Goes out to nearly 20.000 Bordeaux Wine Lovers all over the world!
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The harvest proclamation in Saint Emilion
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A Personal Note From Ronald,
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It is October and the Bordeaux Harvest is well on its way. There is a lot of superstition about vintages with a 7 and it is true that 2007, 1997, 1987 were far from famous. The vintage 2017 was for many chateaus reduced by frost in April and some vineyards suffered from hail later in the year. But, having said that, the first feedback I got from the vintage is optimistic. I was in the vineyards almost every day for the last few weeks and the quality of the fruit is surprisingly good in many cases. The yields will be lower than usual but the quality might compensate for that.
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The first 2017 white grapes harvested at Haut Brion
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Bringing back memories of my own “Intronisation”
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Ban des Vendanges
The opening of the Harvest in Saint Emilion is a centuries old mixture of tradition and folklore. As a member of the 900 year-old Jurade of Saint Emilion I was proud to participate in the ceremonies surrounding the opening of the harvest season. Margaret delved a bit into the background of this tradition and you can read her article here.
Hands-on harvest experience
Margaret and I actually participated in the selection of the grapes at the table de tri, and my back still hurts from the experience. As of now, I will drink my wines with even more respect for all the workers in the field…
Haut Baillly-owner honored
Speaking of respect, I have a lot of respect for Robert Wilmers the visionary owner of Graves Classified Growth Haut Bailly. Apparently it’s not just me because Wilmers was honored by the French government. And of course it was our pleasure to congratulate him with this.
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Last spots for a 2018 Bordeaux Wine Experience
When you’re reading this we will have conducted our last tour of the season and we are very happy to have met such incredible guests on our tours. And very pleased by the positive feedback our guests provide us. I am sharing the comments of J. and Debby from Florida and if your read these you’ll understand why our tours are almost sold out for next year.
Almost, but not quite! There are still some spots available so book them before they’re gone: 2018 Bordeaux Wine Tours
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Ronald with his guests at Mouton Rothschild
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Great Fall
Personally, I always love this Fall season with the beautiful colors and the first fire in the fireplace. And what about enjoying a different kind of wines. No more rosés but stronger full-bodied wines to accompany ceps and other mushrooms. Life is good in Bordeaux, especially in Fall and I hope you will enjoy it to the fullest.
Any questions or remarks? I am open to feedback so simply reply to this magazine. I love to hear from you.
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Ronald and Margaret love to share
their passion for Bordeaux with you
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And please remember: Don’t drink anything I wouldn’t drink!
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The start of the harvest: the Ban des Vendanges
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The official opening of the harvest in Saint Emilion. Big bunches of baloons representing grapes were released
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It is Harvest season here in Bordeaux!
All around us workers are busy in the vineyards bringing in the grapes of the 2017 vintage.
Traditionally the Ban des Vendanges is the date where the government authorized the start of the harvesting. Ban des Vendanges actually means interdiction of harvesting and the ‘lever du Ban des Vendanges” is the end of the interdiction and thus allowing the harvesting of the grapes. This ritual was already installed during the Roman Empire to make sure the grapes were at perfect maturity at the start of the harvest. The choice of the start date of the harvest was considered to be too important for the general public and could not be left decided to individual farmers.
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The harvest at Petrus last Friday
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Ronald with his friend and First Jurat Hubert de Boüard de
Laforest of Chateau Angélus
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Middle Ages and French Revolution
In the Middle Ages every landlord had the right to announce the start date for the harvest for his vineyards and his peasants had to wait with harvesting until their lord lifted the Ban des Vendanges. The same lord also reserved himself the right to sell his own wines first, of course making sure his own interests were served first.
It may come as no surprise that during the French Revolution in 1789 the Ban des Vendanges was one of the first restrictions the revolutionaries did away with: Every farmer had the right to decide on the date he started his harvest and he didn’t need permission of his landlord as long as he didn’t damage the harvest of his neighbors. In reality the local authorities kept the right to advise about the start date of the harvest.
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Jurade and tradition
Nowadays the authorities give the official start date of the harvest every year. An individual owner has the possibility to ask for an exceptional authorization to start the harvesting of certain plots earlier than the official starting date.
As a result the Ban des Vendanges festivities are now more a folklore and traditional event than anything else. In Saint Emilion the Jurade assembles every year in the second weekend of September to announce the Ban des Vendanges.
This year these festivities took place on September 17th and started with an official mass to ask for the blessing of the harvest. This was followed by a solemn parade of the Jurade through the medieval streets of Saint Emilion to the cloister.
