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Read about:
v My first taste of the the 2008 vintage
v James Bond in Bordeaux: Smith Haut Lafitte
v More than a Wine Experience (part 3)
v What Ronald has been drinking this month
v 2009 Bordeaux Wine Tours getting more affordable every day
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of Travel Agents
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 Ronald tasting the 2004 with Florence and Daniel Cathaird,
the owners of
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte |
Dear Wine Lover,
First of all I would like to thank you for your support and confidence over the years. This is a very special Newsletter for us. I will tell you why. There are currently more than 13,500 subscribers! That makes us the fastest growing Bordeaux Newsletter in the world! Please help is to continue this growth and subscribe your fellow Bordeaux Wine Lovers here!
But let's not talk about us but about wine. We visited the brand new tasting room of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. You can read about Daniel Cathiard showing us his "secret toy"...
And
I tasted the 2008 vintage for the first time right from the vat. Ok, it was just the Merlot, but still... The quality was much better than we hoped. I will tell you more over this difficult vintage in this Newsletter.
| Quote of the month: |
"Wine improves with age.
The older I get, the better
I like it."
- Anonymus
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Food, Wonderful Food (3)
Margaret continues her stories about our culinary experiences. This month she tells you about the Saint James restaurant. This Michelin rated restaurant is very near to our chateau and a must on our wine tours.
Dollar continues going up
Continuing good news on the euro dollar conversion. The dollar keeps gaining against the euro. Our tours become an even better value for guests from the USA and other dollar related countries every day. A big plus you should take advantage of while it lasts.
The Bordeaux Wine Blog in Google's Top 100's
We made it into the Google’s Top 100 Wine Blogs! We are at #60. I am involved in another cyberspace battle: LocalWineEvents. On this list I am fighting my way up in the top 10. I just  need a few hundred votes to go up a step in the list. So what's holding you back? It's easy and it's free! Please click on the link and vote!
Thanks very much for your help.
I hope you'll enjoy reading this Newsletter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Michelin rated chef Michel Portos shows Ronald the
kitchen of the Saint James restaurant
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Don’t drink
anything I wouldn't drink!
Have a great holiday season!
Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
Wine writer and President
of The Bordeaux Wine Experience
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 My first taste of the the 2008 vintage
 My first tastes of the 2008 vintage;
Arnaud fills our glasses with Merlot |
I have had my first sips of the 2008 vintage! And although the wine is far from finished, I was pleasantly surprised by its concentration.
Last week I visited Chateau Laniote in Saint Emilion. The owners are Arnaud and Florence de la Filolie and they are the seventh generation of this Grand Cru Classé. Arnaud told me "On a quand même bossé comme des ânes" (we have been working our tails off!). Like all wine producers, they had to do a lot of work in 2008. They took off the leafs on the sides of the bunches and even had to thin out the bunches to get a better aeration. Of course they had to spray a lot. "This is not going to be a mythical vintage", Florence told me, "but I am hoping for a nice classic wine".
Florence and Ronald tasting the Merlot 2008
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My humble opinion
The difference nowadays between a very good vintage and a more difficult vintage is more about the ageing potential than about drinking pleasure. We have so much knowledge, treatments, etc, that we can produce very good wines; even in difficult vintages. Some people say that this is just the Bordeaux Marketing Machine at work, but I do not agree.
Granted, we can't produce 2005 quality in a vintage like 2008, but still the chateaux that go the extra mile can "save the day" so to speak. But even with all the knowledge and technology they can't perform miracles. As wine lovers, we need to know if a chateau went this extra mile before we buy the wine. For that I recommend you follow the tasting notes. I will be following the Bordeaux 2008 for you. I am looking forward to the en primeur (futures) tastings in April.
Don't worry; in my personal opinion we also need vintages that take less time in our cellars. We can drink our 2007's and 2008's while we wait for our 2005's to come of age.
To be continued...
James Bond in Bordeaux: the new Tasting room at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte
The brand new tasting room
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On a sunny but chilly fall morning Margaret and I arrived in the Pessac-Léognan appellation. The vineyards were showing their beautiful golden and red colors. The grapes were in the vats becoming the 2008 vintage.
For over a year now the owner of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Florence Cathiard, is amongst the readers of this Newsletter. She invited us to this Graves Classified Growth in the Pessac-Léognan region just outside Bordeaux, to see the brand new tasting room. We had to wait a for a few minutes for our hostess to arrive on her bike. In excellent English madame Cathiard welcomed us to this totally new building.
Florence presenting her book to Margaret
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If I hadn't already been here many times, I would have thought that the building had been there for centuries. But no, everything was built brand new.
