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Tasting 20 vintages of First Growth La Tour Blanche in Sauternes
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A Personal Note From Ronald,
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Some say that 2020 will be a year we will never forget. I personally beg to differ.
For me 2020 will be a year that I look forward to forgetting.
The various vaccines against COVID-19 brought a new wave of hope through the world and I am no exception.
The UK started vaccinating today and France will start later this month!
There probably will remain some hurdles to overcome for the vaccine but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.
Anyway, I went into my cellar and brought out a beautiful 1982 Pichon Comtesse to celebrate with Margaret the great news of a COVID-vaccine.
Hope
We are still in lockdown here in France so we can’t invite any friends to share wines with. But that too will follow soon, I hope.
Speaking of hope, I fervently hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
And in the same spirit of optimism and expectation we can realistically hope that we soon can tour Bordeaux again with old and new friends alike.
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A happy Ronald celebrating the great news of the announcement of a COVID 19 vaccine
with 1982 Pichon Comtesse
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Extraordinary tasting in Sauternes
All tastings have been cancelled this year here in Bordeaux due to COVID-19.
I went through my files and I found my notes on a very special vertical tasting I attended some time ago in those happy days that we never had heard of the word COVID.
I realized that I hadn’t written about this tasting yet and this felt like the right time to do so.
And I hope you will enjoy reading about this incredible experience at First Growth Chateau La Tour Blanche.
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Tasting 20 vintages of La Tour Blanche in Sauternes
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New label Mouton Rothschild released
Early December is traditionally the time when Mouton Rothschild unveils its new label for latest vintage to be released.
Those of you who toured with me, know that Mouton Rothschild has a special spot in my heart and in my cellar.
Each and every year I feel anticipation to discover the next label that will be in my collection.
This year even more because the Mouton 2018 was one my favorite wines of the vintage!
I will tell you all about another exciting work of art by a Chinese artist for the 2018 vintage.
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Tasting Mouton Rotschild at Mouton is an experience on our Bordeaux Wine Tours
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To tour or not to tour, that’s the question
It is hard to tell when we can restart touring Bordeaux with you again.
Much depends on the last test-steps of the vaccine and the pace in which we as a society will be able to vaccinate everyone.
If you are, like me, optimistic about the possibility of travel next year, you can check out our provisional 2021 Bordeaux Wine Tour schedule here.
2022 Early Warning list
Thinking more about coming to Bordeaux in 2022?
Then ask us to be put on the
“2022 Early Warning List.”
We will then send you our 2022 Bordeaux Tour Schedule as soon as it comes out.
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Let’s hope we can start making memories again soon!
(Here at Yquem and Haut Brion)
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Ronald and Margaret love welcoming you
in Bordeaux
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Have a great winter and please
stay healthy.
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Tasting 20 vintages of Sauternes
By Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
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The white tower of La Tour Blanche can be seen on the left in this 18th Century etching
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Sauternes was classified too
The year 1855 has a magical ring to it for Bordeaux lovers all over the world.
Because this was the year that the famous 1855 Classification of Bordeaux wines was created.
And most people will at once think of the rating of the red wines from the Médoc on five different levels.
Many people seem to forget that the sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac were rated as well in 1855.
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Not just the red wines were classified in 1855
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Homework
The French have a tendency to make systems complicated and are fond of exceptions.
Sauternes is a good example of these exceptions as there are actually two of these inconsistencies:
Contrary to the Medoc, where there are five levels in the Classification, Sauternes is rated on just two levels: First Growth or Second Growth.
So, beware of Third or Fourth Growths from Sauternes as they are surely fake bottles.
Very likely made by someone who obviously didn’t do his homework…
Some animals are first, but just one is superior
The second inconsistency we find at the top-level in Sauternes.
The most famous of all Sauternes is not “just” a First Growths but an “Superior First Growth” or Premier Grand Cru Classé Supérieur in French.
This exception is of course Chateau d’Yquem.
A visit to Yquem is one of the highlights on most of our tours.
And a remarkable Chateau Yquem of an older vintage is traditionally the last wine on the last meal of each of our tours.
Talk about ending a tour with a bang!
