The grapes must suffer

Monday, July 9th 2018

Bordeaux, France 

It’s 9am CES and my alarm is going off. This is my last full day in France and I intend to take full advantage. I quickly get ready and head outside to find the perfect cafe for breakfast. My plan is to spend the morning on the left bank of the Garonne. This half town has the oldest buildings, smallest streets and feels decidedly less hipster than the scene across the river.

I start off by randomly taking turns inward from the river until I find a small square lined with sidewalk cafes. I pick the one with the most people and grab a small table. I order a cafe creme and scone. Admittedly my scone knowledge is limited to Starbucks and Virgin Atlantic, so I am pleasantly surprised to learn this pastry more resembles a dense KFC biscuit than a dried out muffin. I dowse my scone in clotted cream and shamelessly stare into the square as little bits of my scone break off onto my shirt and table. I am having such a nice time that I order another cafe creme. 

After breakfast, I have a few points on interest to see. First on my list is the main tourism office, this is where I’ll meet for my afternoon wine tour. I am notoriously terrible at navigation, so I spend about 20 minutes wandering around the main square before I reach full confidence that I have located the correct address. 

Now, onto the fun stuff. 

I spend the rest of the morning locating and photographing the main cathedral, a large fountain, the old opera house and few important statues. As a bonus, I run into the Grand Hommes shopping center, which is a strangely modern building set against a sea of limestone from the early 1800s, many of which are part of an UNESCO world heritage site. I wander inside to find a regular combination of clothing, cosmetics, shoes and cafes. I am not overly enthused to be in a mall, but am grateful for a break in the AC. 

Around 1pm I go back to my hotel to clean up and change for my wine tour. I am back at the tourism office almost 30 minutes early. I find a large cafe next door and order a cup of espresso while I wait. After much internal debate, I booked an English-speaking tour to Saint Emilion, which is the older wine region on the right bank, with smaller vineyards and richer history. As a result, I will not be seeing Medoc, which is the newer, more commercial region on the left bank, with the grand Chateaus. 

At 1:55pm our tour is already gathered. Our tour group is small, consisting of me and couples from Texas, Canada and Norway. Our tour guide is named Luigi and I think that he is not French. He gives a quick introduction of himself and asks where everyone is from. He asks me directly if I enjoy California wine and I lie by saying that I enjoy all wine. 

When we gather in front of the minibus to the winery, Luigi insists that I sit up front, forcing the older Norwegian couple to the back. I feel bad, but after 1.5 days of being truly solo, I really want to chat with someone. 

During the 45 minute drive to St Emilion I learn a lot. Bordeaux was revitalized about 20 years ago, when the French government finally realized that people enjoy visiting wine country. The city is almost entirely built from limestone which starts to discolor after 20-25 years. It’s taken almost 20 years to clean all of the buildings, so now it’s basically time to start cleaning again. It was founded as a port town and the largest industry is aerospace. Bordeaux is a tech hub and many engineers live here and work for companies headquartered in Paris. They recently installed a high speed train that goes directly to Paris in only 2 hours and 4 minutes, which is 310 miles. 

As we near our destination, Luigi gives a brief explanation of Bordeaux wines over the speaker in the bus. Bordeauxs are always blends. In Saint-Emilion the blends tend to be Merlot dominant and in Medoc they are Cabernet dominant. The Medoc region is much newer and was actually created by the Dutch, who drained the swamps to create more space for vineyards. The Saint-Emilion region dates back to the 1200s, when a princess from Bordeaux married the King of England. As a result, the area belonged to England for a brief period of time, when it was decreed to be used for the sole purpose of growing and making wine. For most of recent history the Medoc region has reigned as superior until another kind of royalty rediscovered Saint-Emilion. This time it was American royalty, in the 1960s the Kennedys fell in love with Saint-Emilion and with one photograph, it was brought it back in vogue.    

