Final Day in Bordeaux Highlights Tourism

We had several plates - several - that looked like this one.

ARCACHON, France – Fresh oysters, shrimp, langostines, crab, snails, and a few other things I didn’t recognize was Saturday’s highlight of my three days in France.


I have been here as a wine press guest of the CIVB, or Bordeaux’s professional winery association, marketing group and producer cooperative. But those are my words and not the association’s description.

See photos from Friday's Bordeaux visit here.

Today was our final day in Bordeaux with all three U.S. wine writers facing an early day tomorrow and the long flight home. It’s hard to quantify the amount of knowledge I’ve absorbed about Bordeaux in three short days.

Today was about seeing other things the area has to offer and, frankly, enjoying ourselves. We headed out of town at 9 a.m. toward Arcachon on the French coast. The bay is known as one of the best oyster regions in all of Europe. It’s also known for its charming small town, fabulous beach, and incredible homes of the rich and famous along the shore lines.

The trip wasn’t all wine all the time like many of these press trips or the three previous ones I’ve joined. This trip all accentuated the wonderful things to do in the Bordeaux area besides wine. And I bought it enthusiastically. The Arcachon area is good as beach life gets. It was fun seeing kids playing a handball/beach volleyball combo game as we walked to our boat. The town was charming.

The boat captain was a great sport and toured us around the bay on a three hour cruise. It just doesn’t get much better than that – but then add the fresh seafood and representatives of two Bordeaux wineries pouring white, Rose’, and red wine and it was quite a morning. Arcachon may be new to many but is a fabulous vacation area.

Another highlight was a quick visit with Alfredo Ruiz, the only Latino-American winery owner in France. He had a restaurant at the Fete le Vin and we visited for a good 45 minutes. We heard his story and tasted three of his wines that I thought were some of the best I tasted at the value price point. He sells his white, Rose, and red for 10 Euro so under $15 with the U.S. conversion. He’s trying hard to expand his U.S. market. It’s really a great story. I intend on telling that story in the near future in one of my wine writing venues.

I finally had a small bit of time to walk through the Fete le Vin wine festival after that interview. It's one cool event that draws a half million visitors in three days. There is constant live music, food, and all that Bordeaux wine. Each evening wraps up with a  really sophisticated light show and then big fireworks.

We then had a couple of hours off to do that ‘last day’ shopping. Bordeaux really is a great food city to go along with the wine, and a great shopping city. I bought French milled soaps, chocolate, Bordeaux’s favorite dessert, a t-shirt and other odds and ends to take back home.

We finished up our trip at a café in the city’s grand Opera House on the Place de Comedie – or the old theatre.

I have photo albums from Friday and Saturday to get up on the blog but it will probably be early in the week. So, please check back. We’re in a charming little hotel near the riverfront and the wine festival but the internet access is quite slow.

I’m like many people and have always found Bordeaux a bit intimidating. After spending just three days here, noting it was a pretty incredible three days of experiences, it’s now demystified. Bordeaux should be on any oenophile’s bucket list!

I have a very early flight tomorrow to Nice and then on to New York before Indy. I hope to do some work on the plane getting more photos up and such!


Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

One Sweet Ride Down the Garone River

A view of the ;festival as we pull away from the river bank.

BORDEAUX, France - A long Friday in wine country ended with a leisurely cruise down the Garone River and back in time to see the light show and fireworks capping each night of the Fete du Vin.

Talking sweet wine with Perromat

Producers of sweet Bordeaux wines joined us on the cruise telling us about their family history, production, and more about this unique product. Many people have heard of Sauternes but there are 11 appelations in Bordeaux, left and right bank, producing sweet wines. The region is about 30 miles south of Bordeaux.

See Friday photo highlights here.

While many people think of the wines as dessert, Guillaume Perromat of Chateau d'Armajan told me he thinks they make a better match with appetizers.

At first I found most of the wines a big sweet for my palate but in the latter pourings, we had 10 wines and a matching small bite to try, the acidity was more prounced and the sweetness of the Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion, and Muscadel was more balanced.

Some of the Bordeaux sweet wines make it to the U.S. but not much. Most better wine stores usually have Sauternes. The chef on board our boat paired it with a couple of seafood options and other combinations. While too sweet for my taste, I think sweet Bordeaux would be a big hit with many wine lovers with a palate on the sweeter side.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Beautiful Day for Visiting Iconic Saint Emilion Region




The vineyards of Saint Emilion's Chateau Franc Mayne

  SAINT EMILION, France - Even for those with little detailed knowledge of Bordeaux wines many have probably heard of Saint Emilion, the small village on a hill of limestone known for its beautiful Merlot-driven wines.

Francophiles with a taste for Bordeaux will know it for its elegant and silky wines that have been around for centuries.

Our Friday was shared with a Brit and a couple of German bloggers for a visit to Chateau Franc Mayne and the village. This is not unusual. We were joined by Chinese bloggers, another story or blog late, at dinner last night. Tomorrow morning French and Belgian bloggers will join our small U.S. group.

Our tour guide for the day was Mary Dardenne of Decanter Tours. Mary has more than a dozen years leading tours in the Bordeaux region and started her own agency, Decanter Tours, just three years ago.

On the ride out to Saint Emilion, Mary gave us great background on all of Bordeaux, some history of the region, of the wine growing, soils, and of the wine classifications of Saint Emilion. Mary was Texas born but has been in France for many years though she still maintains a Brewster, MA., address as well.

