News about Bordeaux wine tours in France February 2008, France gourmet wine country travel, and luxury Bordeaux wine tours, French wine tasting vacations.

Newsletter 1, February, Vintage 2008

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Read about:

v Bordeaux Wine Tours:
Highlights 2007

v Taste Bordeaux and meet us in London

v All restaurants in France non-smoking!

v Mouton 2005 label by an Italian artist

v What Ronald has been drinking this month

v Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule 2008

v Our Personal Bordeaux Wine Highlights 2007

v Bordeaux
Wine Trivia Quiz

Spring is in the air at Chateau Coulon Laurensac

Dear Wine Lover,
Spring is in the air in Bordeaux. The weather has been great the last few days, around 18 Celsius (about 65 Fahrenheit). Last Sunday we had lunch on the terrace next to the pool. Not bad for a February!

This month I have again some interesting reading for you. I would like to show you some pictures of our Wine Tour highlights as well as some pictures of our personal Wine highlights in the past year. And we’ll present our tours for this season.

Quote of the month:

"I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens."

- Thomas Jefferson

You can read about the best wine I have tasted in both 2007 and since the last Newsletter. We’ll unveil the new label for the Mouton Rothschild for the stunning vintage 2005. This time this label has been designed by an Italian artist.

And we have an invitation for our English friends: you can meet us in London for Decanter’s The Great Bordeaux Fine Wine Encounter. Together with many owners of Classified Growths The Bordeaux Wine Experience will present it’s Bordeaux Wine Tours there. Please come over to see us.

For this month's wine trivia question we are gonna talk money with a question about a very expensive bottle.

I hope you'll enjoy reading this Newsletter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Cheers from Bordeaux
Ronald and Margaret Rens

Don’t drink anything I wouldn't drink!

Have a great spring!

Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
President

Bordeaux Wine Tour Highlights 2007
There are many highlights on our tours and there are many kinds of highlights. In the following pictures you'll see our guests experiencing their visit to a First Growth, always a special moment in our tours. Even for me, after having been there so many times, visiting and tasting First Growths still remains exciting. Having said that, my own personal highlight of wine touring is meeting and enjoying the company of so many nice and interesting people. It makes me proud having had the chance to meet you all and to be able to share my passion with you. And I thank for your confidence in touring with us.

Chateau Haut Brion Guests of the Grand Tour of Bordeaux (May - June 2007)	Chateau Latour Guests of the Grand Tour of Bordeaux (September 2007)
Chateau Mouton Rothschild Guests of the Bordeaux Harvest Tour (September 2007)	Chateau Lafite Rothschild Guests of the Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour (June 2007)
Chateau Margaux Guests of the Grand Tour of Bordeaux (May - June 2007)	Chateau Coulon Laurensac Guests of the Grand Tour of Bordeaux (September 2007)

Taste Bordeaux and meet us in London
The Great Bordeaux Fine Wine Encounter offers Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Angelus, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Château Giscours, Château Climens and other stars of the wine world for an unparalleled weekend of fine Bordeaux wine. You can meet both Ronald and Margaret in London as The Bordeaux Wine Experience presents it’s Bordeaux Wine Tour program for 2008 at this very special event.
The Great Bordeaux Fine Wine Encounter offers over 300 dream Bordeaux wines to taste and a chance to explore the famous regions from Pomerol to St Emilion. You can meet the winemakers in person while you tour the top Bordeaux vineyards all under one roof. You can wander at your leisure around three tasting rooms packed with star producers (and the leading Bordeaux Wine Tour company of course...)
For more information or tickets, please click here.

All restaurants in France have become non-smoking

The end of smoking in all
French restaurants

Some things never change in France but fortunately some things do! France has forbidden smoking in all restaurants.
As of January 1st, all restaurants in France have banned smoking. This new law is very good news as the French are notoriously heavy smokers.
No risk when enjoying a nice dinner that someone on the next table starts smoking: Tasting excellent wines and gourmet food becomes an even greater pleasure.
As of now these last risks went up in smoke since all restaurants are NON SMOKING!
(Smokers on our tours can always step outside for their fix...).

