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onjour!
This month, let’s continue our journey of discovery through the vineyards of the Bordeaux region, to Médoc,
an area of world renown for its exceptional wines and its many unusual châteaux. Médoc is easy to spot
on a map of France: it is the little plot of land shaped like an equilateral triangle nestled between the Atlantic
Ocean to the west and the Gironde estuary to the east, and closed off by a tributary of the river Garonne and the
city of Bordeaux to the south. To the north of this peninsula, the Cordouan lighthouse, proudly anchored on its rocky
islet, still marks the way for ships entering the estuary, just like it did back when Bordeaux was one of the leading
ports in the world.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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A Century and a Half of Excellence, from 1855 to 2005
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In 1855, the World Fair was being held in Paris and Napoléon III wanted to present to Queen Victoria and the many
visitors from the whole world the best products that France had to offer, among them the prestigious wines from Gironde.
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Château Margaux
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The Bordeaux "Syndicat des Courtiers de Commerce", or Trade Brokers Association, was in charge of drawing up the list
of the region’s best vintages. These experienced professionals counted sixty-one châteaux divided into five wine-producing
categories ranked in order of importance. All they were really doing was making official a well-known list that recognized
the exceptional quality of the land and the reputation of each vineyard. Indeed, this list had already been drafted as
early as 1755 by their predecessors, and had been confirmed, give or take a few details, by none other than Thomas Jefferson,
in 1787. He was at that time the Ambassador of the United States to France, and had traveled all over the vineyards of the
Bordeaux region. He was a true connoisseur of great wines and had himself suggested a classification, very similar to that
of 1855. There has been only one amendment to this list since then, which occurred in 1973, when Château Mouton-Rothschild
moved up a notch, from second to first "growth" and thereby joined the rank of the prestigious Château Lafite-Rothschild,
Château Latour, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion. Today, one hundred and fifty years later,
this classification remains the authoritative one.
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An Exception for a Leading Wine
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The Pontac family was behind the revival of the great Médoc wines. Jean de Pontac received as an endowment
part of the Haut-Brion Estate, south-west of Bordeaux. In 1550, he built his "château" there, and knew perfectly well how
to select the very best land where he could plant vines. A passionate and wise man, he enlarged the property and exported
his wines that were gaining more and more recognition, especially in England. A century later, thanks to his descendants,
the reputation of the Haut-Brion Estate was at its highest. Arnaud de Pontac then had the brilliant idea of opening the
"Pontac Tavern" in London. It became a very fashionable spot, while Haut-Brion earned the distinction of being the first
wine from the Bordeaux region to be sold under its own name at a time when wine was still sold anonymously. In the mid
18th century, all the techniques involved in working the vineyard, in the selection of grape varieties, in the assemblage
(blending wines of the same vintage), and in wine conservation were constantly improving. Eventually, a real buying frenzy
took over the market, driving up the prices of wines, especially those of the best ones, the wines from Médoc.
The quality and renown of Haut-Brion, although located in the Graves region, allowed it to become the only Graves wine to
follow the course of Médoc wines over the decades and thus to earn its place among them. It was then perfectly
natural for it to join, in 1855, the group of the "Premiers Grands Crus classés", or First Great Growths,
from the Médoc.
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Recipe for Nov 2005
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Wine Sauce
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The "Châteaux" of Médoc
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Towards the middle of the 18th century, vineyards became the predominant economy of Médoc. The powerful elite of Bordeaux
chose to invest in viticulture, which in turn brought about the emergence of great aristocratic estates. The classification
concept of "crus", or growths, took shape little by little. Wines were given the name of the vineyard owner or of the
location. A century later, Napoleon III gave fresh impetus to the continued development of the wine country.
Trade agreements and the improvement of means of communication contributed to the boom of the wine business
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View of Château Pichon Longueville's backside
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and the accumulation of wealth for the happy owners. They took advantage of this opportunity not only to improve
the quality of their noble production, but also to build themselves magnificent and often extravagant châteaux.
Individual artistic sensibility and wealth dictated the many various architectural styles. The château became a
symbol of grandeur, the pride and joy of each and every family, as it was not only a testimony to the success
of the owner, but also a tribute to the unique character of each production. Eventually, the "cru" designation
was replaced with the "Château" appellation that was proudly displayed on each bottle’s label, as it still is today.
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The Mountain People
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In the middle of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was under way and there was finally sincere interest
in the working conditions of the laborers, but also in profitability. These trends blowing across Europe
eventually reached the remote region of Médoc.
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Château Pontet Canet
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The farm workers there were confronted with the arrival of a foreign workforce who came from the eastern
Pyrénées and agreed to work the vineyards for reduced wages. However, no one could deny that these
"Mountainbillies", as they were pejoratively referred to, were courageous and productive men. In 1860, the
phylloxera pest that feeds on grape roots was inadvertently introduced to France from North America. When
it devastated the vineyards of Bordeaux, these same "Mountainbillies" were the ones who took it upon themselves
to rid the region of this terrible blight. They fought relentlessly, and it was thanks to their tenacity that
the vineyards were slowly restored to their prior glory. They were finally given their due and from then on,
the "Mountainbillies" became more respectfully known as the "Mountain people". Everyone was full of gratitude
for their courageous devotion. They were finally able to really settle down, start families, and greatly
contribute to the development of the vineyards of Médoc. The Cazes family, still today at the head of the very
prestigious Château Lynch-Bages Estate, can proudly claim that heritage.
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The Maharaja of St-Estèphe
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At the start of the 19th century, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel inherited a few acres of vineyards on a hill
close to the village of Cos. He quickly came to the realization that what he owned was an exceptional piece of land,
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The Cos d'Estournel
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and went into debt to acquire the hill in its entirety, even grabbing a few plots of land illegally in the process.