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The dominating Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem
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The exceptional position of Yquem, carved in stone
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Vertical tasting
I have participated in many different tastings in my more than 33 years of passion for Bordeaux.
When one tastes several vintages from one producer, we call this a vertical tasting and I experienced many of those over the years.
But I had never experienced a vertical of Sauternes wines.
So, when Miguel Aguirre, the general manager of La Tour Blanche, invited me to a vertical of this Sauternes First Growth, I didn’t hesitate a second.
And what a tasting it turned out to be!
La Tour Blanche
The chateau overlooks the village of Bommes, a charming small village situated about 40 km from Bordeaux.
The estate spreads over 70 hectares (173 acres) in the heart of the Sauternes appellation.
The vineyard is in one single plot and covers 40 ha (99 acres) of vines; 37 ha in white for the Sauternes and three with red vines.
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The estate’s vineyards are predominantly planted to the traditional Sauternes grape varieties Sémillon (83%), Sauvignon Blanc (12 %) and Muscadelle (5 %)
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Where is the white tower?
Driving up to the chateau I expected a dominating white tower (tour blanche means white tower in French).
There is a tower at the property but less exciting than I had expected.
Contrary to what you would think, the name of the chateau does not come from some iconic tower.
The name came from the first owner Monsieur de Saint-Marc, Lord of de la Tour Blanche who founded the chateau in the 17th Century.
De Saint-Marc was a clerk at the Court of the Parliament of Bordeaux.
And as a result he had considerable financial means at his disposal.
It was de Saint-Marc who transformed the vineyards and its humble dwelling chateau.
Of course, he had a tower built in order to justify the name!
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The tower on the label is more
iconic than the real tower
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Wine school
In 1876 came the time of Osiris. Behind this pseudonym, that sounds like the name of an ancient Egyptian god, was a man named Daniel Iffla.
Iffla was a wine aesthete with an unconditional love of elegance and quality.
Osiris died heirless in 1907 and left the property to the French Government under the condition that it would become a wine school.
His wish came true in 1911. Chateau La Tour Blanche has been a wine school ever since.
Today there are some 150 students studying here of which 70 live at the school’s campus.
La Tour Blanche offers a general wine education and has a focus wider than Sauternes alone.
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Daniel Iffla went under the pseudonym Osiris
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Three flights
La Tour Blanche has quite a few older vintages in their cellar, the oldest being 1876.
I tasted in the tasting room of the chateau where we were about to taste 20 different vintages of La Tour Blanche.
Vertical tasting resembles studying your family.
Like family, each vintage has its own character.
But even if the children are all from the same parents, they will show some similarities as well as, again, their own individuality.
I tasted in the presence of the technical team.
The team was looking forward to this tasting almost as much as I because they too never attended a vertical like this before.
The rules of the game
We decided that we were not going to rate the wines.
We would try to find the differences and the aspects that we liked about each wine.
We decided to taste each flight in silence and then discuss our findings with our fellow tasters.
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Many great vintages showed their special character
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Given the number of wines to taste, we opted for three flights of 6 wines:
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First flight 2018-2013 |
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Second flight 2012-2007 |
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Third flight 2006-2001 |
Given the large number of wines I have decide to present the tasting notes and comments on our website. You can find them here, or click on the button.
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And the winner is…
2001 is definitely the winner in my opinion.
This 2001 is in now between adulthood and a ripe age.
This wine begins to show the characteristics of a beautiful old wine.
If you are going to buy just one vintage of La Tour Blanche, go for this brilliant 2001 and you won’t be disappointed.
You can drink them now or keep it at least for another 25 years in your cellar.
Clearly the winner of the flight!
My order of preference: 2001, 2009 and then the 2003.
Biggest surprise: by surpassing (largely) expectations: 2004 (and to some extend, the 2012).
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Game for some more?
After this extraordinary tasting, my hosts offered me something to eat.
Foie gras and blue cheese combine perfectly with these great wines.
My host Miguel Aguirre asked me: “Hey Ronald, I understand that you love older wines.
Are you still game to taste some more Sauternes?”.
Those of you who toured Bordeaux with me, know that I always can be tempted tasting great wines.
My answer obviously was: A resounding yes! Especially when I saw what was on offer here.