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Proclamation of the harvest from the Tour du Roy,
the King’s Tower
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Ronald proudly wearing his sash of the
900-year old Jurade of Saint Emilion
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New honors bestowed
Here Ronald and I gathered, together with the other members of the Jurade and the official guests for the start of the intronisations. Ronald was intronised in the Jurade 2 years ago during the festivities of the flowering of the vines. This time we enjoyed the ceremony as spectators as the same honor was bestowed on new members. Jean-Bernard Grenié of Chateau Angelus invited us for a cocktail and lunch after the ceremony. Over lunch we enjoyed no less than nine wines of the Saint Emilion appellation. The wines that stood out for me were Chateau Laniote 2007, and the Figéac 1990 and of course our host’s magnum of Angélus 2004.
Lunch was a long and lavish affair and the most important ceremony of the day was yet to come. We had to finish our coffee in a hurry to see the Jurade’s solemn procession through Saint Emilion to climb the landmark tower, le Tour du Roy. From the top of this tower the president of the Jurade –Hubert de Boüard de
Laforest– declared the harvest of Saint Emilion officially open by pronouncing the traditional harvest proclamation:
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“Stand up grape pickers!
The Jurade has proclaimed the Harvest
Let your secateurs come alive in your agile hands
Don’t forget that each grape contains an ocean of life
Let the vats rumble!
Let the grape must trickle and flow!
Let its scent rise to the sky!
Sing together our joy
Shout beyond the rooftops
Beyond the hills, beyond the oceans
Beyond the borders
Let the whole universe hear us
Saint-Emilion, Hallelujah!”
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Music, folklore and nine centuries of tradition in Saint Emilion
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Thierry Grenié, the eighth generation at Angélus serving the magnum of Angélus 2004 with a smile
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Back to reality
The harvest usually takes place roughly 100 days after the flowering of the vines. If you still doubt global warming: in the South East of France the harvest date is advanced with almost a month compared to the harvests 50 years ago.
In general the harvest dates in France are:
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End of august: Corsica, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence |
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Beginning of September : Beaujolais, Vallée du Rhône South |
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Mid September: Vallée du Rhône North, Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Jura, Centre, South-West, Val-de-Loire |
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End of September : Alsace, Champagne |
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Early October: Charentes – Cognac, Lorraine. |
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Let’s zoom in on Bordeaux
The white grapes for the dry wines (Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillion) are always harvested first. Chateau Haut Brion is always one of the first to kick-off their harvest. Those of you who have visited Haut Brion with us may remember that the chateau and the vineyards are enclosed by the residential outskirts of Bordeaux.
This creates a unique microclimate and therefor the Haut Brion grapes are among the first to ripen and Haut Brion is always the first of the First Growths to harvest.
The harvest of the red grapes is next. Normally the Merlots are the first to be ripe to be picked. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon have a thicker skin and need more time on the vine to come to full maturity. The last grape variety to be picked is the Petit Verdot.
When the harvest is done in red-wine country the sweet wine producers usually have a long way to go. The Sauternes have to wait until their Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillion and Muscadelle are well attacked by the botrytis. This can be in October but the last waves of picking here can be as late as December! All depends on the weather conditions.
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Different stages of the Noble Rot at Yquem
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Experiencing the Harvest ourselves
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Pumping over at Léoville Barton in Saint Julien
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By hand or machine
There are more than 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) planted with grapes in the Bordeaux area. To harvest all these hectares by hand is simply impossible. Most of the harvesting today in Bordeaux is done by machine. But the results are not the same in terms of quality, and some regions even formally prohibit the use of harvesting machines. The vineyards we visit with our guests on the Bordeaux Wine Experience, all harvest by hand. And some wineries take this even more seriously than others. For example at Chateau Margaux there will be only one layer of grapes in a crate to prevent grapes crushing each other during transport. Chateau Pape Clement was one of the first to start de-stemming bunches by hand again to prevent damaging the grapes. And in almost all top wineries the grapes are transported into the tanks by conveyer belts and gravity instead of by pipes and pumps.
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Hands-on hand harvest
In Latresene, the village where we live, our friends of Chateau Pascot produce an excellent AOC Bordeaux Supérieur. Since the vineyard is only 5 hectares (12 acres) and partly on slopes, all harvesting is done by hand. We went over last week to give them a hand with the work. After the grapes are de-stemmed by a de-stemming machine, they pass over a sorting table. Ronald and I were responsible for taking out all leaves, looking for pieces of stems and the occasion snail or spider before the grapes where moved to the fermentation tank. Hard but rewarding work and I am sure we will drink the 2017 of Chateau Pascot with even more respect and pleasure than we have done with previous vintages.