The extraordinary quality of his wines provoked total admiration in all the connoisseurs, and the market price of
the Cos wines just kept climbing. Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel then made the decision to escape from the monopoly of
the wine brokers from Bordeaux, who up until then could not be ignored. He started to bottle his wine at the château
itself and planned to sell it directly in India. The success was immediate, as the maharajahs and nabobs in the East
were crazy about this French wine. This came as a second big surprise. Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel had already been quite
taken aback when he first realized that after the long ocean crossing his wine didn’t taste the same as it did at the
start from the château: it had greatly improved in transit. Boosted by this discovery and the triumph of his eastern
experience, Louis-Gaspard d'Estournel acquired the nickname "Maharadja of St-Estèphe". Around 1830, he had himself built
a strange and exotic palace in Médoc, where he threw sumptuous parties and offered the great men and women of the world
bottles of this precious Cos that had made the round trip to India by boat! By 1852, he found himself broke and riddled
with debt. He had to resign himself to sell his estate to a banker from London named Martyns. He died the following year,
only two years before the ultimate recognition of Cos d'Estournel as the best of the St-Estèphe wines.
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Château Mouton Rothschild |
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Baron Philippe de Rothschild was 20 yrs old when he inherited the Brane-Mouton Estate that had been acquired by his
ancestor, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, in 1853. With the heart and soul of a Parisian, and a passion for car races,
travel and society events, such a gift might almost have been a poisoned one. But the baron immediately fell in love
with his vineyard and his new profession. From then on, his one and only objective became to do his wines justice,
as they were only ranked "Second Cru", or Second Growth, in 1855. His motto was, "First I am not, second I disdain,
Mouton I am". His first step was to shake up tradition. Up until then, wine was sold in bulk to wholesalers who mixed
and bottled it themselves, thereby delivering a wine that differed from the one produced at the châteaux. In 1924, he
pushed the owners of the "Premiers Crus" to undertake the bottling of their wine at their own châteaux to guarantee
the authenticity and consistency of the final product. For about a half century, he continued to constantly improve the
quality of his wine, watching over his vineyards with meticulous care, enlarging and modernizing his estate. Finally,
he had the brilliant idea to use the concept of "marketing". From 1945 on, he commissioned the greatest painters of the
time to draw his labels. In 1973, his goal was reached and Mouton Rothschild joined the ranks of the extraordinary wines,
the "Premiers Crus des Grands Crus classés du Médoc". The baron was very pleased that his tenacity had paid off.
His motto then became: "First I am, second I was, Mouton I will always be".
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How to Best Enjoy a Great Red Bordeaux Wine
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Tasting a bottle of Bordeaux is much more than a simple pleasure, it is sheer happiness... that is if you are mindful of
a few basic rules. Whether the bottle of wine comes from a store or from your own cellar – assuming you are fortunate
enough to have one – you must first stand it upright for about a day in a room with the temperature held between 64°F
and 66°F, before opening it. The expression "chambrer un vin", literally "rooming a wine", means to bring a
wine to room temperature after
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Wine Tasting
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retrieving it from a cold cellar to store in a cool room. There is also really no point in opening it way ahead
of serving time. Ten minutes should be enough as long as you pour it into a decanter or glass carafe so that it
may breathe before it is served. You should then pour it into large glasses so that it can fully release all of
its aroma, much to the great delight of your guests. To turn this tasting into a real event, the ideal would be
to offer a different Bordeaux wine with each and every dish, or even to play off the comparison by serving two
Bordeaux wines simultaneously, in separate glasses. Of course, such delicate, fragrant and rich wines must be
tasted in moderation; so if you do not finish the entire bottle, you just need to get the air out of before
recorking it and setting it back in a vertical position in a cool place. The wine will not lose any of its aroma
or flavor for several days. There are many accessories available to withdraw oxygen from a bottle of wine...and they
are excellent gift ideas for the Holidays.
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An Invitation to travel... |
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Contrary to what one might think today while crisscrossing the Médoc wine country, so peaceful and green, the
development of the Bordeaux region vineyards didn’t come into being by the wave of a magic wand, without any
pain or sorrow. The much-feared phylloxera appeared in 1869, the forest of the Landes that protected the vineyards
burned in 1937, right before WWII, and then the frost of 1956 destroyed many young vines. So many obstacles could
have meant doom for these exceptional vineyards. But for these winegrower-landlords, the determination, passion,
and will to keep on going and succeed, prevailed. The love of the vine has always been and remains the strongest...
still today, the Médoc region prides itself on producing some of the best wines in the world. The vineyard owners
want to share their passion and do not stand on ceremony as they open the doors of their fabulous estates and
invite you in to taste their nectar, whether you are a connoisseur or simply curious. By all means, do go wander
the Médoc wine trail, visit the châteaux (upon appointment only), listen to the history of these prestigious vineyards, taste their
precious wines, and let yourself be charmed by this little corner of "la Belle France" that offers the miracle
of shared moments not to be missed.
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A Tip from Sylvie:
Many of you have sent me emails regarding the best Medoc wine I suggest for
the holidays. My prefered option is definetely the Château Lynch Bages! I actually discovered it while
flying on AA a few years ago. It was the selected bottle of Bordeaux for the first class cabin. The best way to find out
where to buy this exceptional wine is on google.com. Just type "Lynch Bages" and your location and see
the list of local or on-line distributors. Château Lynch Bages has a web site
www.lynchbages.com as well,
but they do not sell the wine on-line.
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