The story of the Cathiards has been told many times, but for those of you that haven't heard it before I'll give you a synopsis.
Daniel Cathiard is a former ski champion – he was a member of the French Olympic team from 1965 to 1968. After his father's death in 1970, Daniel found himself running the family's small supermarket chain. Within 20 years, he had transformed it into the tenth largest mass distribution company in France with 15 hypermarkets and 300 supermarkets.
Daniel Cathiard showing Ronald his collection of 130 years of Smith Haut Lafitte
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At the same time, he launched and developed a chain of sporting goods shops - Go Sport - first in France then in Belgium, Spain, and California. Daniel met his wife Florence while on the ski team in 1965.
She worked with him managing Genty
and Go Sport for ten years before launching her own advertising firm, later becoming
Vice President of McCann Europe in 1985. At a certain point they realized that their high-powered jobs overwhelmed their lives. Daniel and Florence sold their business interests in 1990 and purchased Château Smith Haut Lafitte where vineyards were first planted around 1365.
After two years of massive renovations
of both the winery buildings and the 18th century manor house,
they moved into the château. Their daughter Mathilde now runs an additional spa and a line of cosmetics, their second daughter Alice runs the hotel and restaurants.
But back to the chateau now; I am used to tasting at Smith Haut Lafitte in the cellar and the new tasting room is a great improvement. With its wooden floors and leather chesterfields it breathes the atmosphere of a country club.
The entrance to the James Bond cellar at Smith Haut Lafitte
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Florence opened the Smith Haut Lafitte 2004 blanc for us, the powerful white wine of the property. In the Graves, a chateau can be classified either for red, white wine or both. Smith's white wine is not classified but still excellent. The Smith Haut Lafitte 2004 white has a complex bouquet, featuring hints of citrus, white fruit and dried fruit. It is rich and powerful with a good backbone on the palate, while retaining freshness and good balance thanks to its acidity. It is very long and clean on the palate, with mineral overtones and a very persistent aromatic aftertaste, featuring citrus and white peaches. The Smith Haut Lafitte red 2004 blend is based on a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon, and shows promise of being a great wine: concentrated and powerful, with good backbone, a lovely, silky texture, and a fresh, complex bouquet of ripe red-berry fruit, with spicy, licorice, violet, and flint overtones typical for its terroir of gravely soil.
The oldest bottle of the collection: Smith Haut Lafitte 1878!
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While we were still tasting, Daniel joined us. He couldn't wait to show us his new toy. (I am like that as well, you know: toys for the boys...). A discrete press of a button on the remote control and things started to happen. The beautiful wooden floor opened like in a James Bond movie to reveal what turned out to be the entrance of the underground private cellar. While I descended in awe there was jazz music playing in the cellar. Why didn't I have that idea of adding a stereo system to my wine cellar? The centerpiece of the cellar consisted of 130 years of Smith Haut Lafitte, the oldest bottle being the 1878 vintage. We were surrounded by mythical vintages like 1961 and rows of magnums from every conceivable vintage. A truly inspiring visit as since I have been acquiring some very old and rare vintages myself. But more about that some other time...
Margaret is our food professional |
More than a Wine Experience (Part 3),
by Margaret Rens
Michelin starred Extravaganza
Another high light of the tours is the Michelin starred restaurant Hauterive St James. As a member of the well known Relais and Chateaux organization, it offers elegance and class without being stuffy or snobbish.
The restaurant Hauterive St James is perched on the hills just outside Bordeaux and offers stunning views of the Garonne river and the city of Bordeaux. Especially on a warm summer evening you can imagine the romance of an al fresco dinner on the terrace with the city lights of Bordeaux at your feet!
Chef Michel Portos likes to put an emphasis on fresh ingredients that are in season. His talent which is expressed in a cuisine that audaciously combines Mediterranean and exotic flavors with the products of the terroir of south-western France.
The contemporary setting of the Saint James
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Michel, who travels very much, likes to bring the world to Bordeaux. Originally from Marseille he is open to flavors from the South of France but also form Turkey and Sardinia. But most importantly Michel likes to "faire plaisir", making that his guests enjoy themselves.
Our guests savor a 6 course dinner specially composed for the Bordeaux Wine Experience and paired to perfection with wines by the well known in house sommelier. The Saint James cuisine does not merely highlight regional produce such as Gironde caviar or Pauillac lamb. Above all, it is characterized by its elegance, intensity and lightness.
Michel Portos shows Ronald the fabulous
wine cellar of the Saint James
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What I personally enjoy every time we dine at the Saint James, are the little surprise courses Michel sneaks in. You don't only get an appetizer but you are also given an amuse bouche. Your first entrée will be fish for example, and your second can be meat or poultry. To get your taste buds ready for dessert you are served a pre-dessert. Be assured that the portion sizes are well balanced and you will not leave the table feeling like a stuffed turkey.
