Saturday, June 25, 2011

Bordeaux

Bordeaux
It is totally gorgeous here. I have a completely new appreciation for France. We’ve spent 5 days now in the Bordeaux area; three days in Pauillac and two days in St.Emillion. I don’t know that much about wine and wasn’t totally convinced that a stop in Bordeaux was “on our way” as Gabri said… but it actually was on our way and I’m so happy that we came here because it is so beautiful and so historic. Seeing the Gironde river and estuary and driving through towns like Margaux and St. Julien and passing amazing chateaux like Latoure. It absolutely blew my mind. The countryside is gorgeous, the chateaux are gorgeous, the towns are gorgeous and the food is quite good too. (Obviously not to mention the wine!) I want to learn some French and come back. Visit more wine regions.

(Miles in the middle of Paulliac!! We were told that they plant roses at the end of each row of vines because they health of the rose plant is a pure indication of the health of the vine. Interesting. And very pretty.)
We’ve been dragging Miles around to visit wineries, which hasn’t been too much fun for him but he’s been pretty good. They always load him up with suckers and that helps a lot. We visited one winery that had preserved their original winery from the 18th century. On the ground floor they had huge wooden vats where they did the first fermentation and maceration. On the second floor they had complete access to the vats and were amazingly organized. After they would de-stem the grape clusters by hand, they would dump the grapes into a giant table where they crushed the grapes with their feet. Then the table would tilt and empty into the top of the vat. After the juice was drained out the bottom, people would climb into the vats to break up the cap. It was so gassy that people used to die doing this job. They used the pressed juice to pay “taxes”, and still do. They didn’t do the second fermentation until relatively recently so they drank fizzy wine all the time. So far out. So wild. They have such an old way of doing things in Bordeaux.

(Picture of the second floor of the winery. The table on the left was used for smashing the grapes. It tilts and empties into the tops of the giant vats. After the wine has fermented and been drained from the bottom, the crust is pressed in the press on the right. The table and press were on tracks so they could move around to be close to or empty into the various vats.)

Miles made a very good friend named Matilda. She’s adorable and full of personality. I asked Miles on day if he wanted a little sister or brother and he said he wanted a big sister. “I want Matilda.” Aw….