Recently, I was staying in the beautiful city of Bordeaux, France. Even though I knew very little about wines or how they are produced, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was in the heart of one of the most prestigious and well known wine production districts in the world. I wanted to try to visit as many wineries as I could and taste different varietals. But as a typical tourist, I didn't even know how to do that. My hotel conceirge told me about the Office du Tourisme. They handle all things tourist and they speak english!
Although this was not the favorite of all my wine exploring experiences, I must say that I learned a great deal. The guide was phenomenal, switching back and forth between french and english. Also, by going on a group tour, I was able to visit several wineries on the same day. This (I found out later), would be very difficult to coordinate on my own without knowing the language. Not to mention the fact that I knew very, very little about french or any other kind of wine at this point.
There are several different regions surrounding the city. Each region focuses on the producion a specific type of grape because of the type of soil that may exist there. So, on this particular day, there was a tour available to the north, a red region, mostly cabernet vines and it was leaving in ten minutes. Off I went on a bus filled with people from all over the world.
My first trip to the countryside and the sights were amazing. Most of the wine growers are considered wine chateaus which are basically castles. I mean, real, live castles. The kind you dreamed of as a child and imagined Cinderella getting to live there happily ever after kind of castle. I didn't realize this at first because as the tour guide was explaining this chateau phenomenon, I was already seeing what appeared to be castles, everywhere. I have to say that France is probably one of the most beautiful and romantic places I've ever seen. I soon learned, however, that these were not the chateaus he was referring to. When we finally started to pass by the real thing, I was blow away by the beauty.
Not only are they beautiful, these chateaus are mostly family owned estates built in the 1800s and have been passed down over the generations along with all their secrets. For such a spontaeous trip, it was amazing to get a glimpse into the world of the Bordeaux Wineries. These tours were given by one of the owners, usually a family member. They began by walking us around some of the estate and explaning the entire process. From harvest to crushing and fermentation, to pressing and bottling and everything in between. The tours ended with a tasting and an opportunity to purchase the wine (as long as you could drink it before getting on a flight back to the US).
This being first of my experiences in Bordeaux wine country (or any other country for that matter), was amazing!
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