Each course is paired with a different wine, chosen by the sommelier Richard Bernard (Best Sommelier of France in 1997 and sommelier of the year in 2006). Richard oversees a cellar where the finest Bordeaux lie side by side with vins de pays from Languedoc and Provence served by the glass.
The wine list boasts verticals of Petrus and Margaux (both going back to 1970). A large selection of Mouton Rothschild (back to 1982). Lafite starting from 1985 and Latour starting from 1976).
A delightful food experience at The Saint James features in all our (week)tours for 2009. Join us now and take advantage of the low euro rate.
 What Ronald has been drinking this month...
The best improve with age...
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The Best Bordeaux :
This month we were invited to a dinner party with some close friends. As there was something important to celebrate, our host decided to surprise us us with 4 wines from his favorite vintage 1990. We had wines from four regions which in his opinion produce "the best wines in the world": Burgundy, Chateauneuf du Pape, Vintage Port from Portugal and of course Bordeaux. Each of the three non Bordeaux's merit to be next door in the "Best non-Bordeaux" column.
The best Bordeaux I tasted this month was that same night. our host surprised us with the fabulous Les Forts de Latour 1990, the second wine from First Growth Chateau Latour from the Pauillac appellation.
The wine had a good color with a slight rim. A warm bouquet with some good fruit showing cedar, cassis and earthy tones. This wine had an astounding concentration. You have to remember that Latour, to obtain this quality, declassed about half of its grapes in this spectacular vintage. Incredible, considering it is a second wine.
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The best "non Bordeaux" wine:
This spring I attended a seminar in Germany. As a gift for Margaret I brought a bottle of German wine. We kept this Brogsitter Homage Sanct Peter 2006 in the cellar for a few months.
The other day Margaret surprised me by opening a bottle and made me blind-taste it myself. It turned out to be the Brogsitter (and yes, I recognized the wine).
Brogsitter, one of Germany's leading wine houses from the Ahr region, has been producing wines for over 400 year.
The Ahr region produces about 0.5% of all German wines. The slate in the soil of the Eifel hills forces the roots of the Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) to go deep in search of nourishment.
The wine has a beautiful red sparkling color but not too dark as expected from a Pinot. On the nose, we detected charcoal, underbrush and musty red fruit. On the palate it was powerful for a Pinot from a Northern region. There were still some pleasant tannins. The wine had spend 18 months in barrel. It tasted almost like a Burgundy. An ageing potential of another 3 to 4 years. A nice discovery. |
The 2009 Bordeaux Wine Tours; an even better value every day
Our 2009 Wine Tours are getting more affordable every day due to the stronger dollar. Our tours are priced in Euro at € 3595. In US dollars this is now just under USD 4500 per person. Understandably many of you are planning far ahead. If you are thinking about touring Bordeaux with us next summer, this might be a good time to book. One tour is already sold out. So if you have a preference for specific dates in 2009 I invite you to contact us today for a detailed itinerary and more information!
We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2009:
§ The Grand Tour of Bordeaux 2009
(May 25 - May 30, 2009 and
July 6 - July 11, 2009 and (sold out!)
August 31 - September 5, 2009
§ The Bordeaux Harvest Tour 2009
(September 21– September 26, 2009)
 Your Tour host and Bordeaux Wine Expert and Wine Writer:
Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
Guests that join us on our tours are both wine and food lovers and usually this is their first trip to the Bordeaux region. We have tastings at First Growths like Mouton, Yquem, Margaux and Haut Brion; Second Growths like Pichon Baron, Léoville Baron and Léoville Las Cazes and many many more.
When you tour with The Bordeaux Wine Experience, you taste more Classified Growths than on any other Bordeaux wine tour!
But there is more than "just" the wine!
 Meet Chateau owners and Wine makers! We are invited into chateaux, see art collections and visit unique and private gardens.
We indulge in meals at restaurants varying from typical local cuisine to Michelin-rated tables. And of course live the very special experience of eating in private dining rooms of some wonderful Bordeaux Chateaux.
So you see, it's not just a wine tour but a real Bordeaux Wine Experience!
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 is a maximum of ten people. That’s just you and four other couples! These tours are 6 days, 5 nights. All our tours start as of one couple.
I invite you to contact us today for a detailed itinerary and more information!
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Have a great fall and we look forward to seeing you all in Bordeaux in the near future!
Cheers from Bordeaux,
Ronald and Margaret Rens
   
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