Mouton 2005 label Mouton Rothschild 2005

Mouton 2005 label by an Italian artist

Members of our Alumni Club (those who have toured with us) know my weakness for Mouton Rothschild. So I have to tell you about the new label for the exceptional vintage 2005. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who owns Mouton, has chosen the sculptor Giuseppe Penone (1947). As the first Italian artist to illustrate the label he will join the list that includes Dali, Braque, Miró, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol and so many others.
Penone’s drawing for the Mouton 2005 shows a wine growers “green fingers” reaching for a glass of Mouton.
I sure wish I could draw. The artist isn’t paid any money for his work. He receives cases of wine with his label. With today’s prices for the 2005 First Growths, it is not a bad fee…

Your guide: Ronald Rens, M.Sc.,Wine Master What Ronald has been drinking this month...

The Best of 2007 and since last Newsletter

Outstandingly the best for 2007:

Having tasted so many great wines this year, choosing the best of 2007 is not an easy task. I have fond memories of tasting the Cheval Blanc 1975 with Pierre Lurton… I have tasted an excellent Chateau Latour 1991 with some great friends of ours…
But looking back my choice must be the Chateau Figéac 1950 in the presence of the man who made this wine: Thierry Manoncourt, now at the grand old age of 90. His 1950 Saint Emilion First Growth was a monumental wine that I will never forget. Bravo! And thank you, Monsieur Manoncourt, for sharing that incredible wine with us.

Best since previous Newsletter:

A beautiful well aged Chateau Chasse Spleen 1990, a Cru Bourgeois Exceptional from my own cellar.
We enjoyed this bottle in the United States. I had slipped the wine in my suitcase when we left for Florida for the holidays. This exceptional wine accompanied an equally exceptional dinner in Pace Cooper's excellent Steak House Shula's at the Hilton Naples and Towers in Florida.
The Chasse Spleen, though great, we had before; but the steaks were without a doubt the best we've ever had!

Chateau Haut Bailly, a private luncheon at a Classified Growth

Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule 2008
Remember the old saying: When learning about wine, Bordeaux is the benchmark. It is where the novice starts and the expert finishes... With us you'll taste, learn and enjoy in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

New development
On both our Grand Tours and our Bordeaux Harvest Tour we have included a lunch at Chateau Haut Bailly, a Classified Growth from the Graves (Pessac-Léognan).
This private lunch will take place in the dining room of the chateau itself!

We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2008:

§ The Grand Tour of Bordeaux
(May 26 - May 31, 2008 and September 1 - September 6, 2008)

§ The Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour
(June 23 - June 28, 2008 and July 7 - July 12, 2008)

§ The Bordeaux Harvest Tour
(September 22– September 27, 2008)

These Tours are 6 days, 5 nights. (Click here for the Itineraries).
Chateau Margaux People that join our tours are wine lovers and wine drinkers and usually this is their first trip to the Bordeaux region. They want lo learn about wine and wine tasting, and what better place to start than in Bordeaux, the world’s most famous wine region. I am convinced you will grow to love our region as we do if you join us on one of our tours.
Bordeaux Wine Tours
Remember we want to keep things personal. That's why we only organize tours for small groups and tailor made trips. A small group from our perspective means a maximum of ten people. That’s just you and four other couples! All tours start with a two guest minimum.
Click here for more information on our Bordeaux Wine Tours.

Our Personal Bordeaux Wine Highlights 2007
The year 2007 has been a very busy year for us. Great tours, all sold out, and wonderful tastings and other unique experiences came on our way. We have met some of the greatest personalities of the Bordeaux Wine World. Here are some pictures. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Tasting the most recent vintage of Chateau Figéac with the owner Thierry Manoncourt in April	Meeting Baronesse Philippine de Rothschild and her family at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in June
Tasting with Pierre Lurton of Cheval Blanc and Yquem in June	Tasting the Ausone 2005 with the owner Alain Vauthier at Chateau Ausone in March
Tasting the Cheval Blanc 2006 with Cheval's technical director dr. Kees van Leeuwen in April	Meeting Bernard Magrez, owner of Chateau Pape Clement and a series of other chateaux in June

Wine trivia quiz
A promised we are gonna talk money this month. My question is a simple one:
What is the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold?
(I'll help you: it was a Bordeaux). I want to know the name of the chateau, the vintage and the price!
You can find the answer on our website: Click here.

