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Read about:
v "Green Wine" from Saint Julien
v It's a Grand Tour of Bordeaux
v What Ronald has been drinking this month
v My Epiphany Bottle
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Ronald with Bruno Eynard in front of Chateau Lagrange in Saint Julien |
Dear Wine Lover,
We had great sunny weather the last 10 days. This is good news as the vines are flowering in this period. This is the first important step to a hopefully great vintage 2009.
We just concluded a very successful May Wine Tour. You can read about some of our experiences here.
Chateau Lagrange
Margaret and I were invited for lunch at Chateau Lagrange in Saint Julien. We will tell you about the somewhat technical approach of the charming and energetic general director Bruno Eynard. And we had a look at Lagrange's brand new tasting room.
Vinexpo 2009
And of course Bordeaux is getting ready for Vinexpo. This world's largest fine wine show takes place in Bordeaux every other year.
The  Vinexpo exhibition has established itself over the years as the key event for major international operators in the wine and spirits sector.
In our next issue we will tell you all about our experiences of what promises to be a very impressive Vinexpo 2009.
Remember I told you about the interview by Chef Mark for his show: Remarkable Palate We received a number of emails about the link. I should have mentioned that the link works slowly. You have to wait a few seconds for it to load. For those of you that tried but couldn't access the radio interview with Ronald: interview on ReMarkable palate.
| Quote of the month: |
“There are more old wine drinkers than there are old doctors.”
- German proverb |
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Unforgettable wine
Last month I invited you to participate in this Newsletter and tell me which wine would you dream of drinking again and why. Where did you taste it and why did it leave such an impression? Newsletter reader Mari Kane is the first to share her special wine experience with us. Next month it could be your story featured here. Please send me an e-mail at Ronald@BXWINEX.com.
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I hope you'll enjoy reading this Newsletter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
The Grand Tour of Bordeaux at Chateau d'Issan,
the host of this year's Fête de la Fleur during Vinexpo
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Don’t drink
anything I wouldn't drink!
Have a a great summer.
Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
Wine writer and President
of The Bordeaux Wine Experience
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 Green Wine from Saint Julien
Chateau Lagrange with its beautiful lake.
The famous swans have fallen victim to hungry foxes... |
Chateau Lagrange is the largest of all Grands Crus Classés. I have been following the improvements of this Third Growth from Saint Julien for over twenty years now. Vintages like 1986 and 1989 are fond memories now; fortunately I still have some bottles of the 1990 Lagrange in my cellar. You'll understand we didn't hesitate a minute when Charlotte Denjean invited us for lunch at the Chateau.
We started with a short tour of the winery. Things had changed a lot since the last time I was there. Many of the big fermenting tanks waited in the courtyard to be collected.
Bruno Eynard looking at his flowering vines: "All technology is great, but the most important part of a great wine is the vineyard". |
In the winery stood the brand new small stainless steel tanks which will be used to vinify parcels separately.
"This will permit us to work with much more precision", as Bruno Eynard, the CEO of the property, would explain to us over lunch.
"Being the largest of the Classified Growths, Lagrange has a tradition of being open to the usage of technology", he continued. With 157 hectares, of which there are 117 ((290 acres) under vine, you need technology to handle everything.
"Lagrange was always one of the first chateaux to use new technology" he said nodding in approval of the 2000 Les Fiefs de Lagrange, the excellent second wine of Lagrange. "Other chateaux sometimes look at us with some criticism, but later they all start using the same technology". "We have a strong partnership with the INRA (The National Institute of Agricultural Research) since 1995".
Eynard, who has been working at the chateau for over 25 years has seen a lot of change. "We are going to be as green as possible". Lagrange is one of the first properties in Bordeaux to perform its Carbon Count assessment.
Ronald tasting the 2008 Lagrange in the property's brand new tasting room. |
There is a large composting area to reduce green waste and to produce natural fertilizer. Another energy saving technique consists of performing the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations almost at the same time. This results in an electrical heating saving of around 8% of the estate's total annual consumption.
Heating and cooling stations were replaced by heat pumps. On the roasted fillet of duck accompanied by the Lagrange 2002, Eynard explained the next step in high tech wine making. The grapes that come in the winery have to undergo a selection process. For this chateaux use selection tables with people selecting the grapes.
Traditional French oak barrels at Chateau Lagrange. There are less barrels then usual given the
small crop of the vintage 2008 |
This is tedious and dull work where people will start making mistakes after a certain period of time. For the 2009 crop, Lagrange will start experimenting with a selection table where the selection is done automatically. A camera will determine the quality of each individual grape. The machine will then discard any grape that is less than perfect.
