Ryan's Bordeaux Blog

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On Monday the day was spent again with CIVB until Nathanael handed me two maps and only half coherent directions to drive to the small town of Cadillac about 35 km away to pick up some more of the treatment we use for preventing mildew. Deciding to think of it as an adventure, I saddled up in the old Peugeot with my camera in the passenger seat and was off. Counter to my sense of impending doom I was able to follow the route with little problem, making my way from one small town to the next and finally crossing the Gironde and arriving at the town of Cadillac, which lies just outside of the sweet white wine-producing town of Barsac. I had a little trouble finding the depot, as did the locals I managed to ask, but eventually was able to cherche the product and begin my journey back. On the way to Cadillac I encountered a huge field of sunflowers, and having sufficient time to think about it, I decided to stop on the way back and take a few shots.

Later that evening Nathanael hosted a small party with his former colleagues and old friends, which I was welcomed to, and spent an enjoyable evening in good company behind the castle eating, drinking, and being merry.

The week progressed at somewhat of a quieter pace than the week prior, with Tuesday seeing more CIVB work and blogging. On Tuesday Thierry and family moved into the castle. It has been a welcome change since I've been wanting to further develop my relationship with him, which I now have more of an opportunity to do at the cost of the now shattered tranquility in the form of his four adorable children who've taken to rampaging through the courtyard in search of lizards, blackberries, a good dust-up, and any stagiers that get in the way. Ines seems to have an innate instinct that allows her to sniff me out with basset hound-like precision.

In the middle of the week I decided that despite the fact that almost all chateau close during the month of August I would put together a list of properties in Sauternes and Barsac that I would like to visit and try my luck anyway. Concocting my list of the top 5 or so properties I handed it to Sylvie, who's been happy to call on my behalf, only to hear back later that I couldn't get into any of them due to the bad timing, including Chateau Climens, the top Barsac property and owned by Thierry's sister Berenice Lurton. I hadn't totally given up yet though, as during the week Midou and Habier were again playing babysitter to the son of Berenice Lurton, and anticipating her return on Friday to pick him up I decided I would pose the question to her myself. When Friday evening rolled around I happened to be sitting with Midou outside his home and enjoying Morrocan tea while engaging in our english/french lessons when Berenice pulled up and after greeting us was off on the business of cherche-ing her son to bring back home when Midou prodded me forward into asking, as best I could in my just somewhat comprehensible french, for a tour on the following week. Berenice seemed happy to fulfill my request and in the ensuing conversation I recounted the usual story about how I became interested in wine involving an encounter with her cousin, with her replying "so you saw god and now you want to be a prophet?" ... My response was a measured one, as I couldn't let on with as much laughter as I wanted that I enjoyed the dramatism as much as I did, but I confirmed her assertion and shortly afterward she was off with her son Orillian and I had a number to call on Monday morning with Berenice's blessing.

The weekend was typically quiet and spent reading, blogging, and working on a small side project. During one of my walks through the vines I was surprised to notice that some of the grapes were starting to change from green to purple and so veraison was just beginning:


All in all it was a quieter but still enjoyable week, and I look forward to what next week has to offer as I anticipate a visit at Chateau Climens early on in the week with a possibility of a visit to the famed Chateau Cheval Blanc.

Monday July 20'th
Destiation: Margaux

First up was Lascombes. Since the '08 Lascombes was my favorite wine of the Margaux appellation at the UGC tasting that I'd attended at vinexpo a month earlier I was quite excited for this tour of the recently revitalized estate. In 2001 a 53% stake in the estate was purchased by American pension fund group Capital Colony for a sum of $67 million (though judging by the cellar facelift pictured below you'd think it was LVMH), and the new owners have shaken things up at Lascombes with the installation of Alain Reynaud and consulting Oenologist and Parker favorite Michel Rolland. If you're familiar with the politics of Bordeaux you can probably imagine the fallout with some of the neighbors. A particularity at Lascombes that separates it from it's neighbors is that the blend is mostly Merlot, which is counter to the trend of left bank wines being Cabernet Sauvignon dominated.



The tour commenced in the usual way, and I was joined by a couple (from Niagra as it turns out) as we were led through the chai, cellar, and then for a taste of the '08 and taking all the pictures I could along the way. I was a bit surprised to find a lack of overall Margaux character in the sample we were provided, which was even more strange because it was completely at odds with my impression of it at the UGC tasting as I thought it then a stunning example of the character of the wines of Margaux: elegant, floral, and feminine in character. Maybe it needed more air time before the flowers on the nose could bloom? Who knows. Next up: Palmer.


Palmer is widely acknowledged as the #2 in Margaux, right behind the first growth Chateau Margaux herself and in some vintages even surpassing her. Departing on the dirt roads from Lascombes it was just a few minutes and a few U turns before I arrived at the gorgeous Chateau Palmer, right on time. I spent just a few minutes waiting in the office before being joined by my hostess and a couple from the Netherlands who were Sommeliers. The estate takes it's name from a General Charles Palmer, who served under Wellington in the English army and arrived in Bordeaux on his way back from the Battle of Toulouse in 1814. Since 2004 Thomas Duroux has been CEO at Palmer, having first gained experience during three years spent as winemaker at Ornellaia, in Tuscany. Palmer, like Lascombes, is also known for an unusually high percentage of Merlot in the blend, usually over 40% and as much as 60% in some of the older vintages. On this tour I was pleased to try the second wine 'Alter Ego' 2001, which is far more round and overtly seductive with an exuberant amount of fruit it rings true to it's name and is made in the image of an alter ego for the grand vin. Nice, but my preference was for the '96 Palmer they poured me afterward, which possessed all the aforementioned Margaux character that I absolutely love - white flowers and violets on the nose set amidst a modest amount of fruit, and extremely elegant, pure, and balanced on the palate.

Afterward I had about 2 hours before my next tour, at Desmirail, and so I managed to find myself a cafe and bought a saucisson on a baguette and an orangina for about 4 euro - inifinitly better than any "fast food" you can find in North America for a similar price and especially in the gastronomic wasteland (save for a few small bastions) that is the university town of Waterloo, and something that I'll miss after I go back.


My tour of the region recommenced when I located the Lurton-owned Chateau Desmirail in the village of Cantenac, run by Denis Lurton, where Sylvie's husband Pierre was waiting to give me a tour. Unfortunately he only speaks french but I was able to undersand about 70% of what was said. The Lurtons took ownership of Desmirail during the 20th Century, only gaining full control in 1981 when Lucien Lurton acquired a final portion of the vineyard from Chateau Palmer. The vineyards feature the gravelly soils that characterise the better vineyards of the left bank of the Gironde, although there are also areas of sand and clay. Desmirail has about 30 hectares of vineyards, which are dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for 80%, with 15% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Like virtually all of the chateau that I'd been to thus far, the fruit is hand-harvested before going to a sorting table, from where the harvest travels to the grape reception area where the grapes are destemmed, lightly crushed and then fermented separately according to plot of origin, coming togeather only after each plot is tasted extensively and the final blend has been decided on. At the end we came to my favorite part, and Pierre poured me both the grand vin and the second wine, 2005 vintage. I recall the second wine as being slightly vegetal and the grand vin as being good, but not great.

