Tour of Medoc Wine Region Part 1: Chateau Palmer

On Thursday, October 12th, we left the city of Bordeaux for a tour of the Medoc wine region with an outfit called 'Bordeaux Vertigo.' Some friends of ours from Santa Barbara had recommended this company and, more specifically, they recommended the founder, Bogdan Ghita. Bogdan is an enthusiastic, gracious, and knowledgeable tour guide. He picked us up at 9 am in the center of Bordeaux, and then off we went for our first tour at Chateau Palmer at 10 am.

On our way to the Medoc region, Bogdan gave us a detailed history of the region and explained more than I will ever remember about the unique qualities of this region. We were going to be spending our day on the Left Bank of the Gironde. This is where some of the most famous (and expensive) Bordeaux wines can be found. Though we have rarely ever tasted any of these wines, the names were familiar-- names like Margaux, Lafite Rothschild, Haute Brion and Latour! These wines are all very expensive and hard to find.

We were starting at Chateau Palmer because . . . well . . . duh! We liked the name. Chateau Palmer is not as famous or expensive as the first growth wines mentioned above, but it is also very well known and very expensive. We have a little family history with this wine. I am not sure if I am related to General Charles Palmer (the founder), but who knows? He was English and bought the winery back in 1840. But seriously, we have been drinking this wine ever since my father first poured it for us over 40 years ago. Dad has a nice collection of Chateau Palmer in his cellar and every once in a while he doles it out to the next generation (we're talking one bottle per year)!

The label is iconic and it features a black background and a rendering of the original Chateau building, which remains and is in great shape.

Our tour guides, Emma and Melody, met us at 10 am at the winery and the first thing we did was head out into the vineyards . . .

There was some heavy fog this morning, but still beautiful to be there . . . 

Emma and Melody explained to us that Chateau Palmer is now very focused on 'Biodynamic' techniques for farming the grapes. This is worth a whole separate blog entry. Let's just say that 'Biodynamic' is similar to 'Organic' but even more involved.

After the tour of the vineyard, we got to see the facility up close:

This is where they separate out the grapes

This is one of the large, stainless steel vats

These are the barrels we got to taste directly from . .  

We learned that Chateau Palmer is somewhat unusual compared to other wines on the left bank in that it includes a higher percentage of Merlot. Chateau Palmer includes about 40 percent Merlot and 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. There may have been a small percentage of Petite Verdot as well, but mainly Merlot and Cab.

After the tour of the facility, well then it was time for the tasting . . . .

As you can see from the photo above, we were offered three wines to taste: a 2013 Chateau Palmer, a 2008 Chateau Palmer and a 2013 Chateau Palmer 'Alter Ego.' The 'Alter Ego' is a less expensive wine that they have recently introduced. When I say less expensive, I mean it's only 100 Euros per bottle compared to the 300 Euros for the real McCoy!

The Alter Ego gives the winemaker a chance to try some different things with the grapes and offer a less expensive wine to the public. We liked all three of the wines, but we would have to admit that the Alter Ego agreed with our California wine palates a bit more than the mother label. We got to try these wines directly from the barrels in the earlier part of our tour, which was pretty special.

All in all we spent more than 2 hours at Chateau Palmer and we will never forget it. They only do tours by appointment and only on weekdays and they charge more for the tour than other wineries. But I think it was WELL WORTH IT!

The food in Bordeaux: first 3 days . . . .

We have had some great meals here in Bordeaux. I thought it might be fun to highlight some of the restaurants and cafes we have enjoyed. So, in chronological order, here goes . . .

Day 1
On our first day here, we went to dinner at Brasserie Bordelaise. It was excellent. I think Trey had heard this was a good place, so we were excited to try it, even though we were going on 2 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours!

Of course we had to try some local wine. I started with a glass of Château de Lionne 2014, Graves and it was excellent. We had some appetizers including Foise Gras. Susan and Trey had soup and salad and I had the pork belly that was paired with a really great wine called 'Chateau Sauman Cotes de Bourge 2015.' The service was great and the atmosphere was fantastic.

We are generally not as fond of Bordeaux wines, but when you are here in Bordeaux they just seem to taste better.

