The Bordeaux Seven

The last full day consisted of a walking tour of Bordeaux.  Carol and I had already covered a lot (not all) of the city, so when Lisa asked if we wanted to join their private tour and tasting at a winery, then lunch at a chateau, and then a tasting at another winery, we jumped at the chance.

I didn't think Don and Jennifer would join us, as they aren't big wine drinkers (I know, weird since they joined us on a tour of the world's best wine region), but they wanted to.  So the seven of us crammed into the guide's comfortable minivan and started off on our "make your own adventure" day.

(Editor: Easy for you to say "comfortable minivan" as you sat up front in the passenger's seat and had plenty of space.

Writer: It's good to be over six feet tall.)

I dubbed our group for the week "The Bordeaux Seven" because, well, er, we were in Bordeaux and there were seven of us.

(Editor: The creativity just oozes from your fingertips, doesn't it.

Writer: It's very descriptive!  I even set up a text group that I named "The Bordeaux Seven.")

Cosmin was our driver/guide for the day, and he's from Romania.  His English is excellent.  Better than my French.  Come to think of it, his English is better than my Romanian.

The Bordeaux Seven, from left: The Iron

Tourist, Carol, Jennifer, Don, Scott, Jamie,

and Lisa.  At some chateau we only

stopped at.  Made for a nice photo op.

Our first tour and tasting was at Chateau D'Issan, a chateau in Margaux -- specifically the Cantenac section of the appellation (photos in the next post). 

The wine is classified as a Third Growth (which is far more impressive than it sounds -- remember, there are five growths, and some chateaus are not classified.  There is also no movement between level of growth, so even if your wine is the best and your chateau was rated as a Fourth Growth in 1855(!) you can't move up. 

It ought to be more like British soccer, where there are many levels, and the worst teams in a given league year are relegated down a level, while the best teams get promoted to the next highest league.

(If you don't understand the previous paragraph, watch "Welcome to Wrexham," which so far has provided three seasons of a fantastic documentary on a Welsh soccer team bought by two American actors.  Promotion to the next level is a major theme of all three seasons.  I say that "Welcome to Wrexham" is a real-life Ted Lasso, and is better than Ted Lasso because it is real.)

(Editor: Are you quite done going off on introducing a promotion/relegation system to Bordeaux wines?  And on "Welcome to Wrexham?"

Writer: C'mon, my British soccer-style promotion/relegation scheme is a brilliant idea, and not just because I thought of it!  Although that helps.  And, I kid you not, all three seasons of "Welcome to Wrexham" is fabulous TV viewing.)

Besides, can you imagine the excitement of the promotion/relegation announcement day?  And besides, since it involves French wine, the bribery and treachery would be the stuff of a Dan Brown or a Jim Geraghty novel.

The Cruse family, half owners of the Chateau/winery, spend their summers at the Chateau, so the house part is not open to the public (which is fine, you've seen the rooms in five French chateaus, you've seen them all.)

The property's history traces back at least to the 12th century, and the wine is reputed to have been served in that century at the wedding of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henri Plantagenet, future King of England on 18th May 1152.

(Just so no one is confused, I have no idea what wine was served at our wedding, and that was May 30, 1987.)

The property was abandoned during the French Revolution.  It's not clear to me whether it was abandoned because the family was hunted down and guillotined, or because they fled.  In 1824, the property was "taken over" by a different family.

It was once again abandoned last century between the two World Wars.  The current family bought it in 1945 and set it on the road to renewed success.

First we were taken on a tour of the beautiful grounds.  It's just stunning to be at these beautiful properties.  There's a Virginia winery near our place in the Blue Ridge Mountains (at Wintergreen Resort) that trademarked their slogan, "Grapes Don't Grow In Ugly Places" and that saying is on the mark.

I'm not going to write about the property, as the photos that follow will do it more justice than my weak descriptions can be.