My final tour for the day was at Chateau Kirwan, where after a very short drive from Desmirail I was received by the daughter of the proprietor.


On Tuesday it was back to work on the CIVB system. I'd heard that Bertil was again going to be visiting us and potentially staying over at the Chateau that night, and true to form Bertile showed up shortly after work was finished and we headed out to Bordeaux city for a meal on the town. After walking around a bit Bertile asked me if I knew of any good places to eat and I mentioned La Tupina, the much heralded favorite of Robert Parker. We made our way to La Tupina which was somewhat of a walk, to be dissapointed by slightly high prices, though I would have been willing to splurge. Upon turning away and beginning to dread coming all that way I remembered the little brother restaurant of La Tupina called "Au Comestible," a tiny little place just across the street and set up like a small country grocery store, as the name implies. For 17 euro I chose from a set menu: salad, duck confit, and warm, fresh black cherries with home made peach ice cream. It was my first time having duck confit and it was fantastic. The ingredients and preparation of the meal were absolutely outstanding and I was charmed by the restaurant, where the food is cooked in the same kitchen and by the same people as the more grand La Tupina. At least once while I'm here, though, I want to make a point of heading over to the main restaurant, just once.

Upon returning to the chateau we noticed that there was quite a big storm brewing, and found that the electricity was out in my house. While using the computer in the office to send a few quick emails I suddenly became aware of the sound of hail. Hail is every proprieters worst nightmare, as it can completely destroy entire vineyards in a matter of minutes. There was absolutely nothing I could do besides take note of the duration and approximate size of the hail, and thankfully it was only about 5 minutes until it ceased, although this is enough to do quite a lot of damage but there would be no telling the result until the next day when we could examine the vines carefully. Wednesday morning we did just that, as I joined Nathanael and Thierry in the Peugeot at about 7:00 am to go examine the vineyards. With Nathanael and Thierry in the front and me in the back we drove through the rows of vines at several locations in the Camarsac vineyards and I'm thankful to report that the damage wasn't fatal to our harvest this year as only a few grapes per bunch were punctured by the hail. If harvest was next week we'd be in trouble as the damaged remains of the affected grapes would contribute vegetal and off-aromas and flavors to the wine, but our winemaker Jean-Louie assured us that there was enough time before harvest for the casualties of the vine to dry and fall off. Since this has occured just before veraison then maybe with a little luck the effect might be similar to a green harvest, where certain bunches of grapes are clipped to concentrate the energy of the vines into the remaining bunches.

That night Bertil was to stay over again and so after work was finished we again made our way to downtown Bordeaux. We met a friend from our negociant house, Les Passions des Terroirs, who also speaks excellent english in the Place de Bourse and went to the nearby "Brasserie Bordelais" for dinner. Brasserie Bordelais is a very funky, upscale brasserie that we found quite busy when we arrived and so took a seat at the bar. After enjoying a beer and some charcuterie at the bar (I really wish I saw more of this in Toronto) it wasn't long before we were seated and the meal was underway. The 'cote de boef' that we ordered was large enough to feed three and was just ok, though next to incredible meal I had the night before at Au Comestible it would have been hard to be impressed. My experience with lamb and beef here has been mixed as I've found a surprising amount to be on the tough side. Afterward, we made our way down to the Garonne and enjoyed another beer while walking by the river's edge and enjoying the gorgeous architecture of the surrounding Place de Bourse and Place de Concourse.

On Thursday I spent the morning and afternoon working on CIVB and then later in the evening was shown by Nathanael how to drive a tractor, and then left on my own to drive the tractor through the rows of vines, spraying our treatment to protect against mildew. I'm happy to report that I only managed to completely destroy one vine (and corresponding post) during Nathanael's 'hands off' approach to my tractor training. Friday I continued my work of driving our tractor to apply the treatment through the vineyards at Camarsac, with most of my time being taken up Friday night blogging in an effort to catch up from a lull during the previous weeks, with the weekend spent much in the same way.

On Monday morning the week began with checking in to the office at 8 am and using the CIVB system as I'd been trained to the week before. With the tutorial that I'd had on Friday I found the work much less arduous and it was also nice to have dodged another 5 am "lavage" start. Working on the computer the time passed quickly and I was looking forward to a dinner/tasting that night that Buba had invited me to at his house located just beside Thierry's, a day earlier. Buba is in charge of the vineyard work and helps coordinate all of the vineyard workers with Nathanael. He doesn't speak much english but with my broken french we manage to understand each other and seem to get along well. Buba's an interesting character - he just finished competing in a 6 day long run, taking 4'th place out of 80 participants. He'll also kill you if you forget to take your shoes off before entering his house. During my last dinner with Thierry I tried to explain about how I love to cook and am interesting in picking up some french techniques while I'm here, and Thierry let me know that Buba was an excellent "cuisiniere" so I was eager to see for myself and perhaps learn something.

After a short drive in the humble Peugeot I found myself at Buba's doorstep, and carefully removed my shoes before entering said sacred domicile, finding Buba busy cooking up a storm inside. The first surprise of the night was that the tasting was to be single blind, meaning that I'd know the list of wines that I'd be tasting but I would have to try to figure out which was which. I helped to prepare the tasting while Buba was occupied in the kitchen. The second surprise came when some of the other guests arrived and I was very pleased to meet a woman with a tattoo of a horse on her shoulder and a tall, athletic looking man who turned out to be the proprietors of Domaine de Chevalier, located in Pessac Leognan. Thierry arrived shortly afterward and the evening was off to a great start with a glass of the 2'nd white of Domaine Chevalier from the 2001 vintage. Interesting stuff! I didn't know that Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon combo could taste like this! Truffle and lemon, with some seashells on the nose and very elegant and crisp on the palate - this reminded me of a Hugel riesling with some age on it. The first course was a peanut coated fish dish served with foie gras on top and courgette puree. I wouldn't have necessarily thought of this combo in particular but I'd be willing to put foie gras on top of just about anything, and it also was very well prepared. The next course was sliced cote de boef with a sauce made from shallots, which was quite good, along with some mash potatoes. Dessert was a small chocolate cake with a molten center, followed by a cheese course along with some Mumm Champagne. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening and I was very happy to have had the chance to meet the owners of Domaine de Chevalier.

