There is no shortage of wine shops on the medieval streets of Saint Emilion, over 20 at the last count, many of which are owned or part owned by either producers or merchants.
A new one on the block is La Cave de Dourthe – and it ticks all boxes as wine makers, chateau owners and negociants. Dourthe dates back to the 1840’s and in 1987 as CVBG-Dourthe it was the No 1 wine company in Bordeaux. This gave rise to the creation of their famous brand Dourthe No 1 white in 1988 followed by the red in 1993, made in partnership with growers throughout the Bordeaux vineyards. A wine that still represents one of the most reliable and affordable Bordeaux brands.

Owners of Chateau Pey de la Tour in the Entre-Deux-Mers and Chateau La Garde in Pessac Leognan they also manage Chateau Belgrave classified growth of Haut Medoc, Chateau le Boscq Cru Bourgeois of Saint Estephe, Chateau Reysson Cru Bourgeois of Haut Medoc and since 2005, Chateau Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac, Grand Cru of Saint Emilion. So they really get the complete Bordeaux picture.



Dourthe have always had a policy of hospitality at their various properties and have continued this with the opening of their boutique in the cellars of Chateau Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac on the road from Libourne to Saint Emilion. It is not only a terrific location with a car park on the doorstep for all those heavy cases, but also allows visitors to discover the cellars of the chateau and taste a range of Bordeaux wines from the company vineyards and the many other Bordeaux properties they stock, rather than just a single vineyard’s production – so the best of all worlds really.
In 2007 Dourthe joined the Alan Thienot Champagne group so you can end your tastings with a glass of palate cleansing Thienot champagne too. A one-stop shop!

One of the many, classic questions I have from guests on wine tours is ‘How do you do this for a living and stay slim?’ Well here’s a really easy answer – sadly not mine.
Adam Ruck, knows a thing or two about food, being restaurant critic for Which and AA. He is also passionate about France and has distilled his experience of cycling around of France into a web site ‘France on Two Wheels http://www.france2wheels.com/ and more fully his new book, just published by Short Books
The book is a terrific guide to the culture, history, food ,B & B’s and other French delights including the Bordeaux region ,with a special mention for Château d’Yquem




So eat and drink with a clear conscience but just keep cycling !

Looking for somewhere original to stay in the vineyards of Bordeaux? I’ve already mentioned the tree houses in the grounds of Chateau Malleret in the Medoc in a previous blog post. I love them but they are for the adventurous at heart. If you fancy getting closer to nature but still like your creature comforts, Chateau Franc Mayne now has the answer.
The second wine of the property is called les Cedres de Franc Mayne, named after the two beautiful cedar trees in front of the property. These trees are now the site for the latest room offered by the http://www.relaisfrancmayne.com/ new=true]Relais Franc Mayne[/url] – the hotel on the property - a tree house. This is a tree house with a difference however, very luxurious with a fully functioning bathroom and heating or air-conditioning. Keeping to the international theme it is decorated as a Swiss Chalet – you feel transported to a Switzerland as you cross the threshold.
The choice of a tree house room underlines the eco theme of the Chateau and the hotel, along with the all-natural swimming pool in the hillside, which you can access directly from the Chalet/tree house.



The innovation doesn’t stop here The Chateau has just opened their new under ground cellar tour. Chateau Franc Mayne has long been known for welcoming visitors to discover the famous limestone ‘terroir’ of Saint Emilion along with several other properties that are all interconnected via the ancient quarries under the medieval city.
Following in the footsteps of Chateau Villemaurine who opened a son and lumiere last season they have used the same designer, Eric le Collen but have taken quite a different approach to show off the spectacular underground cellars used for aging the wines of the property to tell the history of the wine and the region. Yet another reason to come to Saint Emilion this season, and a little light relief for visitors that are not complete wine geeks.