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Margaret helping Aline, co-owner of Chateau Pascot in our local village
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Robert Wilmers (Haut Bailly) receives highest medal of honor
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Mayor of Bordeaux and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé presents Robert Wilmers with the Légion d’Honneur
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Even though everybody in Bordeaux is preoccupied with the harvest at the moment, we all found time in our busy schedule to honor Robert Wilmers of Chateau Haut Bailly. The French government has awarded him the title of Officer in the Order of the Légion d’Honneur and last week he received the medal that goes with this honor.
Mayor of Bordeaux and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé lead the ceremony that took place at Chateau Haut Bailly. Mr Juppé spoke about Mr. Wilmers lifespan that started with Harvard Business School and a fruitful career in banking. He also spoke of the many charities Mr. Wilmer and his wife support. And finally he addressed the importance of Mr. Wilmers commitment to the city and vineyards of Bordeaux. It was Mr. Wilmers himself in his humorous acceptance speech that drew many laughs from his fellow winemakers and chateau-owners present.
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Haut Bailly knows how to entertain. Guests on our tours
can vouch for that!
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Robert Wilmers sharing a moment with our guests on the Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour
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Love for France and les Folies Bergères
He told us about his youth in Brussels and how he spend four summers in Biarritz, a coastal town 200 km south of Bordeaux. He confessed that he actually thought these holidays were quite boring and that his love for France started when his parents took him to Paris and les Folies Bergères.
He also mentioned the love for and support of his wife Elizabeth. She is French and being married to her helped him to experience both the American and French culture. He sees a lot of differences but also many similarities between the two countries. And not only Starbucks and McDonalds.
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Haut Bailly
Together the Wilmers’ enjoy spending time at Chateau Haut Bailly. Mr. Wilmers feels his role at Haut Bailly is modest and it is his aim and ambition to make the wine take center stage.
It is very appropriate that his dedication to the French culture is awarded by the honor of the legion d’Honneur.
Our guests on the Bordeaux Wine Experience have the privilege to experience the family ambiance at Chateau Haut Bailly themselves. We’ve included not just a visit of the chateau in our experiences but our guests are also invited for lunch in the private dining room of the chateau.
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Wilmers at Haut Bailly: make the wine take center stage
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Limited availabilities for 2018 Bordeaux Wine Tours
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Great fun on our Bordeaux Wine Tours
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Because your want an experience,
not “just” a tour
The word “experience” has been over-used in the travel-world lately. And yet we had good reasons to name our company “The Bordeaux Wine Experience” and we are not going to change that. We have our own way of seeing things and doing things on our tours that is different. And it’s not a trick; it’s who we are. And we can’t and won’t change that!
Therefore I will share our philosophy with you here. Don’t worry, it’s rather simple. I’ll also share what some of our guests said after a tour with us. Then it’s up to you to decide what you want: just a wine tour or a Bordeaux Wine Experience!
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An “Experience”, not just a tour
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Ronald and Margaret: “It’s not a trick: it’s simply who we are”
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This is what we say:
“The best way to experience Bordeaux is through its local people, local foods and local wines. Each Bordeaux Wine Tour includes tasting the iconic five First Growths—Chateaux Latour, Lafite Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Margaux and Yquem—along with château accommodation and exclusive meals in venues not open to the public. In short: a real Bordeaux wine and culinary experience. With us you learn about Bordeaux wines in a fun, down-to-earth and friendly atmosphere with like-minded wine lovers!”
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This is what our guests say:
“The only word I can use to describe this experience is epic! Thank you so much for being such incredible hosts, mentors, guides and most importantly, friends. Bordeaux has always been a “bucket list” trip for me and I can’t think of a better way to experience Bordeaux. You both are simply the best. We hope to return many more times in the future.
J. and Debby Nelson
FL, USA
(The Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour 2017)”
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“The only word I can use to describe this experience is epic”
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Our 2018 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 may be 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.
Sold out! ask to be informed for 2019 here.
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Tasting with the owner in Pomerol at Chateau Gazin
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See and taste all First Growths (here at Yquem)
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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’ll 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’ll 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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Tasting with the owner at First Growth “A” Angélus in Saint Emilion
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2018 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
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_____________________________________________________________________
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Why take a Bordeaux Wine and Culinary Tours with us?
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Exclusive touring: limited to six double/twin rooms and one single |
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Carefree and truly effortless travel in Bordeaux: We take care of everything, really everything |
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See and taste all 5 First Growths and Château 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 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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Chateau Coulon Laurensac, absolutely 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 © 2017 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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