This magazine was shared with you as a member of our community of Bordeaux-lovers all over the world.
|
This great fun is what we have been missing this year and what we look forward to for 2021
|
|
A Personal Note From Ronald,
|
It has been a while since you heard from me and I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
We are all safe and healthy fortunately and surviving the pandemic so far.
Our thoughts go out to those that suffered or have been lost to the Covid or have loved ones touched by the virus.
Missing you
2020 has been a weird year for us because we couldn’t conduct any wine tours this year.
I really miss you and our tours because, as you know, touring with guests is my passion.
Normally, I am including in this magazine pictures of happy guests, having the time of their life with us in Bordeaux.
Not this year as regrettably there were no tours in 2020.
Margaret and I were touched by the many emails of support we received.
Not only from guests that already toured with us, but also from many from people who have yet to meet us.
|
|
Margaret with her 2020 cake: the year was not all bad. Both our sons and their girlfriends graduated from University with high honors
|
|
|
Optimistic
I am an optimist and I therefore am counting on touring with our guests again next year.
If you are an optimist too you can grab up some of the remaining spots on our 2021 Bordeaux Wine Tours Schedule: Bordeaux Wine Tours Schedule here.
Time on our hands
Without the tasting of the futures that were cancelled and without our tours to prepare and conduct we found ourselves with much too much time on our hands.
And I will tell you something about some “cellar finds” we tasted as a result.
I was not the only one to focus on my cellar as I received a lot of questions, seeking my advice if bottles where ready to drink or should be cellared some more.
Some of you choose to start drinking their cellar treasures, just in case…
Others decided to spend this year’s travel budget on their cellars and asking my advice for their purchases.
|
|
|
I served a 10982 La Tour de By for our boy’s graduation dinner
|
|
|
Weird bottles versus an excellent Bordeaux
In this Magazine I will tell you about some weird bottles we tasted during lockdown.
And I will tell you about a Bordeaux from 2009, one of my favorite vintages.
Join us in 2021,
There are only a few rooms left for next year. So check out our Bordeaux Wine Tours Schedule here.
|
Ronald and Margaret love welcoming you
in Bordeaux
|
|
For now, take care and please
stay healthy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lockdown activities and wines…
By Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master
|
We did get some R&R as well…
|
How we kept busy this year?
Sometimes it takes NOT doing something to realize how much time goes into it. 2020 was a strange year for us without any tours.
And without all the preparations and organization I honestly felt lost a bit. You may know by now that touring Bordeaux for me is not a job, it is my passion.
I have never counted the hours I put in transforming Bordeaux wine tours into Bordeaux Wine Experiences.
These many hours I put into our tours never felt like work to me. But when we couldn’t conduct any tours this year, I found myself with more time on my hands than I cared for.
So, what did we do? Like most people we read a lot, rearranged cupboards and cleared out the attic. Margaret even organized our books by color!
And with so much time on your hands I took on some work in my wine cellar.
Rearranging bottles and uncovering some long-lost bottles.
|
|
Ronald really missed touring this year
|
|
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
Extremely “special”
Many years ago, my late grandmother gave me some rather questionable bottles when she went into a retirement home.
And mostly whites as well.
If you have toured with me, you know that I prefer my reds…
You must have a similar corner in your cellar: the area where you put the bottles you don’t know what to do with.
I will tell you something about us trying wines that took many years to come up with the courage to taste.
I am not shy about tasting wines and I have tasted many extraordinary wines and plenty of interesting wines.
And a fair amount of original or sometimes weird wines as well.
My cellar-finds that I am focusing on today were more weird to extremely “special” at best…
|
|
Toasting to my late grandmother…
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
A Dutch wine-challenge
Let’s start with the weirdest wine. As proud as I am to be Dutch, I have to admit that the Netherlands are not known for their wines.
There is one rather well-known vineyard in the south of the Netherlands.
Here they produce a very nice white wine in the style of an Alsace wine: the Apostelhoeve. I even have a few bottles in my cellar.
But apart from the Apostelhoeve there was not much quality wines produced in the nineteen eighties…
Rotterdam wine?
The Dutch city Rotterdam is world-famous for its harbor that is the gateway to Europe.
Apparently, someone managed to convince my grandmother that Rotterdam could produce wine as well.
The bottle of Holland Natuurwijn (nature wine) was produced in 1988, a notoriously hot and dry year in Bordeaux.
|
|
The Netherlands are not known for their wines…
|
|
|
Unfortunately, the weather was a not like that in the Netherlands in 1988 and that had me worried.
Cool weather makes for unripe grapes and a unpleasant wines, especially in a northern country like Holland.
The grape variety was the Muscat, which is often used in sweeter wines. Sweeter wines tend to age better so that was a bit of a relief given the age of this wine.
After these reflections it was time to pull the cork and put this wine to the test. The color was deep yellow with some golden hints.
The nose… Well what to make of the nose? Let’s say it was original and not something that we are used to…
The big surprise was on the palate. The wine was actually quite nice. Some sweetness, but not too much. A bit of structure brought by the ageing on a barrel for a year.