Tuesday was "Bastille Day" and a celebration of the french revolution, so there was no work that day. In the early evening while I was writing to friends on the computer I could hear Midoux begin to excitedly spout off his english phrases that we'd been working on to some poor, unfortunate soul who happened to pull in to the chateau. Figuring that I should go and try to save this person from Midoux's frenglish-laced rampage I met a wonderful woman from Houston, Texas, who was interested in a tour of the chateau. Having an education in architecture she echoed my own amazement at the detail of the castle and made a number of great observations that had escaped me until that point. On the second floor we eventually came across a "trap door" in the middle of the wooden floor and I decided that, as a good tour guide, I should probably look like I have more than a passing familiarity with the place and upon opening the door discovered a wooden staircase leading down a small, dark room. Summoning the best of my courage I descended down into the blackened room, feeling for a light switch on my way down and rejoicing when the thing that my hand was grasping turned out to actually be one, as opposed to any number of creepy crawlies that may have been living there. The now-illuminated room was filled with a "melange" of old junk and a number of interesting looking antiques. Standing in the small room with Susan now having a look for herself I got to enjoy a full 15 seconds of being quite pleased with myself before I suddenly noticed something black dart across one corner of the room. Susan hadn't yet noticed and not sure about how she would react I posed to her as delicately as I could: "ahem, are you afraid of bats?" Luckily, the answer was no but we hurriedly made our way back up the wooden staircase just the same. The tour was concluded shortly after and hearing of Susan's interest in visiting some chateau in St. Emilion I invited her to come with me the next day on a tour at Troplong Mondot, and she accepted.

On Wednesday morning I was up at 8 am and after getting ready for my tour, met Susan in the courtyard at 9:10 am and then headed off to Troplong Mondot for 10:00 am. I brought my trusty book "The Wine Atlas" along since it has an exquisitely detailed map of St. Emilion with the location of most grand cru chateau. We drove along the winding hillside to the South-East of the town with Susan in the driver seat and me studying the map and successfully managed to get ourselves to the stunningly beautiful chateau just in time for our tour. Since Troplong Mondot is closed to the public I'd been coaching Susan the day before on how to look like she was critically assessing a wine with the routine of looking, swirling, sniffing, tasting, and spitting (while looking contemplative) that wine journalists seem to do as effortlessly as breathing - it was great fun. After circling the chateau and finally locating the door to the "bureau" we made our way inside and after announcing myself we were greeted a few minutes later by a rather standoffish lady who was not looking pleased to see us and let me know that although Sylvie had requested a technical tour, she was not technical, and that was that. We were briskly led through the office to the chai, observed the bottling line, and then to the cellar where the 08 vintage was being aged in mostly new oak barrels. The architecture of the chateau was a gorgeous marriage of the ancient with the ultra-modern, and it was a prime location to observe the surrounding hillside and town of St. Emilion. I asked a few questions, some of which our gracious host made no bones about letting me know that she thought I already knew the answer to, until it was time to taste the '04 Troplong Mondot. I was quite excited to taste the wine since, unlike our host, I was very impressed with it when I had a chance to taste the '08 vintage at the UGC tasting just a few weeks prior and the '05 vintage last year. Both times it came out near the top of the pile. The '04 we tasted didn't blow me away like the other two had, which was unsurprising given the relative strengths of the vintages, but it was still a very good (more traditionally styled) wine that could potentially be excellent with more time. Susan did wonderfully and could have easily been confused with british wine critic Jancis Robinson, only with far better teeth. Our chilly hostess warmed slightly during the ensuing conversation of vintages during our tasting but overall I was still unimpressed. Our visit ended shortly afterward and Susan let me in on an expression her mother used to use that would have worked quite well - "who licked the sugar off your candy?" Susan was great company so I decided to invite her to the rest of planned tastings in St. Emilion the next day.

On Thursday I was up and ready to go in much the same fashion as the day before, as on this day we had tastings at both Angelus and Figeac. First up was Angelus, and arriving a comfortable 10 minutes before the scheduled tour we had the opportunity to enjoy a stroll around the beautiful property, snapping pictures where we could. This time it was a group tour and so I was joined by a group of American tourists who seemed to have hired a high powered english woman as a tour guide. Lots of money judging from their recounting of recent, trophy-wine laden dinner parties, but I'm not sure how much wine sense. Unlike our host from the previous day, the lady guiding us through the property at Angelus couldn't have been friendlier or more welcoming, which was a nice switch. Evidently nobody had licked the sugar off of her candy just yet, and I was glad for it. At the conclusion of the tour we had the chance to meet the estate manager Hubert de Boüard, which was nice, and a taste of the '04 vintage which I found impressive.

Next was Figeac. I found it interesting that, counter to the overall trend in St. Emilion and the right bank region, the terroir of the property on which Figeac sits (neighboring Cheval Blanc) is actually better suited to Cabernet Sauvignon as opposed to Merlot. For this reason Figeac stands out as having a Cabernet dominated blend in an appellation of Merlot-based wine. For this tour we were again blessed with a very humble and down to earth guide who seemed thrilled to have us, which made for another very pleasant tour of the beautiful property. It was also quite interesting to learn that the biggest market for Figeac is actually Asia. This should have immediately prompted a question from me about whether they purposely tailor their wines so as not to throw a sediment as we do, but it just didn't occur to me at the time, sadly. With an almost identical format as the last two tours we observed the bottling process, the chai, the cellar, and at the end of the tour we had the opportunity to taste the '99 vintage. The '99 Figeac was a nice change from the tighter and more tannic and primary wines of the previous tours offering up (if memory serves) notes of incense, tobacco, damp earth, set in a background of red fruit.

Friday provided a break from the touring of the previous two days, not that I needed one. After the usual work of CIVB was finished I decided to head to downtown Bordeaux later that night to enjoy my weekly visit to the old converted church housing Cinema Utopia. This week it was Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" and I enjoyed a beer in the patio area outside the theater before heading in to see the film. Some of Woody Allen's films, I love (see: Annie Hall), and others not so much. I would have to place "Whatever Works" solidly in the former category though as I found myself really enjoying it throughout. Afterward (following some recommendations) I walked over to the Opera House area and inside Le Regent for a drink at the Orangerie. L'Orangerie is a very swanky, gorgeously decorated little bar that was practically empty. Scouring the wine list I located exactly what I was looking for - a glass of Sauternes. Listed simply as "Sauternes," I was convinced after tasting it that I'd had before from the '01 vintage from the fact that it needed far more air time than I could possibly give it, the 15 euro price tag, and sense memory. It was an experience and I'm glad to have had it.