One of the key skills for a Bordeaux wine maker is blending and now is the time many are starting to look at the blend for the 2011 vintage. Blending is more than just throwing all the different grape varieties together. Although appellation laws control what grape varieties wine makers can grow and use in their blends, be they white or red, how and when it is done is down to the individual wine maker.
It is rare to find field blends in Bordeaux, that is wine made from different grape varieties fermented in the vat together. Wine makers will choose the varieties they plant and where they plant them as a function of the soil types, the topography, and the micro climate they have in their vineyard (the famous terroir). This plot by plot management of the vineyard will give vines of different ages and varieties on different soils, all of which will be ready for picking at different times. This will be carried through to the wine making with each plot vinified as a separate wine in preparation for blending.
Some properties blend when the malolatic fermentations are finished and the wines are run into barrels, allowing barrel aging to take place for the final blended wine. Others prefer to barrel age each grape variety separately, allowing a different oak selection for each cuvee before blending at bottling, for others it will be a continual process bringing together the final blend over the aging period. In all cases there is always a final blend to ensure consistency and blend out the barrel difference.

Blending is never a fixed recipe, despite the percentages planted in the vineyard, the final blend will vary from vintage to vintage depending on what mother nature has thrown at us. Some vintages favor an excellent expression of Cabernet and others Merlot, both in volume and quality. The wine maker has the added advantage, at most properties, of being able to blend 2 wines, a first or grand vin, and second label. Don’t be mislead, the second label is not a dustbin where everything that is not up to scratch gets blended. Often from younger wines, sometimes with a higher percentage of Merlot, they offer a wine that is ready for drinking earlier than the ‘Grand Vin’ and more accessible in price as well as in style - think diffusion range instead of haut couture (an interesting analogy given the presence of Chanel, LVMH and PPR in the Bordeaux firmament). Many properties, even offer a third blend allowing for even more leeway. Properties may always reserve certain plots of land for certain levels of quality such as the Grand Vin of Chateau Latour that only ever comes from the same vineyards, known as l’Enclos, close to the chateau. Wheres as Les Fort de la Tour come from the surrounding areas that never enters the grand vin blend and the Pauillac again is sourced from further afield. Wine from the Enclos many enter Les Forts - but never the contrary.

If you want to learn more about blending why not try your hand in Bordeaux, the Ecole du vin de Bordeaux will teach you how to blend in their technical class or you can go to the heart of the problem and learn with wine makers in a Château.

Chateau Lanessan in the Medoc offers a wonderful ‘Winemakers visit’ that offer the chance to taste the various grape varieties before creating your own blend and comparing it to the winemakers selection. Or you can join in a blending workshop with Les Medocaines, leaving the Bordeaux tourist office in the morning the tour includes visits to 2 of the properties again tasting the different varieties and a mystery blend to identify and a tasting of the final blends from all four properties.


Blending at Chateau Lanessan

Later this month, on 24th february, 2 properties from different areas of Bordeaux have joined together to offer a discovery day including blending skills. As well as visiting the spectacular Chateau Camarsac in the Entre deux Mers and Chateau Bouscaut in Graves and making your own blend to take home you can enjoy a lunch at Classified growth Château Bouscaut. On the right bank Chateau Siaurac offers another approach to blending tasting wines from Merlot and Cabernet aged in both barrel and vats for you to blend.


and at Chateau Siaurac

Be careful you may discover a new vocation.

Tonnellerie Millet is an artisan family run barrel maker not far from Saint Emilion that supplies many of the top wine properties in Bordeaux and further afield as far as California and Spain to name a few.

The owner Dominique is kind enough to open this doors to visitors to explain the passion that goes into producing barrels in close collaboration with wine makers giving the aromatic complexity they are looking for from their use of oak.

One address I did not spot in his warehouse of barrels awaiting shipment Mauritius. So imagine my surprise when, on a tour of the Chamarel Rhumerie high on the hills in the South West of Mauritius over looking the Indian Ocean, I found rum aging in Millet barrels.


Millet barrels in the Chamarel cellars

Opened in 2008 the eco friendly Chamarel Rhumerie (French Spelling) uses Millet barrels for aging it’s ‘Coeur de Chauffe’ Rum Agricole for 18months and for 3 years giving it’s ‘Gold Rum’. The first production of the 3 year old barrel aged Gold Rum will be released onto the market at the end of this month.

Similarly to wine barrel aging of rum adds vanilla and spicy flavours and the slow oxygenation and exchange of tannins adds body, the golden colour also comes from the barrel as opposed to some rums where the colour comes from the addition of caramel.


The beautiful Chamarel Valley