A nice acidity but not very complex. But still drinkable after 32 years. A pleasant surprise.
We actually took a second glass and then we realized that we had to be fast. The wine was evolving very quickly after being in contact with the oxygen. An interesting experience.
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
Low expectations
Our next try was a wine from the Alsace, again by courtesy of my grandmother.
It was a 1992 Domaine du Moulin de Dusenbach Pinot Blanc. Pinot Blanc is a versatile white-wine grape variety used in the production of still, sparkling and sweet dessert wines.
Pinot Blanc is not the most glamorous member of the Pinot family.
This variety has proven it’s worth in various European wine regions, like Alsace in northeast France, the Alto Adige region of Italy, and in parts of Germany and Austria.
The variety is often regarded as Chardonnay’s understudy.
These are wines that should be drunk in the 2-3 years after production.
These are definitely not wines that are meant to age and I had been eyeballing this bottle several times; but when to drink it?
Well, we went for it and with low expectations.
|
|
Still drinkable at 18 years old
|
|
|
Again, a nice surprise because the wine was still drinkable at 28 years old. Not bad for a pinot Blanc!
The color was yellow, a bit like a highlighter felt pen. There was a hint of sweetness. Maybe my grandmother preferred sweeter wines…
Normally there needs to be an acidity to balance sweetness with freshness in a wine.
That the Moulin de Dusenbach could do with more acidity is a bit of an understatement. But this was in all fairness probably linked to the age of the bottle.
After a few minutes the wine was evolving, and we decided that life was too short so we chucked the rest…
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
Reviving my tastebuds
To verify that my tastebuds had survived this experience I desperately needed a Bordeaux.
To continue the Dutch-theme of this tasting, I went for a Dutch-owned Grand Cru Classé from Margaux.
The blend: 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot using 50% new oak from seven suppliers.
This Third Growth Giscours from the outstanding vintage 2009 was still very young.
The 2009 was one of the best Giscours I tasted on futures back in 2010 and as a result I had bought a case and I was not disappointed:
A deep intense color, almost black.
A very expressive nose with hints of cassis, prune and blackberry and some leather.
Some earthy tones come through as well. Still very much on the fruit and not much sign of evolution.
|
|
The best Giscours I had tasted on futures
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Giscours 2009 is a full-bodied wine with well-integrated tannins. Lovely to drink now and with a great promise for the future.
This wine can age another 25 years without a problem. I’ll wait another 3-5 years for I’ll try the next bottle. Patience will be rewarded.
|
|
|
Margaret even organized books by color!
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
“Things that you simply can’t buy, not for all money in the world”
|
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!
|
|
Staying at our Chateau adds a certain “Je ne sais pas qoi”
|
Dining at Chateau Coulon Laurensac, a real experience
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
2021 Bordeaux Wine Tour Program
“A romantic, never to be forgotten, put it on your bucket list experience.”
(a TripAdvisor reviewer)
|
Because you deserve a Bordeaux Wine Experience and not “just a tour”
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
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!
|
|
Experience Bordeaux in full harvest swing
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
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.
|
|
Enjoy meals in venues not open to the public while tasting
the best wines of Bordeaux
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
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.
|
|
Feel completely Special and Pampered on this Exclusive Experience
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
2021 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
_____________________________________________________________________
|
10 excellent reasons to join
the Bordeaux Wine Experience
| 1. |
Carefree and truly effortless travel in Bordeaux: We take care of everything, really everything! |
| 2. |
See and taste all 5 First Growths and Château d’Yquem! |
| 3. |
Grand Cru wines with all meals (except breakfast…)! |
| 4. |
Private gourmet meals at Bordeaux Chateaux and in a famous Michelin-starred restaurant! |
| 5. |
Superb food & wines and great fun in a small group! |
| 6. |
Expert (and humorous) guidance by Bordeaux Specialist Ronald Rens! |
| 7. |
An entertaining concise cooking class! |
| 8. |
Air-conditioned accommodation at our privately owned 18th century chateau! |
| 9. |
Air-conditioned, luxury motor coach transportation throughout the tour! |
| 10. |
Grand Cru Farewell Dinner with all Grand Cru wines (including Chateau Margaux 1985, Lafite Rothschild + Superior First Growth Yquem of over 20 years old!). |
|
|
|
|
2022 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
|
→ 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!
|
|
|
|
Chateau Coulon Laurensac, without a doubt the best place in the world to taste all five First Growths plus Yquem…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bordeaux Wine Experience
at Chateau Coulon Laurensac
1, chemin de Meydieu
33360 Latresne (BORDEAUX), France
Website : www.BXWINEX.com
|
|
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!)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Our passion for Bordeaux was shared with %%emailaddress%%.
Please add us to your address book to ensure that you continue receiving emails from us.
Don’t want to receive this Newsletter any more?
Click here to unsubscribe
It’s instant and it’s permanent.
|
|
|
|
