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Read about:
v The June Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour a great success!
vThe 2009 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule online
vThe 2008 Bordeaux Harvest Experience
v What Ronald has been drinking this month
v Ronald is officially a Culinary Travel Specialist!
v Screw those screw caps!
Member of
The American Society
of Travel Agents
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 Ronald with the guests of the Grand Cru Tour
at First Growth Chateau Haut Brion |
Dear Wine Lover,
At last the summer has arrived in Bordeaux. After a wet spring and a rainy start to the summer, the sunny weather has arrived. As I am writing this Newsletter it is actually very warm indeed: 34 C (93 F). The sky is blue, my boys are in the pool and everything is fine.
Our Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour has just come to an end. You can read about the good fun we had and the marvelous wines we tasted. Maybe you're in the mood for tasting wines and having fun. You can still join us on our Bordeaux Harvest Tour, coming September. We still have a few spots available. Read all about this wonderful experience in this Newsletter.
Some other highlights:
| Quote of the month: |
"Drinking wine with a sommelier is like making love to a gynaecologist: it’s better if they don’t tell you everything they know."
- From Jennifer Rosen’s book The Cork Jester
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2009 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
Plan your wine experiences for 2009. Our tour schedule is now online. If you book early, there is a special offer and you can pick the dates that are the most convenient for you.
Ronald, officially a Culinary Specialist
ASTA, The America Society of Travel Agents has acknowledged Ronald as a Western European Culinary Specialist.
Please vote for us
Our Blog is in the Top 10 of Wine Blogs (number 9) I want to be in the top 5 so I need your vote for our  Bordeaux Wine Blog, it's easy, it's free and it won't cost you a dime. So what's holding you back? Please click on the link and vote!
Cork or screw caps?
On a personal note you can read my opinion on those awful screw caps. Please read it and then give me your opinion on the subject. If you have something interesting to say, I will give room for your side of the argument in my next Newsletter...
I hope you'll enjoy reading this Newsletter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Ronald tasting the 2007 vintage with Nicolas de Baillencourt,
co-owner of Chateau Gazin in Pomerol |
Don’t drink
anything I wouldn't drink!
Have a great summer!
Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
President
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The June Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour a great success!
 Guests of the Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour posing in the drawing room of Classified Growth Prieuré Lichine after having enjoyed lunch in the beautiful chateau |
As we are getting ready for next weeks Grand Cru Tour we are also recuperating from last weeks tour. June's Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour has just come to an end. I am sure that even our guests have been experiencing some withdrawal. On the tour, which had been sold out for a long time, we toured with a mixed group: three couples from the USA (Florida, California and Ohio) and two couples from Dublin, Ireland. In the words of our Irish guests: "The Irish contingent added to the «blend»". You can read all the guest comments by clicking here. We tasted a record number of 74 wines of which 49 were Classified Growths! And we had one Irish Coffee...
Ronald happily accepting his
"thank you" present |
As you can see, when you tour with The Bordeaux Wine Experience, you taste more Classified Growths than on any other Bordeaux wine tour!
We had 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.
But there was more than "just" the wine. We actually were invited into chateaux, saw art collections and visited unique and private gardens. We had meals at restaurants varying from typical local cuisine to Michelin-rated tables and of course lived the very special experience of eating in the private dining rooms of some wonderful Bordeaux Chateaux. So you see, it's not just a wine tour but a real Bordeaux Wine Experience!
A very special moment for me was when the group thanked me at the Farewell dinner with a very special gift. Not one, but two bottles of wine were handed over to me: A "very expensive" rosé and a delightful, outperforming Third Growth from the Margaux appellation: Château Palmer. Thank you again for this much appreciated gift and thank you, members of "the loud group", for your confidence in touring with us.
The "harvest" of the Farewell dinner at Chateau Coulon Laurensac
The 2009 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule online!
We received many inquiries about our 2009 Wine Tour Schedule. Understandably many of you are planning far ahead.