Day Two
The next day we really didn't have anything to do until it was time to meet Trey's Host family and go to dinner with them. They had a favorite restaurant near their apartment called 'Le Plana', which is pictured below. This restaurant is on a fantastic square called 'Place de la Victoire.' This is a beautiful square and it reminded us of Piazza Navona or the Palazza della Rotunda in Rome.

Here is a picture of the square from the outside:

Again, we had to sample some local Bordeaux wine, so this time our host selected this wine:

This might have been my favorite wine so far on this trip. So, of course, we had to have two bottles for the table! The wine is called 'Chateau De Fontenille 2014' and it was really good. Here's what the Wine Enthusiast had to say about it:

"This wine has some tannin but it is much more about the bright red fruits. It has crisp acidity that cuts through the structure to give some a fresh edge to this structured wine. Let it sit for a few months and drink from 2017"

And, again here is the photo of all of us having dinner together at Le Plana:

Day 3

Today we got up a little earlier and went out on a morning walk. Then we headed for a late lunch at a great place called L'Oiseau Cabosse'. This place was recommended by Trey and we were joined by one of his buddies from Middlebury, Philippe. This place reminded us of Berkeley, as it was all about healthy food and organic ingredients.

It was great to meet Philippe. He plays on the Middlebury golf team and is from Quebec originally. I, therefore, called him a 'cheater' as he grew up speaking French. It's great to see that Trey has so many nice friends here in Bordeaux.

The food here was fantastic. It was fresh, authentic and full of flavor, and healthy!

More on day 3 food in my next post . . .

The Garonne River

The Garonne River runs right through the city of Bordeaux. A rough translation of the word 'Garonne' is 'stony river.' When we first arrived, we noticed that the color of the river is mostly chocolate brown. Trey informed us that the river looks this way because it has an unusual interaction with the ocean. Well, being a river geek, I had to look this up . . .

The phenomenon is called a Tidal Bore and it occurs when the "leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay's current." (Wikipedia). There are very few rivers in the world that experience this phenomenon.

The source of the Garonne is in the Pyrenees mountains of Spain. Prior to meeting the ocean at the Bay of Biscay, the Garonne is joined by the Dordogne, another river we have enjoyed here in France -- back in 2005. Here's a map that shows the course of the Garonne river:

When we went on our long walk on Tuesday, we crossed the Ponte Pierre Bridge and then walked down the other side of the river bank to another bridge, the Ponte Jacques Chaban Delmas and then back to the city center. This loop is about a 3 mile walk. We noticed that there are many chic new restaurants along the banks of the river and we were told that these types of places did not exist 7 years ago.

First full day in Bordeaux

Well, Jet Lag is a real thing . . . let's start with that. We arrived last night and I am not going to tell you what time we got up this morning . . . er . . . I mean today!

We started our day with a walk around the Garonne River. It's very pretty here and that was a great way to get some exercise and see the sights. Here are a few photos:

After our 1.5 hour walk, we headed back to our apartment and then Trey met us to take us to show us where he is living with his French family. His family is so gracious and they treated us to some excellent Foi Grase and Sauterne wine. We also had some nice duck and some Cotes Du Rhone.

After cocktails we headed for dinner in downtown Bordeaux. Trey's host family is great and they took us to their favorite local restaurant (please note that I am not the only one with a beard!)

Of course, we had to have some Bordeaux wine!

Arriving in Bordeaux

We left Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm. There was a bit of a scramble because we thought we were leaving on Monday, but discovered on Saturday afternoon that we were off by one day! Oops! But we were able to get packed and head down to LA and make our flight on time. Thank goodness!

The flight was great. That new Airbus A380 is a gem! We were in Economy Plus so we had a little extra room and it really made a difference.

Neither of us sleep well on planes, but we managed to get maybe 2 or 3 hours. There was very little turbulence on our flight. This is what our seats looked like:

We arrived in Paris at 11 am and had a 2 hour layover. Our flight to Bordeaux was on time and only 1 hour. So we arrived in Bordeaux around 3 pm and caught an Uber to our VRBO apartment. Our apartment is right in the downtown area in the Theater District. It's in a great spot.

The apartment itself is nothing special. But the location is fantastic.



We got settled into our apartment and our son, Trey, met us to show us around. We walked around the town a little bit and saw a few sights. Bordeaux is situated on the Garonne River, which you can see below:

Then we went to dinner at a great little Brasserie: