Goes out to nearly 20.000 Bordeaux Wine Lovers all over the world!
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Ronald and Margaret love to be your hosts in Bordeaux
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A Personal Note From Ronald,
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At first I would like to congratulate our American friends with their new president. You either like the new president or you don’t, but anyway, Trump will be in the White House for the next four years. It won’t influence wine consumption very much as Trump is a self-proclaimed teetotaler but –granted- with a winery in the family.
So let’s get back to Bordeaux. The 2016 harvest is over and the juices are in the tanks becoming more like wine every day. As I told you last month, the quality is very good, possibly outstanding. I spoke to some close friends who own chateaux and are not in the habit of exaggeration or BS and they too confirmed that Bordeaux has another great vintage in the tanks.
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Bordeaux 2016: from grape to glass
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Margaret with Arnaud de la Filolie, a “dinosaur” in Saint Emilion
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Deeper into the Right-Bank
Last month I told you about the differences between Left-Bank and Right-Bank in Bordeaux. This time I want to delve a bit deeper into the Right-Bank with a portrait of one of the last small and family-owned properties in Saint Emilion. And their wines are worth discovering as people who toured with me before will know very well. Chateau Laniote represents a tremendous value, a rare commodity in Saint Emilion nowadays. And the owners are delightful people and dear friends of ours. So it is with much pleasure that I’ll tell you their story.
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Plan your Bordeaux Wine Vacation now!
Now with the US elections behind us the time is right to plan your wine vacation in Bordeaux with us. To remove all doubts I’ll share some thoughts of a few of guests who toured with us in 2016. I never really know if these comments make me proud or just make be blush. Probably a bit of both! Anyhow, now is as good a time to book what we used to call a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Bordeaux. Why we used to call this so? Well so many of you came back for a second trip or even a third or fourth helping of this Bordeaux Wine Experience of a lifetime.
Life is apparently to short for just one of these…
So act now and check out our 2017 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule here and secure your spots before they’re gone.
*TripAdvisor.com
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The best wine, the best food, the best people
and definitely the best fun!
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Have a great Fall
I would like to wish you a great Fall. And I am asking you for your feedback: Want me to change things or keep them the same? Do you have ideas or complaints? Just shoot me an email and simply reply to this magazine. I love to hear from you %%First name%%, thanks.
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Ronald and Margaret love to be
your hosts in Bordeaux
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And please remember: Don’t drink anything I wouldn’t drink!
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Chateau Laniote, a small dinosaur in Bordeaux
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Les Grandes Murailles, just outside of Saint Emilion and minutes away from Chateau Laniote
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Limestone and Swiss cheese
Medieval Saint-Emilion dominates the area from its 100 high limestone rock. The best vineyards, the best terroir, surround this village. This limestone used to be the region’s major source of income. The limestone was excavated in ridiculous amounts to build the houses and castles in the area. The village of Saint-Emilion, the nearby town of Libourne and even Bordeaux, were built from this local stone. Over the centuries this transformed Saint-Emilion’s limestone rock into one big Swiss cheese. Over 200km of tunnels were excavated, sometimes even five layers deep. This limestone subsoil is perfect for viticulture. Especially Merlot and Cabernet Franc thrive on this soil and it will come as no surprise that these are the prevalent grape varieties in Saint-Emilion. The wines are round and generous and in general easier to appreciate in their youth than the wines from the Left-Bank.
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Chateau Laniote has been in the same family for two centuries.
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The best things come in small parcels
The last couple of years the wines of Saint-Emilion have experienced a renewed interest from people all over the world. Wealthy French families started buying properties here. Louis Vuitton’s Bernard Arnault bought Cheval Blanc and the Wertheimer family, the owners of Chanel, acquired Canon. Chinese buyers have become active as well in the Saint-Emilion region. Since a few years the Chinese are buying properties in Bordeaux at the rate of one chateau per month.
Once a well-to-do family owns a famous chateau, the hunt is on. They try to expand the vineyard by buying up smaller properties and incorporating these vineyards into the famous one. The current price of a vineyard is € 2 million per hectare, about ten times the price it was at the beginning of this century. And the end is nowhere to be seen.
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A modern day Astérix
Like in the French cartoon Astérix there are a few small producers that try to resist and stay independent; but they are a dying-breed. Today there are just three left. The oldest of this three is Chateau Laniote that has been in the same family for two centuries. Laniote lies within walking distance of Saint-Emilion, close to famous names like Clos Fourtet and Canon. Like many wineries in Bordeaux, Laniote is more a farmhouse than a castle. Don’t expect moats or fountains here. Nobody cares about the buildings here: it is the soil, the terroir, that is the center of attention. At Laniote the terroir is Grand Cru Classé, just below Premier Grand Cru Classé resulting in an excellent value for money for wine-lovers. Arnaud de la Filolie –the eighth generation – stands proudly at the helm of the chateau. The previous seven generations complied with an almost Chinese one-child-policy to keep the property in the family. Since 1821 the 5h vineyard was transferred 8 times from mother to daughter. In 1989 with Arnaud it was the first time in two centuries that a man took over the chateau.