On an overcast Monday morning we began bottling the 2007 vintage "Prince Noir" cuvee at the Chateau. I was quite interested to learn from out winemaker Jean Louie about how SO2 is added just before the wines are bottled in order to keep them fresh. He also explained to me that while sediment is natural and accepted in Europe and North America, the Asian market believes that the deposit of naturally occuring sediment in the bottom of a bottle over time indicates that somehow the wine is rotten. I'd like to serve notice right here, right now, that anybody currently residing in Asia that's gotten one of these rotten bottles can send it "toute suite" to the care of Ryan Speller, who will see that it gets disposed of properly... For this reason, Jean Louie explained to me that rather than educating about a billion people they've decided to use a certain acid that prevents the bottle from throwing a sediment so they can do business in the Asian market.

After work I enjoyed spending the afternoon selecting some (in my humble opinion) of the most exciting properties in neighboring St. Emilion to visit for my upcoming tour through the appellation. One of the perks of this job is that I can now get into grand cru chateau that I would have otherwise never been able to as a "civilian" not working in the business. Currently the plan is to visit chateaus: Pavie, Ausone, Angelus, Troplong Mondot, Clos Fourtet, and Figeac, with the possibility of the greatest of the St. Emilion chateau, first growth Chateau Cheval Blanc run by Thierry's cousin Pierre Lurton.

Tuesday morning is was back to the familiar work of lavage. After about two hours Nathanael rescued me so that I could tag along (and be his chauffeur) to visit all of our other vineyards to check on their general health and well-being. Having been so taken with the beautiful Cinema Utopia in downtown Bordeaux the previous week, I decided that I'd take the tram into Bordeaux that night to see another film at the old church that had been renovated into a movie theater. From a consultation with one of my close friends who happens to be a real film buff I decided I was going to see "Les Vacances des Mr. Hulot," a classic french film by director Jacques Tati. I enjoyed a beer and some smoked salmon in the cafe inside the theater before I proceeded into the movie hall to watch the film. It certainly didn't disappoint either, and after seeing this charming film I can see why my friend considered it quintessentially french and why it was one of my favorite director (Ingmar Bergman's) favorite films.

Wednesday morning brought more lavage and after work our secretary Sylvie helped me to call and book tours at the chateau that I'd picked out on Monday evening. So far I'd gotten into nearly all of the chateau that I wanted, with the exceptions being Pavie and Ausone, which I later learned were difficult even for the professionals. Sylvie was also able to confirm the first of my tours for the next day, at Clos Fourtet.

On Thursday morning I was introduced to a digital cartography system called "CIVB" used in Bordeaux as a means of collecting and organizing viticultural information for governmental control and bureaucratic purposes, about which France is probably the most rigid country in the world. The interface is somewhat like Google Earth and users can outline vineyards on the digital map and enter almost any kind of information imaginable about that particular plot. After a few hours with CIVB it was time to get ready for my first tour of St. Emilion and so I got dressed into somewhat more formal clothes and hopped into the Peugeot to make the drive to St. Emilion to visit Clos Fourtet. Not knowing exactly how to get to St. Emilion but with a map in hand and some hand-wavy advice from Nathanael about how to get there I was off. It wasn't long before I'd passed through the small town of Branne, signaling I was nearly there and on the windy country roads could make out St. Emilion sitting on a plateau in the distance.

Driving along the steep, narrow streets of the town it wasn't until the last minute when I actually located Clos Fourtet in the North-East corner of the town and after parking the Peugeot, hurriedly made my way inside the closed gates and into the office to meet Corrine, who was to give me a private tour. We commenced in the vineyard, with Corrine telling me that they had 20 hectares, which seemed small to me given that our own vineyards total about 80. I was also very pleased to learn that the property had actually been in the Lurton family prior to 1950 ... Which practically made us cousins! Almost... Corrine then led me to the beautiful chai where she explained about their green harvest, stringent selection of grapes at harvest, and plot by plot vinification in small vats. It's the usual grand cru property schpiel but I was thrilled to be there and ask as many questions as came to mind. Corrine then led me down to the underground caves, where the the oak barrels are kept and back vintages are stored at nearly constant temperature year-round.


The tour came to it's conclusion as we finally made our way back up the spiral staircase and to the beautifully decorated tasting room, where Corrine poured me a sample of the '05 Clos Fourtet. Given the strength of the vintage I was very eager to taste and it did not dissapoint, with pure blackberry/blueberry licqeur and smoke on the nose and a plush, round palate that although St. Emilion's wines drink well young, surprised me with it's approachability at this early stage.


After the tour I took the next couple of hours to wander the narrow, winding streets of St. Emilion and take in the beauty of the town.


Saint Emilion's history goes back to ancient times, with beautiful Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets. The vineyards were first planted by the Romans as early as the 2nd century AD and the town is named after the monk Émilion, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.




I wandered into just about every wine store I saw (and there were many). Krista knows well that I'm like a man possessed in this 'kid in a candy store' situation, but unfortunately I didn't find anything worthwhile as the wine prices seemed to be in the same spirit as just about everything else for sale in the town, as being "tourist" priced.


The next morning I went to Bordeaux to the "Maison du Vin" for a tutorial on using the CIVB system. The Maison du Vin is housed in a beautiful 18th century building hosting the "Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin", an organization of the region's winegrowers. After spending a few hours learning how to use the system I bought lunch at "Place des Grand Hommes" and took it to the beautiful park located at the city center "Place Gambetta." After arriving back at Chateau Camarsac some time later I spent the rest of the afternoon applying what I'd learned and had a quiet evening.

The weekend arrived with the usual activity of reading Descartes, getting groceries, and helping Midoux with his english in return for Moroccan tea and the pleasure of his company. I sincerely look forward to next week as it brings more tours and tastings in the St. Emilion area.

On Monday it was back to "levage" ... Work I know all too well, which consists of stapling the training wires to lift the vines for the purpose of more sunlight exposure, and pruning the stock. I was glad that instead of traveling to one of the three other vineyards, I got to work in the vineyards of Chateau Camarsac, and just directly beside my house. As Habier is now retired it was Jacqueline, Jacqueline's daughter, and Sebastian that I was working with. The working day at Chateau Camarsac often seems miraculously shorter in comparison to working at the other vineyards, so the day seemed to pass rather quickly. After work I spent the night cooking some of my beautiful finds at Le Capucin market and working around the house. I think that Nathanael and Thierry have come to the consensus that since I've had a month of levage I should be used elsewhere in the winery now, and I'm grateful that they're as conscientious about giving me a great stage experience.

We're planting new vines to make a white blend in a few years. It's the typical Bordeaux white combo of Semillion/Sauvignon Blanc, and so on Tuesday following the instructions of Nathanael I ventured out to the far edge of the Chateau Camarsac vineyards to concentrate on watering a plot of Semillon vines immediately after being planted by a group of Portuguese workers. Our small group took turns driving the tractor carrying the large watering tank, and using the hoses to water the vines. This was my first time driving a tractor that hadn't been found in the median of the Trans-Canada highway in the middle of the prairies in Saskatchewan and subsequently hijacked by Brett and I, and it was nearly as fun!