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
August 31 - September 5, 2009
§ The Bordeaux Harvest Tour 2009
(September 21– September 26, 2009)
 These Tours are 6 days, 5 nights. Special offer: If you book now (in 2008), we will give you the 2008 prices for the 2009 tours. (Click here for the Itineraries). Newsletter readers are the first to be informed. These tours have just recently been put online on our website.
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. 
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! All our tours will start as of one couple.
Click here for more information on our Bordeaux Wine Tours
The Bordeaux Harvest Experience 2008
September 22– September 27, 2008 (still some spots available!)
Guests "working"at the selection tables on
last year's Harvest Tour |
This September we offer you a unique wine tour: The Bordeaux Harvest Experience. This tour is really without equal as everything in and around Bordeaux just buzzes with action and anticipation. Bordeaux, never very open to visitors, closes like an oyster at harvest time.
Fortunately we can get you into chateaux that usually keep their gates firmly locked to visitors, especially during harvest.
You will visit and taste at First Growths Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion and many others! This unparalleled wine tour will include a real pickers lunch at a Classified Growth Chateau.
| In the words of some of our guests of last year's Harvest Experience: |
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We came with very high expectations and The Bordeaux Wine Experience surpassed everything we hoped for. The positive experiences were endless. It was exciting, adventures and most educational. Our accommodations were excellent.
Ronald, our trip leader + wine guru was tremendous: knowledgeable, witty, humorous and very articulate.
In all, it was a perfect experience that will have long legs,
- to be remembered forever... |
Jack and Jane Novick, Branford, CT, USA
(in the gardens of Chateau de Malle) |
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The Bordeaux Harvest Tour: More than wine alone!
This tour offers more than wine alone, it's a culinary experience as well. You'll dine in a Michellin rated restaurant and you'll experience two formal lunches in the dining rooms of Classified Growth Chateaux. You'll see spectacular art collections and beautiful gardens. We will go and see the private gardens of two different Grand Cru's and we will be invited into First Growth Mouton Rothschild's unique museum.
This Bordeaux HarvestTour is 6 days, 5 nights. (Click here for the Itinerary).
Click here for more information on our Bordeaux Wine Tours.
 What Ronald has been drinking this month...
The best improve with age...
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The Best Bordeaux :
In spring we had a couple from New Zealand to stay at our Chateau. Richard and Patience were with us for over two months and we became friends. They kindly invited us out to dinner in one of Bordeaux's best known restaurants. With the foie gras we had a delightful Chateau d'Yquem 1998, the sole Premier Grand Cru Classé Supérieur in Bordeaux.
The wine had a beautiful golden color. Tropical fruit, lemon and orange blossom on the nose. Strong notes of botrytis and a fine balance in the acidity. The wine seemed to go on forever. A exceptional wine which went very well with the foie gras.
A very special evening indeed.
Thank you very much Richard and Patience.
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The best "non Bordeaux" wine:
On our last Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour one couple brought a very special wine for us to taste. Don and Sandy from Florida had been traveling through Israel before coming on our tour. Here they managed to get hold of a wine that is supposed to be one of Israel's best wines The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 1999. I had never tasted a wine from Israel before, so I was really looking forward to tasting it. The wine region in Israel was renowned for the quality of its wines during the period of the Roman rule.
Israeli wines are robust with a lot of fruit and alcohol.
The wine was complex and deep, layering ripe cherry, blackberry and plum notes with oak, vanilla, cocoa and hints of earthiness. The Cabernet based wine was full-bodied with rich, yet smooth, tannins.
The Yarden line is the premier label and flagship brand. Each year the finest grapes from the best vineyards are reserved for Yarden wines. Yarden is the Hebrew for Jordan River, which bisects the Golan Heights from the Galilee. The label features a symbol of ancient Israel: an oil lamp decorated with mosaic tile.
Thank you Don and Sandy for bringing this wine tour our tasting dinner.