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Arnaud de la Filolie –the eighth generation
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The cave were the monk Emilion –the name giver of
Saint-Emilion- lived
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The cave of Emilion
But Arnaud didn’t “just” inherit the chateau. He also owns the cave were the monk Emilion –the name giver of Saint-Emilion- lived. The town has a long history going back to the year 383 when the Roman governor Ausonius retired here and officially became the first inhabitant of what we now call Saint-Emilion. It was about four centuries later that a monk named Emilion was living in a cave under the village. He was originally from Brittany where used to steal bread to feed the poor. When he was caught he fled to the barren and inhospitable South of France and that is how he ended up in the caves under Saint-Emilion. He was to stay there from 750 until 767.
After the French Revolution of 1789 most properties of the nobility as well as those of the church were confiscated. The cave of Emilion and the adjoining chapel suffered the same faith.
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Monuments for sale
When in 1824 these monuments came up for sale Arnaud’s ancestors decided to buy the entire lot; more to prevent that these holy places would end up in the wrong hands than anything else. Arnaud doesn’t just own the famous cave: the Hermitage. La Chapelle de la Trinité, the 13th century chapel in the hearth of Saint-Emilion is also his property. So it is his own chapel you find on the label of Chateau Laniote. But there is more. Arnaud also owns a part of the famous Catacombes, the underground burying site that has been in use since the 8th century. The catacombes are an important part of the history of Saint-Emilion and oddly are private property. All Arnaud’s monuments are open to visitors through the Saint-Emilion tourist office.
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La Chapelle de la Trinité
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The cave were the monk Emilion –the name giver of
Saint-Emilion- lived
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Small is beautiful
The team at Laniote is small: Arnaud works together with his wife and just one employee. The same band of gipsies has provided the manual labor for picking the grapes for over 50 years. Being a small estate comes with advantages and disadvantages. It’s a disadvantage for instance that Laniote with its size of a mere 5 hectare can’t afford to use expensive machinery. Out of sheer necessity everything is done in the traditional way and by hand. And exactly this traditional approach happens to be the new big thing in winemaking! Even larger and more prestigious properties return to this way of working, simply because the wines are better this way. Less machinery and technology and back to nature, is the quintessence of this approach.
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No love…
A small property like Laniote obviously can’t afford to employ a full-time oenologist.
“My marriage is not based on love,” says Arnaud jokingly. “It was a marriage of convenience.” His wife Florence is a talented and well-trained oenologist and it is she -together with an outside consultant- who is responsible for the winemaking process. Arnaud governs the vineyards and manages the business side of the property. And the result is perfectly fine: an excellent Saint-Emilion for a reasonable price. This too has become a rare phenomenon in Saint-Emilion. The Lord of the Castle calls himself “a little dinosaur” and speaks of a “dying-breed.” With four children, the ninth generation at the property seems to be assured. Let’s hope that this little dinosaur will survive for another couple of generations.
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Florence de la Filolie a talented oenologist
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Ronald Tasting the excellent Laniote
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Tasting notes
Chateau Laniote 2009
This wine almost jumps out of the glass. Very expressive nose of black fruit, almost exotic. A rich palate of aromas with a good balance and an exemplary length. Without the over-ripeness I found with some producers in this vintage. An elegant beautiful wine with great purity. Soft and ripe tannins. Very appealing. Maybe the best Laniote I have ever tasted.
Ronald’s rating: 17 out of 20 points
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Chateau Laniote 2010
A pleasant nose with good ripe fruit, a bit dominated by the oak. Good freshness and style. Round and juicy with loads of concentrated fruit. The oak influence fortunately doesn’t dominate in the mouth. Expressive and strong tannins that will take a couple of years to mellow. Well done in this outstanding vintage!
Ronald’s rating: 16,5 out of 20 points.
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Fact sheet
Chateau Laniote, AOC Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Classification: Grand Cru Classé
Surface vineyard: 5 ha
Grape varieties: merlot 80%, cabernet franc 15% en cabernet sauvignon 5%
Average yearly production: 30.000 bottles
No second wine
Website: www.laniote.com
Ronald’s favourite: Chateau Laniote 2009, price starting at € 37 per bottle
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A request to TripAdvisor for extra stars!
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We are very proud of he great reviews we receive on TripAdvisor and I would like to share the following review with you because it makes me so happy when we succeed to create these once-in-a-lifetime experiences for our guests.
