The Bordeaux Wine Country of France: Medoc, St. Emilion, and Grave-Sauterne
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The Bordeaux Wine Country of France: Medoc, St. Emilion, and Grave-Sauterne Bordeaux Wine Country – Images by Lee Foster by Lee Foster Every traveler with an interest in wine and food owes himself or herself, at some point in life, a pilgrimage to Bordeaux, a gustatory shrine. A glass of well-aged red wine from one of the better chateaux of the Medoc or a sweet white wine from one of the best Sauternes chateaux are two of the exquisite taste pleasures that life offers. Drinking these wines at their place of origin, after seeing how the grapes are grown and the wine vinted, is a satisfying and joyful experience. Pairing the wine with delectable regional cuisine is an added pleasure. The memories of a trip to Bordeaux can last a lifetime, flooding back whenever you subsequently have an opportunity to open another bottle of Bordeaux wine. For many travelers, whose most accessible wine drinking experience may be California wines, the trip to Bordeaux is an exhilarating search for the origin of the Cabernet and Merlot vines that create some of the most satisfying California red wines. Bordeaux is also the first home of the Sauvignon and Semillon grapes that constitute so many attractive white wines in California. The budget traveler should note that monetary savings spent on drinking a week’s worth of good Bordeaux wine in Bordeaux, where the wine is cheapest at its place of origin, can contribute substantially to the cost of a charter flight to get you to Paris. Train to Bordeaux From Paris I caught the train to Bordeaux, which is situated in the southwest of the country. The trip on high speed trains now takes only a little more than three hours. Catching the train from Paris is the convenient way to get to Bordeaux for most travelers. The excellent service and many comforts of the European trains will come as a surprise to some who would be less inclined to consider this mode of travel in North America. Once in Bordeaux I spent a day exploring the city, which resembles a provincial Versailles, because it is the repository of so much 18th-century architecture. The Place de la Bourse, with its Three Graces Fountain, is one of the finest examples of this classically graceful style. Bordeaux is also a busy port, exporting wine and other products. As with many world ports, the character is one of openness and tolerance. With its wavering historical allegiance between England and France, it should come as no surprise that moderation is the cornerstone of the Bordeaux temperament. It is no accident that the measured essays of Michel de Montaigne, a mayor of Bordeaux and a grape grower, are the celebrated contribution to world literature from the Bordeaux region. In Bordeaux I rented a car, necessary for excursions into the regions around Bordeaux. Within the city, the one-way streets and mazelike medieval passageways are forbidding to negotiate, so I left the car at my hotel during urban exploration. I stayed at the Normandie Hotel, a first-rate establishment, centrally located near the Maison du Vin, the House of Wine. The House of Wine offers all the information a visitor could want on how to see the region and visit various chateaux. Visits should be arranged in advance. Both the House of Wine and the Normandie Hotel are striking examples of 18th-century architecture. Across the street is a remarkable shop called the Vinotheque, a library of wine, selling bottles from the most prominent chateaux of the Bordeaux region in many different vintages. In the city of Bordeaux I also had my first encounter with the gastronomy of the region. At a restaurant called La Belle Epoque I dined on Gambas Grille, boiled and slightly grilled shrimp, and Fillet de Saint-Pierre, a fish fillet in a sauce of egg, lemon, and mustard. The Bordeaux gastronome has access to a variety of fresh seafood, especially fish and lamprey, as well as wild mushrooms, and a plentiful supply of cow, sheep, and goat cheeses. More of this will be recounted, deliciously, as this tale unfolds. The Medoc A visitor to the Bordeaux region has three main wine locales to explore: the Medoc to the north, St. Emilion to the east, and Grave-Sauterne to the south. I found that each area merits at least one day of active looking, with perhaps two days preferred for the Medoc. The principal chateaux are all an hour or less drive from Bordeaux. Each area has strong defining characteristics that make it distinguishable from the others. The gracious director of the House of Wine made an appointment for us to visit Chateau Prieure-Lichine in the Margaux commune. This winery was set up in the modern era by wine aficionado Alexis Lichine. I had followed the career of the late