Wednesday was spent working three hours in the vineyard and then being called to go with Nathanael, our winemaker / cellar-master Jean-Louie, and Thierry to the oenologist and taste some of the 2007 and 2008s sitting in our vats in the cellar. It was a very interesting tasting, as I got the spectrum of flavors (and took tasting notes on everything) from the young Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from our barrel samples of different plots and vintages - from black currant to blueberry, blackberry, and vegetal. All of the conversation was in French and among the more interesting bits, I thought, was that the oenologist seemed to prefer Climens to D'Yquem! I had a discreet chuckle at the thought of walking out.

Thursday began with a comfortable 6 am start. I noticed that it was quite stormy outside and making my way into the courtyard around 7 am I noticed both the chateau and the entire courtyard eerily devoid of workers and in the midst of a big thunderstorm. About 5 minutes later Nathanael showed up in the junker utility van with one of his young daughters in the passenger seat and I hopped in. In the hard rain we drove out to the new Semillon vines, getting soaked in the process. Work was called off until about 10:30 am when the storms subsided and the clouds began to clear, and afterward I gave a tour of the grounds to a British family and then spent the rest of the day working in the cellar. After I had a quick shower and change of clothes back at my place I was greeted by a young man named Bertile in the office. Earlier in the week Thierry had let me know that Bertile is going to represent Lucien Lurton in the US and will be staying at Camarsac with me for a few days. Later that night Bertile and I drove to downtown Bordeaux and enjoyed a wonderful meal courtesy of Chateau Camarsac at a restaurant in a very quaint square in the middle of Bordeaux. Bertile grew up in the Champagne region and will be living in Florida and offering the Lurton negociant house (Les Passions des Terroir) portfolio to the American market. Bertile's well mannered, well spoken, and we get along just fine. I look forward to his future visits to the Chateau.

On Friday after work I drove with Thierry back to his house, where we were to meet Bertile and have a tasting of the wines of Chateau Camarsac along with dinner. During the ride I got to spend some valuable time picking Thierry's brain and examining his thoughts and convictions about his wine, and the subject in general. It was surprising to learn that he actually owns some grand cru property in Margaux, but has instead elected to work with the vineyards of Camarsac since he felt that it was a harder road to follow but he could potentially go further with it than the already established grand cru property. It wasn't long after I got out of the car that Ines tracked me down with the skill of a seasoned bounty hunter, and commenced with the usual swooning. I gave Bertile a tour of the "Le Bedat" vineyard just next to Thierry's beautiful home, converted from some sort of ancient stone warehouse to a very modern home, and afterward played soccer with one of Thierry's young sons until dinner was ready. The tasting commenced with the rose and clairet, and was followed by three cuvees of the red Bordeaux blend, along with a wonderful meal of rare ribeye steaks (cooked with garlic and rosemary from what I could tell), potatoes au gratin, and salad. Of the lineup of presented wines I'll say that I much prefer the crisp, fruit forward rose and two of the three red blends - the "selection" and "prestige," which offer surprising quality for Bordeaux Superieur, especially the 2005, which I was unable to get my nose out of for a long time. The caveat is that Thierry hadn't taken ownership and thus they weren't truly his wines (but those of his sister Berenice Lurton of Chateau Climens fame) until the 2007 vintage, so judging the wine under his ownership is tough because there's not a lot of it out there yet. Thierry has only been in the family business for a relatively short time, and I've come to learn that he was educated and spent years in social work beforehand. I know that he used to be the president of a large institution for individuals with both physical and mental challenges, and used to work at an orphenage in Brasil which is where he met Nathanael. In talking to Nathanael, who followed Thierry into the wine business out of affection and fierce loyalty, I've also come to learn that in his younger days Thierry could always be seen having a group of disadvantaged with him. In fact, Nathanael was able to recall christmasses at the family's grand chateau in Margaux where the Lurton family would be assembled, including Thierry with his band of underprivileged. As I've said, I like Thierry and I'm intrigued by his philosophies, and so I hope that I can spend more time with him and see our relationship develop further.

The weekend was fairly quiet and since a delivery truck managed to crack one of the telephone poles on the property on Friday I was without telephone or internet, and so lots of time to spend reading Descartes. There had been plans in the works to go with Midoux's son Rada and his friends to the beach but the weather didn't cooperate fully. I'm very much looking forward to next week as I'll be starting my tour through St. Emilion by visiting a number of grand cru chateau.

Having been charmed by the "Capucin" market just 100 m up the street from the old church in downtown Bordeaux on my little expedition the previous day, I decided that I'd return Saturday morning to do my grocery shopping there. By 8:00 am on Saturday morning I was surveying the local produce in the market, where for dirt cheap I was able to pick up: a duck leg, some chorizo sausages, 2 small fish, a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, some herbs, 2 baguettes, and Roquefort and Manchego cheeses. Most people that know me well know that I love to cook, and so for me a good market is one of the best places for inspiration.

The rest of the day was then spent helping Nathanael with his roof - chisseling away the old mortar that seemed to be about 10 parts sand to 1 part cement, and redoing the job properly. This also included his chimney, which comprised the majority of our effort, with me standing on a higher level and lifting the big stone blocks off, helping him put the fresh mortar down, brushing the carbon off the blocks, and then putting the blocks back in place. All told it was about 11 hours spent on his roof, and I was happy to do it in return for the warm hospitality I was shown during my stay that week. Later that night, we went to meet his wife and 3 children at a local park overlooking the Garonne river where some fairly amateurish but still entertaining performers from Quebec put on a small show.

On Sunday I was up bright and early again, and hurriedly getting ready to be picked up from Nathanael's place by Thierry, as yesterday Thierry called to let Nathanael know that he was coming to pick me up so that I could attend a familly meeting. An amazing opportunity, and Thierry was true to his word, showing up at about 10:30 am with familly in tow. I learned soon after climbing aboard the van that it was his brother Denis' surprise birthday party and that he was bringing me so that I could meet some of his 10 brothers and sisters, as well as his parents. Destionation: Chateau Brane-Cantenac, a Grand Cru Chateau situation in the Margaux appellation that achieved 2nd growth status from the classification of 1855. We arrived at Chateau Brane-Cantenac after a drive in the country, and stepping out of the van with Thierry's daughter Ines clinging to me as usual, I was led inside the very classically decorated Chateau where I met Thierry's mother and father. Standing in the foyer admiring my surroundings I then met Thierry's sister Marie-Laure Lurton, who owns three Chateau: La Tour de Bessan, De Villegeorge, and Duplesis. I had some excellent conversation with Marie-Laure, and was very surprised to learn that she once did a "stage" in California working for Joseph Phelps vineyards in 1985. As an aside, Phelps' wines like Insignia are monsters and in stark contrast to the usually polished and elegant style of wine made in Bordeaux, so I found this fascinating. A Lurton at Joseph Phelps, imagine that! It wasn't long before I met up with Thierry in the tasting room, where the party was to be held. Since at that time there weren't many who'd arrived just yet, Thierry offered to take me on a small tour of Margaux and to have a look at the first growth property of Chateau Margaux - needless to say, I gladly accepted and we were off in the van once again. It was just 5 minutes to the beautiful Chateau Margaux, with the almost equally stunning Chateau Palmer practically next door.