Last month's question
The correct answer to last month's question is: Saint Julien Second Growth Chateau Léoville Barton. The famous label with the "head of the boar"was used between 1929 and 1960. For label collectors this apparently is a rare find and very hard to come by.
I was born in the vintage 1958 so this bottle has a special meaning to me.
The property came in the hands of the Barton family in 1826. In 1929 Ronald Barton inherited the Chateau. His nephew Anthony Barton took over the property in 1983. Click here to read more.

Subscribe your Friends
Dear Wine Lover, I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. I would like to ask you to subscribe your friends, family members and colleagues that love wine, because it's fun, it's easy and it's free!

Please help us
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Have a great spring and we look forward to seeing you all in Bordeaux this summer!

Cheers from Bordeaux,

Ronald and Margaret Rens

Cabernet Sauvignon Detail of Bordeaux building Bordeaux Gourmet and Wine Experience Bordeaux bottles aging in a wine cellar

Visit our website:

Bordeaux Wine Tours

www.BXWINEX.com

2008 Wine Tour Schedule
(Just five couples per tour!)

We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2008:
(Now open for booking)

The Grand Tour of
Bordeaux 1
May 26 - May 31, 2008

The Grand Tour of
Bordeaux 2
Sept 1 - Sept 6, 2008

The Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour 2
June 23 - June 28, 2008

The Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour 3
July 7 - July 12, 2008

The Bordeaux Harvest Tour
Sept 22– Sept 27, 2008

These Bordeaux Wine Tours are 6 days, 5 nights.

Avoid disappointment and reserve your place today!
(Click here!)

Available in 2008:
The most complete Day Tour Packages in Bordeaux!

Médoc Grand Cru or

Saint Emilion Grand Cru

Two day, one night private wine tour packages
(Click here!)

and

Best of Both Worlds
Three day, two nights private wine tour packages
(to Médoc or Saint Emilion)
(Click here!)

The Bordeaux Wine Experience Gift Vouchers
An original gift idea is a Bordeaux Wine Experience Gift Voucher.

These gift vouchers can be used for:

Wine Day Tours,
Paris Wine Tours,
Full week wine tours.

You tell us what you would like to offer and we will prepare a beautiful invitation card that will serve as gift voucher for the tour you would like to offer.

These invitation cards are much appreciated and are considered an original and elegant gift.

Click here for more information.

Bordeaux:
Self catering accommodation at Chateau Coulon Laurensac
(Accommodation only available outside wine tour periods)

Chateau Chateau Coulon Laurensac is situated less than 10 minutes from the Bordeaux city center and offers two deluxe self catering gîtes for two persons and one self catering gîte for four persons.

Click here for more information.

The Bordeaux Wine Experience
Chateau Coulon Laurensac
1, chemin de Meydieu
33360 Latresne (BORDEAUX), France

Tel: +33 (0)556 20 64 12
Fax: +33(0)556 21 79 44

Email : info@BXWINEX.com
Web : www.BXWINEX.com
www.TheBordeauxWineBlog.com

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Copyright © 2008 by The Bordeaux Wine Experience. All rights reserved. The content, design and graphical elements of this newsletter are copyrighted. The Bordeaux Wine Experience is a Dutch company specializing in wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region for an English speaking international clientele.

Please note: For this issue of The Bordeaux Wine Experience Newsletter, you're welcome to use the content on the Internet or in hard copy provided you e-mail Ronald (Ronald@BXWINEX.com) to let him know and use this credit line at the top under the title (please make the link clickable if it's online):

Reprinted from The Bordeaux Wine Experience Free Bordeaux E-Newsletter with permission of The Bordeaux Wine Experience, the leading Bordeaux Wine Tour Company: www.BXWINEX.com