Buckinghamshire vines

When we were away in St Emilion, we found that the founders of Laithwaites were also being intronised - probably about time too being as they've been importing from that part of France for decades. So I looked up Laithwaites on the web when we got back. I notice Tony Laithwaite is now eying up the Chilterns for potential vineyards, - he says here that he's looking for sites for sparkling wine vineyards.

Being as our grapes are doing so well in our back garden this year, I tend to agree with him.

Shopping and nos jours heureux

Bordeaux has the longest pedestrianised shopping mall in Europe. See photo. For other super photos of the town see this blog.

Rue St Catherine is full of shops both small and large: children's clothes, fashion, all of odd things, chocolate, DVDs. If you want to go shopping, come here.

We stopped at a DVD shop to look for a film that came out three years ago: Nos Jours Heureux, a comedy about a colonie de vacances - French summer holiday camps for kids. The film was a great hit in France in 2006 because so many have been to colonies de vacances. I was a monitrice myself in a colonie in the 1970s, so I wanted to see the film, which I cannot get in England and amazon.fr will not sell me. So we looked for it in this small shop. It wasn't there, but the manager thought Fnac might have it. Fnac is a big book shop, a bit like Foyles, renowned for similar qualities. So we asked at Fnac - a huge three or four storey establishment, but they didn't have it in stock this week. We bought some music CDS: Moustaki, Brassens, Graeme Allwright and Prévert. I'll play them in my new car, when it arrives.

To Bordeaux

ON Monday we had time for only two tastings, the first at Chateau Corbin Michotte GCC, where we were welcomed with a wonderful array to taste - see photo.

We had lunch at Chateau La Bonnelle GC, then woefully departed to airport, from whence most of the party went home, but we stayed for a couple more days so we could explore Bordeaux.

Bordeaux seems pleasant, spacious, clean with few pigeons to dirty the buildings and not too much graffiti. I notice building work, lots of young people, trams and bicycles.

Ban des vendanges

On Sunday morning our bus left the hotel promptly. We all wore our suits & ties or posh frocks, best shoes and those already intronisés wore epitoge.

Epitoge is the shoulder wear made with rabbit fur, like a vestigial university hood, that those who are accepted (introniser) as members of the Jurade have the right to wear. See photo. 'Introniser' seems to relate to the word 'enthrone' so suggests something special about being welcomed as someone of importance.

That morning was the Parade of Jurats, candidates for intronisation and guests. Before the parade and ceremony we milled in the low morning sun. See video.

We admired the dress of representatives from other jurades too. See video.

Two of our party were to be intronised along with other important people who included several French politicians (such as Gérard Larcher) as well as film stars, atheletes and business men and women. This video shows more camera men than the politician who is walking behind the Jurade as the procession starts.

We processed to the church. The church service is well described by Anthony Laithwaite here. Then went on to the intronisation itself, which was in the Eglise Monolithe, a building cut into the rocks, that might have fallen down any minute if Calleja had started singing. The place was filled so we couldn't see very well but could read the Livret des intronisations, a booklet that gave a short biography of all the people being presented.
We had a champagne reception in the garden of the Salle des Dominicans - noted and minded the security guards for the important politician - then a lunch that included:

• Royal Saint-Emilion 2006
• Château Taureau 2005
• Château Lanbersace, Vieilles Vignes 2004
• Château La Bonnelle 2004
• Château Trapaud 2003
• Château Guillemin La Gaffeliere 2002
• Château Laroque 1999
• Château Chauvin 1998

Finally the Jurade went to the Tour du Roi to proclaim that the harvest was open. See video.

Vendange

The harvest, or vendange, is about to happen. You can see that the grapes have ripened and are nearly ready for harvesting, which will happen towards the second half of the month.

In this photo, you can see the low hanging grapes. They prune them earlier in the year, removing surplus foliage so that the grapes get enough sun, and also the strength of the plant goes down into the lower hanging fruit.

Meals

When I last went on this St Emilion trip, I worried about drinking too much and having a hangover. Friend assured me,

"You won't drink too much, but you may find you eat too much!"