When Thierry and I got back we found that most of the clan had assembled, and the party was started with a glass of 1996 Climens. Before lunch was served I was introduced to Henri Lurton who owns Chateau Brane-Cantenac, Gonzague Lurton who owns Chateau Durfort-Vivens (also a 2nd growth), and Sohpie Lurton who owns Chateau Bouscaut. During lunch I sat with Gonzague, Henri, and Thierry's mother and aunt, who were both very warm and took it upon themselves to make sure I was eating enough. I was introduced to Denis Lurton who owns Chateau Desmirail after he showed up about half way through the lunch, looking very surprised but not altogether thrilled. Lunch was served with a 2001 Bouscaut that was drinking very nicely, followed by 1959 Brane-Cantenac as it's a birthyear wine for Denis Lurton, who was turning 50, and the second oldest wine I've ever tasted. I also spoke with Thierry's father who was a very gracious host with excellent english, and at one time owned all of these chateau. After lunch was over it was a pleasure to talk with one of Maurie-Laure's daughters over a glass of Billecart-Salmon champagne, who's a medical student at the University of Bordeaux.

Having the chance to meet with this part of the Lurton family was incredible, and I hope to have more contact with them during the remainder of my time here.

On Monday morning I was up at 8:00 am and waiting in the office for Thierry to go to Vinexpo at 9:00 am. Vinexpo is a bi-annual wine event for professionals held in Bordeaux that brings together merchants from all walks of life; from retail to negociant, as well as the wineries themselves. I've been very fortunate to secure an invitation to this event through the Lurton's negociant house "Les Passions des Terroirs." Meeting up with Thierry, he let me know that we wouldn't be going immediately and about 2 hours later we were finally off.

I missed an aged riesling tasting but that was small potatoes because this was the day I had an invitation to the tasting of the Unions des Grand Crus 2008 vintage. That is, I was going to be tasting Bordeaux wines from the 2008 vintage from a union made up of some of the chateau in the top classification (of 1855). Shortly after arriving at Vinexpo and a tedious wait in line to obtain our passes we were finally admitted in to one of three massive buildings housing the dense maze of negociant and winery stands (which were more like trendy and almost-too-chic-for-our-own-good cubicle-rooms where the cat and mouse game between said attendees is played). It was a pretty cool feeling to stroll through Vinexpo with Thierry. It would be hard for one to guess, without examining his name tag that this small and unassuming man at my side was a Lurton. Anyway, Thierry had to actually work at the Passions des Terroirs stand promoting Chateau Camarsac while I got to play... I made my way to the invitation only UGC tasting at around 1:45 pm and tasted my way through about 30 Bordeaux (all Grand Cru from the '08 vintage), and about 10 Sauternes. Despite being very young and fairly tight I took tasting notes on all the wines I tried and if memory serves my top wines were: Troplong Mondot, Pontet Canet, Lascombes, and Figeac, with Suduiraut being my top Sauternes. I spit them all of course, except the Suduiraut which absolutely made me melt when I tasted it... I love Sauternes. I should probably put myself on drool watch in the future - they're that good. After tasting about 40 wines and traversing the grounds several times by 5:00 pm I was fairly tired and so decided to call it a day and after a bus and tram ride followed by a 15 minute walk I got to Nathanael's downtown apartment, where I enjoyed the evening with him and his family and where I was to spend the next couple of nights as it was am easier location to access Vinexpo and downtown Bordeaux from.

Tuesday was day 2 for Vinexpo. It was a little more comfortable since I was already familiar with the tram and bus routes from the previous day and I also got to sleep in a bit and headed over at around 1:00 pm for tastings at 3:00 pm. After the tram and bus ride there I had some time to kill so I decided to find the Les Passions des Terrioirs stand. It was a fruitless venture though, as Thierry was in the middle of a conversation and after standing around awkwardly and being asked by some older guy if he could help me (to which I showed him my badge and without hesitation but perhaps too much zeal exclaimed ".... avec Thierry Lurton!" in the best french I could muster) I gave Thierry a quick pat on the shoulder during a break in the conversation, but during the quick chit chat that ensued sensed a bit of tension so I decided to leave him work. My real goal was to get an introduction to his sister Berenice Lurton standing just a few feet away and to also get a pour of her Sauternes (Chateau Climens), as it's one of the top players beneath the acknowledged king of Sauternes, Chateau D'Yquem. So, I killed the rest of the time (about an hour and a half to two hours) by grabbing a sandwich for lunch. It was great to people watch as everyone was impeccably dressed, so I strolled around the absolutely vast maze of domaine and negociant stands. I had a bit of trouble finding the correct room for the Alsatian whites tasting and arrived 15 minutes late to find that not only was it a structured tasting but there were also 4 small courses served with it. I sat down, tasted, and started writing my notes immediately. It was a bit amusing that for each wine there were a few speakers up at the front who would spout some sort of way over the top, pretentious sonnet about that particular varietal. I gave a quick look around the room to see if anybody else was about to start laughing... This sort of useless nonsense was followed by a slightly more practical speaker who would introduce the wine and list it's attributes like residual sugar level, flavor profile, reasons for selecting it, etc. It was about 8 wines in total and wrapped up shortly before 5:00 pm. Since the sweet wines of Germany and Austria tasting started at exactly the same time I was unable to make both of them but despite the overlap I was glad I ended up in Alsace as the whites produced there are some of my favorite after Sauternes and white Burgundies.

Wednesday began with a 7:00 am start, a quick shower, a bite to eat, and out the door of Nathanael's downtown Bordeaux apartment. I enjoyed my beautiful walk over one of the ornate bridges leading to downtown Bordeaux and then it was business as usual with a ride on the tram, followed by the bus. I got to the invitation only Sauternes tasting (of the 2004 vs. 2006 vintages) with about 5 minutes to spare and then commenced. I tasted my way through about 42 wines, taking tasting notes on all of them. Some had tropical fruit flavors: mango, pineapple, banana, coconut, and some had very clear dried fruit flavors: dried apricots and dried pineapple... Some had honeyed and floral characteristics... Others had toffee and almonds. Some even had a bit of funk! Some were thin on the palate, and others were heavy, layered and viscous. Most of the '06 I found to be quite tight still, and there were some that had distinct mushroom/truffle characteristics on the nose that blew off with air time. My top wine of that tasting was probably the 2004 Rieussec which was absolutely gorgeous and haunting as I found it more difficult to focus on the other wines afterward. I broke for lunch after the tasting and then killed some time wandering around the stands until it was time for Pomerol. For those that don't know, Pomerol is a "right bank" appellation in Bordeaux where there's no official classification system and the blend is typically dominated by Merlot. There were a couple of big names at this tasting but I was a little surprised that more heavy hitters weren't there given that it was also invitation only. Being slightly fatigued from the 42 wines I just tasted and the fact that this tasting was quite crowded I only tasted about 15-20 more wines before calling it a day.