Our first stop is the town of Saint-Emilion. It’s located amongst vineyards that are mostly flat, however, the town is terraced. I think this is not how California would do it, but I keep that thought to myself. We complete a brief walking tour of the town. Luigi points out a pricing grid, which is posted on one of the main streets. It lists the classifications for all of the vineyards of this region by decade, as well as, as the price per classification. The labels for Saint-Emilion Bordeauxs are fascinating and explain everything you need to know to pick a wine without ever tasting it. This is genius. 

We duck into a small wine shop, where the friendly owner pours our first tasting. He pours 4 tastes, starting off with a wine that is 100% Merlot. I find it offensive, especially in this extreme summer heat. The next 3 pours are better, but I am not blown away. At the end of the tasting I buy the second to last bottle and ask for a recommendation for a basic table wine that tastes less like Merlot. He gives me a bottle for 8 Euros and I am sure that I will love it.  

On the way to the vineyard Luigi brings up the story of the great wine blight of the mid-nineteenth century. He tells the whole bus how a fungus from California nearly killed all of the grapes in France. The eventual solution was to graft roots from California vines onto the French wines to make them resilient to the fungus. The story ends by Luigi announcing that California caused the problem but also brought the solution. He smiles happily at me as to say that European wine will always prevail.   

As we enter Chateau Ratouin we are immediately greeted by one of their employees. She explains a little bit about their biodynamic practices and then dives into the very specific soil of Pomerol, which is a sub-region of Saint-Emilion. The soil is mostly clay and parts of it are actually blue. This occurs because the soil is filled with iron. Once it makes contact with oxygen it turns red (basically, we’ll just have to trust that it was once blue). She speaks about the thickness of the soil, the heat from the sun and the age of the vines (typically between 40 and 70 years). She says that the grapes must suffer to develop thicker skins and produce more flavor. I immediately picture the lush, breezy, terraced vineyards of the California Central Coast and deduct those grapes must be happy. I decide that happy grapes taste good too.

Soon we head inside to discuss the fermentation process. I am surprised to see large clay cylinders mixed in with the more traditional stainless steel. Our guide explains they have been fermenting and aging certain wines in clay to get a cleaner, smoother taste. She says there has been a recent move away from aging wine in oak due to the fact that a major wine critic, who had a strong affinity for oak, recently passed. I am fascinated and hanging on every word.

Eventually, we make our way into the tasting room, where she pours our tasting. Again, the wines start out a little tart and dry for me, but the last few pours are very, very good. The wine here is much more expensive, but I shell out for a mid range bottle.      

On the way back I continue to chat with Luigi. I learn that the roses at the end of each row of grapes are used as an early detection system for disease. I also learn that well aged Merlot would pair best with smoked pork shoulder. 

We arrive back in town around 6pm. It’s still a little early for dinner, so I find a bar to enjoy happy hour. I sit outside and drink a glass of Rosé. The wifi in Bordeaux is very reliable, so I spend my time catching Pokemon and watching people. I want to order a small cheese plate, but as I look around, I see that my only option is a very large cheese plate. I nibble on some peanuts as I order a second glass. 

Eventually the air begins to cool and it’s time for dinner. Tonight I opt for dinner on the river. There are several strips of restaurants and I find one called Formule, which appears to sell only mussels and fries. I’m in. 

I’m seated at an awesome table in the corner with a great view of the river and the rest of the restaurant. The menu has 30 different variations of mussels. I am immediately stressed but ultimately end up ordering the Rockfort mussels with creme and my server assures me that I made a good choice. I am overjoyed by her approval. I also order white wine, which automatically comes in a 375 ml bottle nestled in a little bucket of ice. This is so cool. 

My meal is totally awesome and ranks a very close second to the duck on my first night in Paris. As the sun starts to set, I order a plate of profiteroles and a cup of coffee. It’s great and I am totally stuffed. 

By the time I am done with dinner it’s almost 10pm. I have a very early train back to Paris so I begrudgingly walk back to my hotel. The front desk is extremely helpful in ordering me a cab for 5:30am and I am off to pack and sleep.