Europe Summer 2013: A Taste of Bordeaux

A TASTE OF BORDEAUX

Bordeaux

Our next step in our journey was Bordeaux which is such a wonderful region of France.  The title of a Taste of Bordeaux describes what I've experienced.  It's about the wine, the wine, the wine and the food that goes with the wine.  People here are friendly.  75% speak English and we actually went to a bistro that allowed us to change something which as you know if France is usually unheard of.  Sacre Bleu!

Chateau Lafon Rochet

We overnighted in Bordeaux.  While others were jumping onto the 40 plus passenger buses, we were met by Fidel our private driver to take us to St. Estephe where we met Michel Tesseron, the owner of Chateau Lafon Rochet.  What a character and a total love.  We enjoyed tasting 3 of his wines and bought some to enjoy later on the cruise.  Michel insisted on making our dinner arrangements at his favorite bistro, La Tupina (more later).

Chateau Ponet Canet

Our next stop was at Chateau Ponet Canet.   This winery is not only organic but it is bio-dynamic which was quite impressive and I enjoyed the explanation of how involved a bio-dynamic winery is.  We were offered one wine to taste which was very good.  They made sure to tell us that Robert Parker gave their 2009 vintage 100 points.

After a lunch at Le Lion d'Or ... a locals hangout we visited Chateau Giscours in the Margaux region.  Nothing great and it was time to return to the ship.  

Le Lion d'Or

Now the good stuff starts ...

We walked around the city of Bordeaux.  Unfortunately, the weather has been dreary – cold and rainy.  In spite of this, we really liked Bordeaux.  It reminded us of the Left Bank of Paris. They have a pedestrian section that was easy to access.  Bordeaux has shopping for every budget and their green areas are really pretty.  They have a wonderful tram system that goes throughout the city so everything is easily accessed.

La Tupina

La Tupina

After doing out walking tour, it was time for dinner.  As I mentioned, Michel personally made our reservations which believe me were hard to get especially because we were visiting during Bordeaux's famous Vin Expo.  La Tupina is EVERYONE'S favorite bistro!  Patricia Wells, an American cookbook author living in Paris that writes great French cookbooks says that La Tupina is her 2^nd favorite bistro...in the world!  We thought it was wonderful.

Kir Royals

We were seated and greeted by Lima, our friendly and knowledgeable server.  As we enjoyed our Kir Royals, Lima made a few suggestions and helped us choose our Bordeaux wine, Chateau de la Dauphine which was perfect!  Our starters were prosciutto with cantaloupe for Jeff and I had their cold pea soup with crab and mint.  Perfection especially with the crunchy country French bread.

Our next course was very simple.  Jeff had their Cassoulette and I enjoyed their rotisserie chicken served with french fries that had been fried (sorry Ashley ... my trainer) with duck fat. OMG!

As we dined, we looked around La Tupina.  The restaurant reminded me of my Florence favorite, Il Latini.   The restaurant had atmosphere.  It was so inviting and the cooking was the kind of cooking that a French grandmother would have been proud of.

Dessert was a killer flourless chocolate cake with vanilla bean sauce and fresh strawberries in case you were wondering.  ;-)

Chateau Fonplegade

The following morning, we met Fidel for our private half day tour.  The weather was worse ... more dreariness and rain but that didn't stop us.  We enjoyed two wineries in the Saint-Émilion region.  We learned that there are 3 classifications in Saint-Émilion.  A, B and all the rest.  

Rosé

The first winery was “all the rest” and my favorite.  Chateau Fonplegade reminded me of a French styled Napa Valley winery.  Anyone that follows my blog knows about my love of all things Napa Valley.   The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Adams are actually from Minnesota.  The staff were friendly and offered 4 varietals for our tasting.  

After falling in love with their wines, I noticed that they also sold a Rosé and asked to taste it.  (*I want to point out that many wineries not only in France but even Napa or Sonoma would have said forget it.*)  Our hostess, Gabrielle brought out a fresh bottle and said it was her pleasure to have us taste their Rosé.   It was great and of course, we had to buy a bottle.  

Saint-Émilion region

It was now time to visit the city of Saint-Émilion.  This is not a clothing, or home goods shoppers paradise.  However, it IS a Bordeaux wine lovers paradise as there are many wine shops selling a large variety of Bordeaux wines.  Of course, there are plenty of restaurants as well.  After our visit, it was time to go to Chateau Figeac.  Chateau Figeac is under the B classification in Saint-Émilion wines.  We had a tour (really getting over the tours) and learned that they had just turned over to being an organic winery.  Good for them!  Great wine BTW.

Chateau Figeac

I'm back on the Crystal Symphony now getting ready for dinner.  Since we are going on a back to back cruise, I have decided to hold off on my Crystal Symphony blog description for awhile so stay tuned for that in the next 10-14 days.  Wow, this is a lot of cruising, right?

Crystal Symphony

Any questions? Email if you do and I'll be happy to answer them.

Until next time..



The World is Our Playground!

Mari