Thursday was the last day for Vinexpo and the once massive crowds were reduced to more comfortable levels. There was also only one scheduled tasting - Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux. Bordeaux has a classification system for it's wines, it goes Appellation Controlee (for the lowest end), then Bordeaux Superieur, then Cru Bourgeois, then Grand Cru (highest end). Having pretty much filled the book I was using for writing my tasting notes and wanting to relax a bit I went into the Cru Bourgeois tasting and only tasted wines that I recognised, without taking notes... So only about 15-20 wines. I had a quick lunch at 1:00 pm and made my way out of Vinexpo across the orange floating bridge which traverses the small lake on one side of the grounds to get to the busses. It's an interesting walk since (due to the movement of the water) suddenly the bridge will lurch over about a foot or two to the right or left, like a simulation of what it would be like if you didn't spit the wines you tasted all day. Not wanting to return back to Nathanael's too early I decided I'd get off the tram 1 stop early, in the Place de Concourse and wander the city for a bit. I made my way directly into the heart of the city and walked along Rue Sainte-Catherine, a pedestrian only shopping street that has 1.2 kilometres of shops, restaurants and cafes; it is also the longest shopping street in Europe and fairly upscale. My main goal was to get to the city centre, called Place Gambetta, since I've been told about a number of places of interest in that area and all of the directions are in reference to it. I didn't have to follow Rue Sainte-Catherine long before I reached Place Gambetta, which is a very beautiful public park in the center of the city, with quaint little cafe's, bakeries, and shops surrounding. I sat and had an orangina on a bench for a while, thinking and people watching. The girl sitting next to me left some sort of ID so I ran after her to give it back, afterward making the longish walk back across Rue Sainte-Catherine and to the bridge, across it, and way down the street to Nathanael's apartment.

On Friday Nathanael let me know that since Vinexpo was over but I still had the easy access to Bordeaux from his apartment that I should take the time to explore the city, and after hearing of my interest in the local markets, pointed out three different ones on my map of the city as well as the Bordeaux institute of wine. After a small breakfast I set out across the bridge over the Garonne once again, marking the passange into downtown Bordeaux... First stop was to seek out Robert Parker's favorite Bordeaux restaurant, called "La Tupina." The day before, I'd gotten some tourist information center attendants to mark it on my trusty map and so walking along the one of the riverside streets it wasn't long before I eventually reached La Tupina. Along with Parker's nod as his fav. it's gotten a lot of press from the forum, so I've been anxious to check it out.

Consulting my map I made my way to a very old church afterward, and in Bordeaux for some reason the bell-tower of the church is always separate from the actual church. Anyway, it was gothic and absolutely gorgeous with a bell tower that's so big it can be seen from Nathanael's apartment on the other side of the Garonne. A few blocks north I noticed the first of the three markets I was planning on visiting - Marche Capucin. It was a gorgeous market, just my kind of place, and this one turned out to be my favorite, rivalling my beloved St. Lawrence market in Toronto. After that I made my way to the "Place de Victoire" and then walked along the Rue St. Catherine, the aforementioned shopping street, to "Victor Hugo Marche", which was a very small market with just a few shops. Continuing to follow Rue St. Catherine to the end I reached "Place de Grande Homme" where the third market was located. This one was much smaller with just a few merchants, and was located in the basement, with modern clothing stores and shops on the upper levels. Nice, but not the real McCoy that I'd just seen at the first one. It began raining at about this time and so I made my way over, getting a little bit lost along the way, to the area I knew that the Bordeaux institute was located, which is in the opera house / The Regent Hotel part of the city. I wandered into 3 wine shops... One of which I'd heard about before and had quite a beautiful setup where the entire shop was contained in a tower with a spiral staircase. I made lots of good finds, and even some nice bottles from my birth year of 1985. I also stumbled into a sort of modern art gallery which was quite nice. Shortly after this I successfully located the Bordeaux institute but unfortunately it closes after noon, and I was a bit late, so I grabbed my brocure and made my way over to the city centre - "Place Gambetta" grabbing a orangina and having a drink on one of the benches in the beautiful park, just as I'd done the day before. After I was finished it was back down Rue St. Catherine, to the old church, and back to La Tupina... It was about 3:30 pm by now and making my way into La Tupina and following some awkward conversation with a hostess that only spoke french I was yet again disappointed as they were closed at such a late hour for lunch and early hour for dinner. Anyway, it was back across the bridge and down the street again to Nathanael's, stopping along the way to pick up a "saucisson" (a dry cured type of sausage that is does not need to be cooked) sandwich on a baguette at a bakery and another orangina for about 4 euro - I love it here.

This weekend Chateau Camarsac played host as we had our monthly "doors open" event where visitors are led through the castle and get to do some wine tasting in an effort build a reputation with the local residents and to sell wine. To help Mideaux and Habier's youngest son Yaseen make money for his upcoming trip to Chicago, they set up a stand where visitors can get Morrocan tea and cookies, all home made by Habier, who's an excellent cook.

Since "La Fete de la musique" was taking place in Bordeaux, on Sunday we had some great Argintinian groups come and play at the castle. There was also a group of vintage car enthusiasts with some fairly interesting older cars that were invited to drive up and park just infront of the castle for onlookers.



On Sunday night I was invited to go with Yaseen and his older brother to downtown Bordeaux. This worked out to be a perfect opportunity to get the introduction to the city that I'd been hoping for as we bar hopped and made our way through a maze of tiny restaurants and hangouts amidst a healthy crowd that had come out for the fireworks and the "fete de la musique" earlier in the day. At about 11:00 pm most people were gathered in the Place de la Bourse for what was to be one of the most stunning fireworks displays I'd ever seen. After meeting up with two more of the brother's friends, a couple, we headed over to the city centre. After having champagne directly behind an absolutely beautiful old carousel in the middle of the street we decided to call it a night. They'd like to make plans with me for next weekend and since I enjoyed the group's company so much I'm certainly looking forward to it.

It's been a week of the usual 4:45 am starts and the usual suspects.