Alexis Lichine, who had been something of an upstart on the local scene. He was a marketer. Some of the aristocratic owners of the large estates tended to presume that future consumers are born with an innate knowledge that Medoc wines are superior. Lichine felt otherwise. Any general traveler can be received by some chateaux for a tour of the cellars if appointments are made in advance. If no such arrangements are made, the traveler can drive the roads and see the vineyards and buildings. My car climbed through ridges and forests on high hills that protect the eastward- facing vineyards, then descended into the gradual plain of vineyards approaching the Gironde River. Here lie the great houses whose wealth benefits from the wine trade, but whose opulence could not be accounted for solely by wine sales. In the Medoc there is an underlying anti-commercial temperament that caused some chateaux in the 19th century to surround the houses with gardens so the vines, tainted by commerce, would not be visible. That attitude is changing today. Alexis Lichine was a singular man, which is a story in itself. But suffice to say that this Russian-born, but Americanized promoter of wine, who lived much of the year at his wine property in Bordeaux, probably did more than any other individual to acquaint North Americans with the civilized pleasures of wine drinking in the post World War II era. He crisscrossed the land (America) preaching that wine was indeed a delightful drink, an alternative to the whiskey-and-water drinking culture. Winemakers at the time were not seen as artists but as bootleggers whom many thought ought to be controlled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Those of us who drink wine every day can scarcely conceive how odd and un- American we would have been then. Lichine’s books, The Wines of France and his Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits were among the best-selling wine books. So it was pleasing to see this legacy property associated with a wine-promoting pioneer. Chateau Prieure-Lichine in the Margaux commune. Lichine bought the property in 1951 and gradually refurbished and upgraded both the house and vineyards, originally run by Benedictine monks. The location of Chateau Prieure- Lichine is just behind the church in the village of Cantenac. Through numerous land trades Lichine gradually upgraded the vineyards, switching sandy alluvial soil that produces less distinctive tasting grapes for the more gravelly terrain so highly prized in the Medoc. With the estate guide, I walked into the cellars and, as is the custom in Bordeaux, and tasted the young wine from the past season. “There are four factors in good wine production,” the guide reminded us. “The soil, the grape variety, the microclimate, and the winemaker behind the bottle.” We tasted and spat out the vigorous, full-bodied, most-recent vintage. Though appropriately hard and tannic at this tender age, the wine promised the backbone and complexity that maturity brings to Medoc wines. The wines are drinkable after three years, but peak anywhere from 5 to 25 years, with some having longevity to last 100 years. The Prieure-Lichines operation was a mix of respectful tradition, innovation, and a strong artistic flair. The vat room where the grapes are received had been tiled in colorful red inlaid small squares. The cement holding tanks for the wine, built right into the walls of the property, were covered with antique cast-iron firebacks, which once were used to reflect heat in fireplaces. I was told that Lichine, before he died in 1989, had scoured the antique stores of Europe for these covers and once found several being used as manhole covers in a Mosel town. The scene, however, was not one of antiques alone. The floor was clean enough to eat off of. Everything was whitewashed or stainless steel. There were no picturesque cobwebs or piles of gray dust here. My guide mentioned how one of Licine’s favorite sayings was, “The one tradition I detest is the fascination many winemakers have with picturesque filth in wine aging rooms.” Among grape varieties in the Medoc, Chateau Prieure-Lichine has a stronger appreciation for Merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon is the required backbone grape of the Medoc red wine, but a percentage of Merlot is desired. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are the other allowed grapes. Merlot makes a softer wine that can be drunk earlier, but the authorities, to whom a grower must apply for permission when replanting grape varieties, have a great appreciation for Cabernet. The art of the blend is important in Bordeaux wines. For wine drinkers who believe that 100 percent Cabernet is the best wine, it may come as a surprise to learn that Merlot is so prominent in some Bordeaux wines.