growth of Sauternes in 1951, then, as now, the smallest of all the first growths of the 1855 classification. Her granddaughter, Laure de Lambert Compeyrot is the sixth generation of the family at the helm of the property. She is as intrepid as her grandmother, introducing change and innovation to this historic property. Last year she created a new wine in her memory. She wanted a wine that was bright, bubbly and attractive, to express the dynamic energy and personality of her grandmother. 2020 is the first cuvée of La Marquise, a Bordeaux Sparkling wine. 

Laure de Lambert shares her passion for Sauternes at Château Sigalas Rabaud

Women in wine tourism.

Today women are spearheading wine tourism across Bordeaux, many of them are Best of Wine Tourism winners. Florence Cathiard is a pioneer.  In the early 1990s, after three years renovating Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, she dedicated the chateau buildings to wine production and wine tourism. Her daughters followed in her footsteps one creating the Caudalie Cosmetics brand Caudalie, the other the Wine hotel and spa complex Sources de Caudalie.

Florence and Daniel Cathiard, wine tourism pioneers at Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Some women inherit family wine businesses, others are new to the industry, but they are all innovating.

Generational innovation

The Teycheney family at Vignobles Jade

Since 1881, Château du Payre had been passed down from mother to daughter for five generations. The current owner, Valerie has introduced Sophrology classes to create a state of relaxation, before tasting the wines of te property. Sixth generation Caroline Teycheney at Vignobles Jade has transformed Château L’Etamp into a beautiful guest house.

Estelle Roumage at Château Lestrille

Estelle Roumage, the third generation wine maker at Château Lestrille, is constantly innovating. She champions sustainable viticulture and agro forestry and has introduced new product lines Crement de Bordeaux, and bag in box, opening a boutique in the heart of the village. At Chateau Cantenac in Saint Emilion Nicole Roskam-Brunot is working alongside her daughters-in-law, Caroline Peyromat welcomes guests for picnics under the trees in the park of the family 18th century Château de Cérons and Francoise Baudet at Chateau Mon Conseil Gazin has even introduced an escape game from the château cellars. 

New blood

Sally on the terrace of Château George 7

Sally Evans created Château George 7 from a few hectares and a tractor barn in the hills of Fronsac, creating award winning wines, a wine bar and tasting experiences and the dynamic Martine Caseneuve created Château Paloumey in the Haut Medoc from scratch by replanting an abandoned vineyard. 

Since 2010 Pauline Bich Chandon-Moët has taken Château de Ferrand into the 21st century with important and design-led renovations both technical and architectural for the team and visitors making it the perfect venue to show case part of the unique Bic Art Collection. 

These few examples are just part of the diverse initiatives that reflect the  personalities of these dynamic women, all winners of the Best Of Bordeaux Tourism awards. The spirit of their historical predecessors lives on. 

The original version of this blog post appeared on the Great Wine Capitals website

 Please sign up here to receive future blog posts delivered directly to your inbox. To learn more about Bordeaux, read Bordeaux Bootcamp here. 

Watch the free Daily Detox webinar here, buy your copy of The Drinking Woman’s Diet  or discover the new online 7 days to a Liver friendly Lifestyle  here. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I look forward to your feedback.