"Wine lovers shouldn't be afraid of this use of technology. It is exactly the same as if it were done by people, but without the margin of error", Eynard said with a smile, seeing the look on our faces.
I still don't know whether he smiled at this idea or at the excellent Lagrange 1996 that accompanied the cheese selection...
It's a Grand Tour of Bordeaux
We tasted an impressive 43 Classified Growths on last month's Grand Tour of Bordeaux. Margaret and I had the privilege of touring with a wonderful group from the United States, Canada and Australia. We tasted 67 different wines! Please click here to see all wines we tasted. We enjoyed visits and tastings at all five First Growths and Yquem. Read what our guests of this year's May tour have to say:
 "We had an exceptional experience and will cherish the memories from our week with both of you. We appreciate the level of expertise in all of the planning of food, wine and personal touches that made this tour such a very unique experience. Thank you.
Wishing you love, laughter and great wine!"
Nancy S and Alan S
Vancouver/Toronto, Canada
 "We can’t wait to share our amazing experience with everyone at home. Everything was absolutely perfect -your beautiful home and gracious hospitality, the incredible food the warm and friendly company and of course the fabulous wine! Please come to see us in Florida – you are always welcome!"
Brian and Karen A,
Clearwater, Florida, USA
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Of course tasting is better than reading when it comes to enjoying great wines. This summer there will be just 5 couples that can still tour Bordeaux with us. So check out the tour schedule. Contact us today for a detailed itinerary and more information!
Our bordeaux Wine tour schedule for this summer:
§ The Grand Tour of Bordeaux 2009
August 31 - September 5, 2009 (still open for booking)
§ The Bordeaux Harvest Tour 2009
September 21– September 26, 2009 (last 2 spots available, just 1 couple)
 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 Barton 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!
 What Ronald has been drinking this month...
The best improve with age...
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The Best Bordeaux:
At a dinner party in Saint Emilion we tasted (blind) an array of wines from different wine regions in France. Around midnight we were at the cheese dish and congratulated Margaret with her birthday. Our host, realizing that this was true directly went to his wine cellar. When he came back with a decanter, he said: "this calls for something special". And it was!
The Chateau Cos d'Estournel 1989, a Super Second Growth from the St. Estèphe appellation was spectacular.
A beautiful brick color gave away directly that this was by no means a young wine. A pronounced spicy nose with hints of vanilla. In the mouth the wine had a great depth, although it lacked some complexity.
The wine showed beautiful ripe tannins and a strong presence of ripe fruit.
Thank you very much Ludo and Valérie!
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The best "non Bordeaux" wine:
Wine is a great way to make friends. In 1990 we attended a dinner party in the Médoc. The French at our table looked at us like we came from Mars. But when we showed our passion (and some knowledge of both wine and the French language) they opened up. Christophe and Béa from the Northern part of France (Champagne) became close friends over the years. Christophe is more open than I am to the other wine growing region with a B(urgundy).
When we visited them this spring he opened a wonderful Chambolle-Musigny "Les Charmes"from the top vintage 2000. 
This wine comes from three parcels. One small parcel with vines of over 60 years old. The two other parcels have vines from 40 to 50 years old. The color is light and brilliant. Totally different than any Bordeaux. Loads of fruit on the nose. In the mouth it is fruit, fruit and fruit; loads of raspberry. Although I will remain faithful to Bordeaux, it was a great wine and a wonderful discovery.
Thanks very much Christophe and Béa!
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My Epiphany Bottle
Excerpted from a forthcoming book, Mouthfeel: by Mari Kane |
Everybody has an epiphany bottle that lurks in their mental cellar and make you say, I wish I knew how to quit you.
I met my epiphany bottle in 1990. It was a magnum of Bordeaux that my photography partner and I absconded with after a photo shoot. We drank it that night with a pepperoni pizza - a very good pizza – and consumed the entire liter-and-a-half. The indulgence prompted a sensory breakthrough that changed my life.
Before then, I had never tried anything so deeply complex and expensive-tasting. As I stared at the wine’s deep scarlet tint through our cheap Luminarc glasses, I realized this was no ordinary grape juice. And with every swallow, I felt compelled to say, "Damn, this is good wine."
That bottle was so obviously superb it made me realize that  fabulous wines are not just for rich people; little unsophisticated me can dig fine wine too, even if I can’t afford it.
The wine? A Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1986 Pauillac, valued at ninety dollars at the time and worth every minute we paid in trade to our client.
So, although, I may not have known why I liked this bottle, at least I knew a great wine when I tasted it.
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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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