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A TripAdvisor comment
“After returning from our third Bordeaux Wine Experience at Chateau Coulon Laurensac, we scrolled back to our first Trip Advisor review in 2014, and our latest experience just confirms and reemphasizes every previous comment. It was a joy to greet Margaret and Ronald as old friends with their exceptional enthusiasm, hospitality, and caring for their guests totally evident.
Their pride in Chateau Coulon Laurensac is so obvious in the continuous upgrades to the chateau and the grounds over the past three years.
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Chateau Coulon Laurensac, home to the
Bordeaux Wine Experience
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The breakfast room overlooking the pool
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Reflecting back to our first tour, it was a whirlwind, almost an overload, of exclusive chateau visits, exciting wine tastings, delicious meals, and details about the vineyards, wine making, and vintage years, all of which differentiate the best Bordeaux wines. Returning a second and third time was even more enjoyable. We could relax and fully appreciate the entire experience, which seemed familiar yet even more fresh, exciting, and satisfying than the previous visits.
When we depart from Chateau Coulon Laurensac and Margaret & Ronald, we never say “Goodbye” but instead we vow: “We will return again!”
And to TripAdvisor, we have one request: Can we give The Bordeaux Wine Experience and Chateau Coulon Laurensac a rating of SIX stars?“
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Ronald and Margare: The best food, fun and wine in Bordeaux
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Our 2017 Bordeaux Wine Tour Program
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Because you want a Bordeaux Wine Experience and not “just a tour”
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The Grand Tour of Bordeaux
The Grand Tour maybe the most special tour we offer, with meals as exceptional as your visits. Imagine tasting all five First Growths and Yquem. And there is more: Superb chateau meals and Michelin rated dining… Add to this the best of Pomerol and Saint Emilion and you’ll see that this dazzling Grand Tour of Bordeaux is your chance to see and taste the very best that Bordeaux has to offer.
Ask us for an Itinerary here.
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Seeing the original artwork at First Growth Mouton Rothschild
is a highlight on all our Bordeaux week tours
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A master-class on tasting Classified Growths marks the
start of each of our Bordeaux Week Tours
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The Bordeaux Grand Cru tour
This is probably our most exclusive tour. This ultimate wine tour for Bordeaux lovers is as good as it gets. Can you believe that you will see and taste all five First Growths and Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem including some older vintages! Of course we include the best of Saint Emilion and Pomerol as well. Add to this outstanding meals at exceptional venues not normally open to the public and you’ll see why this tour usually sells out early.
Ask us for an Itinerary here.
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The Bordeaux Grand Cru Harvest Tour
The Harvest Tour is Grand in every way, both in food and wine. Enjoy chateau meals and Michelin rated dining. The most exciting time in Bordeaux is harvest time. You can sense the anticipation in the air.
And the food is superb as well: Exclusive meals at extraordinary venues not normally open to the public. On top of that you will see and taste all five First Growths and Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem and many of them will be older vintages!
Ask us for an Itinerary here.
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Bordeaux in full harvest swing
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2017 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
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_____________________________________________________________________
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What makes our Bordeaux Wine and Culinary Tours so unique?
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See and taste all 5 First Growths and Château d’Yquem! |
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Expert (and humorous) guidance by Bordeaux specialist Ronald Rens |
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Air-conditioned accommodation at our privately owned 18th century chateau |
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Taste more Classified Growths than on any other Bordeaux wine tour! |
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Grand Cru Farewell Dinner with all Grand Cru wines (including Chateau d’Yquem!) |
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Gourmet meals at three Bordeaux Chateaux and a Michelin starred restaurant! |
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Grand Cru wines with all meals (except breakfast…) |
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Air-conditioned, luxury motor coach transportation throughout the tour |
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Great food and wine and a lot of fun in a small group |
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2016 – 2017 Bordeaux Day Tour Packages
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The most complete Wine Day Tour Packages in Bordeaux!
Best of both worlds tour
Stay at our Chateau and be chauffeur-driven to Classified Growths on a private tour that combines the best of both worlds in Bordeaux: the Médoc and Saint Emilion.
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Chateau Coulon Laurensac: the best place in the world to taste all five First Growths and Yquem…
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The Bordeaux Wine Experience
at Chateau Coulon Laurensac
1, chemin de Meydieu
33360 Latresne (BORDEAUX), France
Website : www.BXWINEX.com
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Call us:
1-877-203-2665 (toll free from USA & Canada) or
+33 556 20 64 12 (from anywhere else in the world)
(These lines go directly to our Chateau in Bordeaux so please remember that we’re on Paris time!)
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Copyright © 2016 by The Bordeaux Wine Experience. All rights reserved. The content, design and graphical elements of this Magazine 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.
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