La Tour Blanche 1976 and La Tour Blanche from the extraordinary vintage 1962! Here we go:
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La Tour Blanche 1976
A deep and dark color.
Extraordinary nose with loads of ripe fruit, almost like raisins.
Suave mouthfeel. Notes of honey and lichen. Some caramel and white chocolate.
No dominant sweetness left.
Still a beautiful freshness and even some slightly bitter tones creating an extraordinary delicate and well-balanced wine.
Needs no food to accompany, it’s just lovely to sip like this.
Even after having tasted 18 other Sauternes just before…
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Ronald simply loving a 57 year old Sauternes:
an experience and a privilege
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La Tour Blanche 1962:
an experience and a privilege
Extremely deep intense dark golden color, almost going towards aged bronze.
Discreet nose with an interesting menthol aroma showing up.
On the palate this is a complete surprise. The sweetness almost seems to have gone.
Some delicate notes of peach, lemon and honey. Great complexity, the different aromas seem to come in layers showing one after another and sometimes all together.
Incredible freshness for a 57 years old wine.
It is so delicate that on a blind tasting one may think that this is an older dry white wine.
Incredible finesse: an experience and a privilege tasting this wine.
Thank you very much Miguel Aguirre and your team of Chateau La Tour Blanche for this memorable tasting.
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The darkest wine was the La Tour Blanche 1962
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Mouton Rothschild 2018 label revealed
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Ronald with Philippe Sereys de Rothschild (R) and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild
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Mouton Rothschild 2018 label revealed
Every year since 1945, a great artist has illustrated the label of Chateau Mouton Rothschild.
Famous names in contemporary art are brought together in a collection to which a new work is added each year.
This collection never fails to wow our guests on our Bordeaux Wine Tours each time when we visit Mouton.
Mouton commissions a new label each and every year.
The selection previously included works from Salvador Dali (1958), Pablo Picasso (1973), Andy Warhol (1975), HRH Prince Charles (2004), Xu Lei (2008), Anish Kapoor (2009), Jeff Koons (2010) and more recently David Hockney (2014).
Second Chinese artist
The owners of Château Mouton Rothschild, Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, Camille Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, commissioned the label for the 2018 vintage from the Chinese artist and writer Xu Bing (1955).
Bing is the second Chinese artist to be commissioned after the Chinese painter Xu Lei whose emblematic ram adorns the 2008 vintage of Mouton Rothschild.
As I am a wine guy and not a connoisseur of modern art, I will follow the press release with this description:
Square Word Calligraphy
The artwork for the 2018 label reflects the artist’s work on the illusory splendor of appearances as manifested by his Square Word Calligraphy, which resembles traditional Chinese characters but is actually composed of the letters of the Latin alphabet.
Xu Bing expresses his linguistic creativity in the invention of a unique script in which the words are absorbed into the codes of traditional Chinese ideography.
In this coalescence of cultures, the label for the 2018 vintage features the two words “Mouton Rothschild”.
The characters in the artwork are designed by Xu Bing to reveal themselves to the attentive reader one after the other, in the same way that the aromas and flavors of a very fine wine, with patience, are also gradually discovered.
Selection of the artwork
Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild is responsible for the selection of the artists for the famous labels.
I remember asking Julien how he came to select a specific artist.
He told me that Mouton Rothschild receives a lot of requests by artist who want to have their artwork on a Mouton label:
“But we don’t want the artist that runs after us. We want the artists that we have to convince to be on the label.”
His comments on the choice for the 2018 vintage were:
“When I discovered Xu Bing, I was captivated by him as an inventor of signs endowed with incredible poetic power.
And then I said to myself that our labels were also signs, each work of art referring to a year:
The 1973 vintage can also be called the ‘Picasso Mouton’, just as the 2018 vintage will be called the ‘Xu Bing Mouton’.”
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mouton 2018 with a unique script in which the words are absorbed in traditional Chinese ideography.
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Xu Bing (1955), one of the most important contemporary Chinese artists,
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Margaret with Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild
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Mouton Rothschild 2018, among the best of the vintage
Art is difficult to explain, so let’s talk about the wine here. For me Mouton 2018 was one of the best wines of the vintage and I gave it the almost perfect score of 20- points on 20.