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Ronald is now officially a Culinary Travel Specialist
 Ronald is now acknowledged as a Western European Culinary Travel Specialist |
Guests, who toured Bordeaux with Ronald all agree that he is very knowledgeable. But now it has become official: Ronald has been acknowledged as a Western European Culinary Travel Specialist by ASTA, The American Society of Travel Agents. This spring The Bordeaux Wine Experience attended the ASTA's International Destination Expo (IDE) in Lyon. All events, seminars and educational courses took place at the Lyon Convention Center where we had a booth at the trade show.
At this International Destination Expo Ronald completed a full course in Western European Culinary Travel and was acknowledged as a Western European Culinary Travel Specialist by The American Society of Travel Agents.
The Bordeaux Wine Experience is looking forward to working with travel agents from all over the world to communicate our beautiful wine region and our exciting wine tours.
Screw those screw caps!
 I know, I know, it’s just my opinion: I hate screw caps. So there you go, you can now start picking on me. But I will tell you why I hate screw caps so much.
I know corks can be a nuisance some times. I have read the comments about the 10% bad corks or one bad cork per case of 12 (that's NOT 10%; if you calculate properly!). I agree that every bottle lost to the cork is an awful waste, especially if you have been waiting for years for your prize Bordeaux.
I know that many wines don’t need aging and some don’t even need corks at all. I realize that the poor Portuguese oak trees can’t keep up with our thirsty drinking habits: Trees grow slower than our wine consumption.
 I know all that. So although I am aware of all that, why do I hate screw caps so much?
You can say I am a traditional guy. I like sticking to traditions, especially to ones that are wine related. Maybe it has to do with living in Bordeaux. In my wine seminars and master classes I usually explain that wine is a pleasure for all our senses. The ear is short changed as it is. Its sole wine related pleasure is the clinking of the glasses (Cheers!) and the discreet and unique thump of a cork giving way to a corkscrew; of course handled by a thirsty wine lover. I personally don’t want to sacrifice 50% of my acoustic wine pleasure to be insulted by a brute and unpleasant CRACK of a screw cap.
 Imagine being in a nice restaurant with your beloved one (or business relation, whatever works for you) and then the wine waiter (=sommelier) shows up: “Your wine sir, madam” and then this awful sound: CRACK when he opens the screw cap. My night would be screwed (if you'll excuse my French).
There are other solutions of course.
For wines that are meant to age we need the real stuff, the real cork from Portugal and preferably a good quality one. All the other wines can use those (artificial) rubber corks. They do the job  perfectly. They don’t spoil Portugal’s countryside, there are no “bad” corks amongst them and they give me my acoustical pleasure and of course a corkscrew experience.
So if the solution is that simple, why are wine makers still screwing around with screw caps? I will tell you why: The real problem is: nobody asks me!
My answer to these people: Screw them, but not my bottles!
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, easy and free!
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We need another 500 votes so please help us: Click here to vote The Bordeaux Wine Experience your favorite blog. Please vote once a day.
Thanks very much for your help!
Have a great summer 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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Visit our
website:
Bordeaux Wine
Tours
www.BXWINEX.com
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2008
Wine Tour opportunities
(Just five
couples per tour!)
Last spots available in 2008:
The Bordeaux Harvest Tour
Sept 22– Sept 27, 2008
(Lasts spots available)
All Bordeaux Wine
Tours are 6 days, 5 nights.
Avoid disappointment and
reserve your place today!
(Click here!)
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2009 Wine Tour Schedule
(Just five couples per tour!)
Open for booking
We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2009:
The Grand Tour of
Bordeaux 1
May 25 - May 30, 2009
The Grand Tour of
Bordeaux 2
July 6 -July 11, 2009
The Grand Tour of
Bordeaux 3
August 30 -Sept 5, 2009
The Bordeaux Harvest Tour
Sept 21– Sept 26, 2008
These Bordeaux Wine Tours are 6 days, 5 nights.
Avoid disappointment and reserve your place today!
(Click here!)
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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 days, two nights private wine tour packages
(to Médoc or Saint Emilion)
(Click here!)
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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.
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