He was right. We tasted wines, but only drank them with food. And there were some super meals. The first two days involved two five course means that included:

• starter/nibbles /soup
• fish course
• meat course
• cheese course
• desert
• coffee & canelles

Canelle are these tiny little rum and vanilla cakes, a speciality of Bordeaux. They served them warm.

Duck was often served. Sometimes we were given duck paté - the wonderful paté de fois gras. At our last meal on Monday lunchtime, our hosts served generous servings of this on tiny squares of toast. I could have dined on those alone, along with the St Emilion wine.

Here's an example menu from Saturday lunch at Chateau La Couspaude:

Foie gras de canard mi cuit entier aux figues gellee au lillet et fantaisie de fruits
***
Pave d'esturgeons au sauternes
***
Supreme de pintadeau au basilic
Pomme sarladaises
****
Salad panachee aux noix
***
Selection de 7 fromages affines et confiture de derises noires
****
Fruits glaces
****
Cafe , canelle

With four meals like that on Friday and Saturday - were we full!

Previous visits

The Jurade visitors are very grateful for the warm welcome that the vineyards and chateaux give us, so we offer our thanks. The Jurade has records of previous visits, and here is one of the regular visitors giving the speech of thanks. For 2008, see here.

Roses

Roses are planted at the end of each row of vines in some vineyards, not for prettification but because they warn of impending mildew. Any mildew infection attacks roses two weeks before the vines, so the viticulteur has time to take preventive measures such as spraying the vines.

Terroir

At Chateau La Gaffeliere, the young guide gave us some very informative talks on the history of the region and on the wine. He answered a question about what terroir is.

Terroir is a combination of soil, micro climate, exposure, altitude, attitude, and local conditions.

The French produce what the land is best at producing, and then look for the market, rather than look to see what people want and then treat the land perhaps with fertilizers, to produce the wine that's in demand.

Secondly, wine and terroir suits the food of the terroir. Thus a Sancerre wine goes with food in a hunting region, but St Emilion is not a hunting region. The wine from St Emilion goes well with the food of the terroir such as duck, like this duck with fruits in the photo.

There's a longer discussion at the wine anorak site here.

St Emilion wine

We're in the south-west of France, in Bordeaux and specifically in the region of St Emilion, the heart of the Bordeaux vine growing area, renowned for its red wines. We're on a long weekend, Thursday - Monday, wine tasting with a group of people from the York Chancellery of St Emilion, one of the two chancelleries of the Jurade in Great Britain.

St Emilion wine is made of a blend of merlot and cabernet franc grapes usually, sometimes with some cabernet sauvignon.

The first tasting on Friday morning was at the western most chateau Belregard-Figeac Grand Cru. It's tucked away in a suburban street and not easy to find. The brothers, Pueyo were fantastically welcoming and gave us many wines to taste, with nibbles to absorb the alcohol and clean the palette between tastings. There were of course also the spittoons, essential equipment for wine tasting (especially at ten o'clock in the morning). See photo

starting with a separate taste of the different assemblages of cepages: merlot and then cabinet franc. Then:

• 2007 mix
• 2005 Château LA FLEUR GARDEROSE AOC Saint Emilion
• 2005 Château BELREGARD-FIGEAC AOC Saint Emilion Grand Cru
• 2003 Château BELREGARD-FIGEAC AOC Saint Emilion Grand Cru yummy

Les messieurs Pueyo even sent us each away with a half bottle. How kind.

Visitors from states

Husband and I went to Waddesdon Manor with Brother and sister-in-law for a fine wine & cheese tasting in the aviary. They'd flown in with my nephew for a 10 day visit. We tasted red wine, a sauvignon and a sauternes.

Then we came home and tasted some more wine with our pizzas. Some of us stayed up past midnight.

In the morning, over a leisurely breakfast (very leisurely as teenagers had scoffed all the bread so we had to nip out to bakers) of rolls and cheese and garlic sausage we had time for slightly more chat before they left for Lancashire.