Philippe Dhalluin, the ever modest and very talented Estate Manager had a twinkle in his eye when he presented me yet another great Mouton.
Here are my tasting notes of this incredible wine:
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The iconic chai at Mouton Rothschild
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Mouton Rothschild 2018 (20- points)
[86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc]
Somewhat deeper color than the Petit Mouton but not by much. A bit more concentration around the rim.
Beautiful expressive nose with extraordinary ripe fruit. Philippe Dhalluin mastered choosing the right moment for picking at the perfect ripeness and as a result there is not a hint of jammy aromas on the nose. Just great ripe fruit, notably cherry and blackberry.
A discreet layer of the typical Mouton spiciness. The silky tannins are simply lovely and perfectly interwoven in a creamy texture.
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Dhalluin explained that the wine technically resembles the 2016 vintage but the 2018 has even more concentration.
Where the 2017 Mouton favored freshness over opulence the 2018 is the opposite.
The wine is simply opulent and is less focused on the freshness.
Having said that, the Mouton 2018 has a beautiful balance in the freshness, tannins and the fruit.
This is definitely a vintage for the long term.
Very good indeed.
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Philippe Dhalluin, rightfully proud of both the first and the second wines at Mouton Rothschild
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Please click on the picture for my video inside Mouton Rothschild during the 2018 harvest
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“Things that you simply can’t buy, not for all money in the world”
(a guest comment from one of our tours)
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Tasting all five First GrowthsOn our Bordeaux wine tours, our guests taste all five First Growths; some at the chateaux and others at our chateau.
Our tours always end with a bang: The Farewell Dinner in the main dining room of Chateau Coulon Laurensac.
At this dinner we serve many great wines.
And the last wine of the last meal on the last day of the tour is always an outstanding Chateau Yquem of an older vintage.
Of course, you can try and find a bottle of Yquem yourself, but it won’t be the same experience.
It would be like watching a DVD versus seeing a live performance.
A rare experience
Why are certain wines such a highlight on our tours?
I will tell you why: Because here everything comes together:
The people, the fun, the venue, the food and of course the outstanding wines.
Yquem is known as the “King of wines and the wine of kings.”
And it is an experience to taste an older vintage in the private dining room of our chateau in the presence of your newly found wine loving friends.
Yquem never fails to amaze our guests at the Farewell diner.
These are the experiences our guest feel that are, in their words: things that we simply can’t buy, not for any money in the world!”
Check out the wines tasted on our previous Bordeaux Wine Tours here!
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Staying at our Chateau adds a certain “Je ne sais pas qoi”
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Dining at Chateau Coulon Laurensac, a real experience
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2021 Bordeaux Wine Tour Program
“A romantic, never to be forgotten, put it on your bucket list experience.”
(a TripAdvisor reviewer)
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Because you deserve a Bordeaux Wine Experience and not “just a tour”
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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!
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Experience Bordeaux in full harvest swing
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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.
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Enjoy meals in venues not open to the public while tasting
the best wines of Bordeaux
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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.
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Feel completely Special and Pampered on this Exclusive Experience
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10 excellent reasons to join
the Bordeaux Wine Experience
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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 d’Yquem! |
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Grand Cru wines with all meals (except breakfast…)! |
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Private gourmet meals at Bordeaux Chateaux and in a famous Michelin-starred restaurant! |
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Superb food & wines and great fun in a small group! |
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Expert (and humorous) guidance by Bordeaux Specialist Ronald Rens! |
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An entertaining concise cooking class! |
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Air-conditioned accommodation at our privately owned 18th century chateau! |
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Air-conditioned, luxury motor coach transportation throughout the tour! |
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Grand Cru Farewell Dinner with all Grand Cru wines (including Chateau Margaux 1985, Lafite Rothschild + Superior First Growth Yquem of over 20 years old!). |
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2022 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
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→ Planning for 2022? Get your Itinerary as soon as it is released!
(Ask to be put on the invitation list for our 2022 Tour Program) – contact us today!
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Chateau Coulon Laurensac, without a doubt the best place in the world to taste all five First Growths plus 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 © 2020 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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