On Monday evening after I got back from work and had a quick shower, change of clothes, and powernap I was thrilled to find that my invitation to vinexpo had arrived. Vinexpo is an annual wine event for professionals held in Bordeaux, and features many tastings, talks, and conferences. Having the opportunity to attend this year with Thierry Lurton is quite a perk, and while cherry picking which tastings I'd attend on the vinexpo website I found that the Unions des Grand Crus was having a tasting of the 2008 vintage, but it was invitation only. Having spent quite a sum of money to attend the same tasting of the 2005 vintage when the Unions des Grand Crus came to Toronto I was intent on obtaining access... First stop: Thierry Lurton. After explaining the situation his reply was "I have 5 brothers and 5 sisters. We're in the Unions des Grand Crus." Et voila! I love it when he says stuff like that. I'll be attending the private tasting on Monday and having read good reviews at nauseum I'm looking forward to having a look in on the wines for myself. As it stands right now I have 2-3 tastings a day from Monday to Wednesday and all of them are right down my alley, with lots of Bordeaux, aged Rieslings, white Burgundy, and Alsatian whites. I'm also working on getting myself into an invitation only tasting of select vintages of Sauternes and Barsac (some of my favs), and since Thierry's sister Berenice Lurton is the president of the organization hosting this I'm hopeful.

Tuesday evening I rode with Mideaux to a nearby grocery store. Having been stuck in a strange sort of purgatory consisting of hot dogs and camembert I was very excited to go and scavange for myself. I'm pleased to say that at this tiny, hole in the wall grocery store I was able make some great finds (duck breasts etc.) with lots of fresh local produce and a real butcher. Sitting outside in my favorite little dinner/reading spot next to Mideaux's garden and overlooking the pigeon house and the vineyards I was pleased to confirm while eating dinner that night that gastronomically I'd finally arrived in France!

On Thursday we moved to the new 9 hectare "Cabara" vineyard, which is close by the "Le Bedat" vineyard and requires the same type of work, of stapling the training wires and "lavage" of the rootstock. The fun didn't stop when I got home, either. When I got back I had a shower and change of clothing but afterward as I was preparing a proper lunch Nathanael showed up with a knock at the door asking me if I wanted to go for a drive through the Entre Duex Mers country side. To try to simplify a very complicated story it turns out Sabastian broke the Peugeot and despite the momentary satisfaction that I'd gained from the fact that my adversary was lying dead in a field somewhere, we made several trips to the mechanic and back to try to get it working again. Finally, we ended up giving the mechanic the keys so he could go out there himself while we drove to a town about 20 minutes away to get a broken tractor part fixed. We get back, I turn on the car and the car turns on me as it becomes entrenched in the pit of mud it was sitting it... It was about 7:00 pm by the time we got it out and I'd finished cleaning it and finally reached the end of a long day.

Friday after work when I was in the office I was greeted by a very excited Mideaux, wanting me to come with him to pick cherries. A short drive in the country later and we'd arrived at an old house and made our way through some rows of vines to reach two large, majestic cherry trees. Using a stepladder I grabbed at the big clumps of crimson cherries with both hands and when we were finished we both had our bags full of beautifully ripe cherries.

Later that night I decided it was time to explore the castle:




I'll be returning to the castle next week to document the collection of old books and also to explore the harder to reach areas, so stay tuned! I'm very much looking forward to the prospects of next week.

Saturday morning I decided that I'd pack my camera and go for a walk into town to bring back some croissants for breakfast, having thought I'd seen a boulangerie/patisserie in the small town of Camarsac earlier in the week. After walking in the hot sun and finally arriving in town quite some time later I found that I was mistaken. It wasn't a total loss, though, since I was able to get some shots of the chateau and the surrounding property...

Quaint town, needs a bakery though. The rest of the day was spent doing some work around the house, reading, and later that evening I enjoyed a phone call with Krista.

On Sunday there was an event held at the Chateau with a local sporting group. Lunch was provided, as were a number of activities:

This week began with an early start on a drizzly Monday morning. Up at 6:00 am and then in the courtyard at 6:30 am to meet two of my new coworkers. Instead of Habier and Jacqueline, this week I was to work with a group of guys, most of which around my age and one of which was a Lurton. After meeting Sebastian (Lurton) and Denis in the courtyard we got into the Peugeot 205 and drove through the small city of Libourne to a patch of vineyard just on the border of St. Emilion. After arriving in the new vineyard with just Sebastian and Denis, I noticed the rag tag group coalesce quickly, one by one. After a flurry of french, none of which I understood, the group meandered into action by pruning the shoots and preparing the Double Guyot system of training wires.

Between announcing that he'd just gotten his girlfriend pregnant and then sauntering over to have a pee on the closest vine, I learned from speaking in english to Nathanael that the cock-eyed [censored] had some troubles growing up, and that Thierry has been trying to help him for a long time. The group refers to one of the older workers ... I'd guess about 50-55... as "chef" . Missing at least one finger that I could tell and countless more teeth, he seems to be in charge when neither Nathanael or Thierry are there, which is most of the time.

Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson's "World Atlas of Wine" has been an excellent aid to learning the regional geography of where I'm situated in Bordeaux. I've also had fun following the stages of development of the grapes, as described in this excellent book. It appears as through the grapes are between the flowering stage (Stage 4) and the hard, green baby grapes of Stage 5.



This principal monument of the Place des Quinconces was erected between 1894 and 1902 in memory of the Girondists who fell victim to the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. The figure on the top is supposed to represent the spirit of liberty.


After enjoying a "biere" at a small brassiere, I met back up with Andre who gave me a lift back home.

Wednesday we started at a new vineyard ("Au Bedat") just 200 m from Thierry's home, beginning work at 6:00 am (requiring a 5 am start) and then finishing at 1 pm. On Wednesday afternoon I was anxious to get home and rummage through the fridge as I'd given my grocery list to Thierry's wife Solange just a few days prior and was told to expect groceries for that day. Upon returning home from work I found a large grocery bag placed on the floor of my kitchen and going through it I discovered most items on my list: garlic... check ... olive oil ... check ... french bread... check ... fruit ... check ... fresh vegetables ... check .... hot dogs!? Upon preparing my list I carefully wrote "saussice" and so was surprised to find three packages of the retarded cousin of the "saussice" here in it's place. After confirming the translation with Nathanael I'm still scratching my head over what went wrong... The best I can come up with is that despite the diverse food palate of Toronto and world class quality of both Canadian produce and our chefs, our international reputation as a country of "mange cakes" still preceeds us. All I can say is that I've been practicing with the Peugeot and next week I'll be getting my own groceries, thank you.

Work for the rest of the week was much the same, as was the wet weather, only taking place at the Au Bedat vineyard. This new group of coworkers is quite a change from the matronly Habier and Jacqueline, who get upset if they feel that I've not consumed enough soft cheese and toast during our "coffee" break. Although, by Friday things had loosened up to the point where we've been joking and partaking in as much conversation as the language barrier would allow.