We spent a good portion of our time asking Mary questions about wine tourism in Bordeaux. For many, the area has always seemed unapproachable but that is changing. You still can't drive up to wineries and taste their wines but French Chateau owners are beginning to embrace tourism as a new revenue stream. I also did a video interview with Mary about tourism that I'll use for a future story.

James Capon of Chateau Franc Mayne pouring two wines.

We were met at Chateau Franc Mayne by native Brit James Capon who works in exporting for the winery. James gave us a walking tour of the winery and a look at the beautiful accommodations of the Chateau. They have a handful of rooms at the Chateau just a few miles outside Saint Emilion. It is a boutique experience staying at Franc Mayne but looks worth the 200E-380E price. There are beautiful views of the surrounding village, a natural swimming pool, beautiful grounds, and we had a fabulous lunch.

Unquestionable, one of the day's highlights was a tour of Franc Mayne's underground quarries. They have nearly two hectares, or about four acres, of underground quarries that provided limestone for the iconic buildings of Bordeaux. Franc Mayne's Belgian owners also understand tourism. They have built a light and animatied tour throughout a portion of the quarries for future visitors. They tested it on our press group but did not allow us to take photos.

The winery owners hope to have the animated tour up and running soon. The tour provides narration about wine aging in the caves and gives a dramatic presentation on the history of the Saint Emilion region.

I detail much of the visit the accompanying photo album. I've written before during wine travel that one such trip will increase your wine knowledge and understanding of a region far more than any amount of reading.

We then headed off to the village of Saint Emillion where a tourist office guide walked us through the catacombs of the old village and through the monolithic church which has been delcared a World Unesco Heritage site. There are more than 173 acres of catacombs beneath the city.  Saint Emilion lived below ground here in the 8th century for 17 years.

The church was carved from solid limestone removing 15,000 cubic meters of rock to create the church. It is a stunning site.

The charming and acient little village clearly is a tourist attraction. There seemed to be 3-4 wine shops per street with small bakeries selling macroons in between.

Fellow U.S. bloggers Pam and Janelle with
Saint Emilion tour guide.

As good as yesterday was with a visit to a small village it just seems to get better. Tonight we board a river boat and cruise the Garone River for dinner as the Fete du Vin hits high gear with huge crowds, fireworks and a light show. We should have a front row seat from the river.

Tomorrow morning it's off to the Atlantic to tour an inland bay where oysters are harvested. Plenty of white Bordeaux is on the menu as well.

This is really tough work - really - but someone has to do it.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

A Great Afternoon, Lunch in Charming French Village

ST. GERMAIN du PUCH - Our press troup visiting Bordeaux is still anchored in the city at the heart of the world's best-known wine region but the highlight of the day was a great lunch at a small cafe in this little town outside Bordeaux.

The first full day started with a short class on Bordeaux basics and ended with another fabulous dinner and one of the best parties alonge the Garone River at the Fete du Vin!

The highlight though was spending much of the day with Martin Fuego who manages tourism and some marketing for Chateau Lestrille in Saint Germain du Puch.

See photos from Thursday in Bordeaux here..

We visited his small village and the family winery and boutique gift shop at mid day. We tasked his great white wines and reds over a memorable lunch at L'Atmosphere in the center of town. It was the conversation about wine and food and the French wine industry that made it the highlight of the visit thus far.

We learned about Martin's in-laws who have produced grapes for five generations at Chateau Lestrille. Martin's wine Estelle has taken over for her father in recent years as winemaker to become the fifth generation.

Fuego told us how his estate, and others in Bordeaux, want to produce more white wines because of demand. He read the French menu for us and we feated on lamb, local pizza, a beautiful tuna tartar and scallops. It was a relaxed way to learn about French food, wine and culture that you can't experience without being here.

Fuego acknowledges that getting more people 'here' is one of the big challenges for Bordeaux. The world's best-known wine region is a latecomer to wine tourism. They are taking big steps, especially in the city of Bordeaux, but have a long ways to go to rival the Wine Disney World that is Napa.

We also talked at length about the challenges though. Martin and his wife have opened the small boutique, pictured at right, to welcome visitors/. He believes visitors who find the small French villages are reluctant to come up to a winery or even a tasting room if it doesn't have the appearance of a normal shop. They carry plenty of wine accessories, some French milled soaps, and some food products as well.

Martin returned to Bordeaux with us to give us a walking tour of the cities shopping, restaurants, history and culture in the early evening. We dined at the festival at one of the restaurant's booths. I hope to be able to post a full photo ablum that illustrates that and more of the day Friday or Saturday. Typical of most small European hotels, ours is nice but internet access is a bit spotty.

We then rushed off at 11 p.m. to the Bordeaux Sweet Wine Cocktail class complete with DJ. It might been one of the coolest parties in the world for a Thursday night. We slid under a rope line, just like the celebs - ha, and learned to make a sweet wine, peppers, champagne, mango cocktail. And it was pretty tasty.

The video below is a little rough considering, but it might show a small fraction of the fun

And just as we had shaken the cocktail and started sipping the nightly firewords lit up the Garone River and Bordeaux's incredibly beautiful river front area.

Not a bad first full day in France.

On a negative note- still no luggage. The kind front desk staff tracked my luggage to the Bordeaux airport but they did not deliver it. Staff members for the CIVB, the local wine organization, are going to try to retrieve it for me Friday morning. While shopping for jeans and a pullover this morning I was reminded in the most humbling of ways that european men and boys tend to be tall and skinny. Enough said!

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com