Welcome to part five of the six-part series documenting the fantastic trip to Bordeaux, France. This covers Wednesday, which was our second to last full day in Bordeaux. Things were busy as usual, and life was really starting to take shape for all six of us in France. It is amazing how fast the human body adapts to time change and a completely different culture so quickly. Follow along as we enjoy another day in wine country, chock full of exciting wines and fun adventures.
A day at Château Fombrauge wouldn’t be complete without a solid start, beginning with a nutritious breakfast at the big table in the dining room. This became routine in no time, and I do miss the mornings waking up with wine friends, and taking photos of the estate vines soaking up the morning dew and fog. Before long, we were aboard the team bus (van) and on our way to the first stop of the day. Astrid Mayer and Giulia Mengoni were our hostesses from Millesima for this particular day. They were both very fun to hang out with during our mid-week outing. We made our way to Péssac-Léognan to participate in en primeur tastings at Château Malartic-Lagravière.
Representing Texas at Château Malartic- Lagravière: Jeremy and Michelle
The property was epic with super green lawns and mature vines gracing our walk up the driveway from the van to the Château. There, we sampled many more wines from all over Bordeaux, once again confirming the overall quality of the 2015 vintage. We stopped and took many photos before we left because the grounds were just too beautiful to pass up a good old photo opportunity.
Lunch at Château Du Tertre
We hopped in the van to make our way to Margaux, to Château Du Tertre. The winemaker at this winery was the cool dude I got to sit next to, and enjoy conversation with at the en primeur dinner a few evenings prior. I have to say this was another one of my favorite stops on our wine journey, due to many factors including the people, ambience, and of course, some freaking amazing wines. We basked in the intermittent sunshine in the open courtyard at the Château, taking in gobs of lamb, beef, bread, cheeses, and of course, wines. I started with a sparkling wine, then moved to a Bordeaux Rosé before finally embarking on an older vintage journey through some very interesting Margaux reds, some only being poured via Coravin.
After lunch we walked into the cellar where they had tables lined up to taste more wines from around Bordeaux. When we were eating lunch, I could not help but notice they had wines and other wine related paraphernalia for sale. Several others from my wine posse and I took advantage of this opportunity and picked up some sweet vintages from the winery. I personally brought home a 2005 and 2010, which I am really looking forward to tasting.
Hilarious Chef at Château Du Tertre
Time flies when you’re having fun as they say, and before long it was time to depart Château Du Tertre and head to Haut-Medoc for more wine tasting at Château La Lagune, which is a Troisièmes Crus (classified Third Growth). We arrived at the winery and began tasting through a Sauternes flight again. Many of these wines were repeats from earlier in the week, but it was nice to be able to taste them again in a different environment. Wine has a way of tasting different in different places, at different times. After we tasted through the dessert wines, we were provided a private tour of the facility by owner, Caroline Frey, which was both informative and quite entertaining.
En primeur tasting at Château La Lagune
We left Haut-Medoc to drive to Bordeaux city for our second to last dinner together. We walked into Le Petit Commerce, which is a very highly regarded restaurant and sat at a table in the back of the building, which was super cozy. Everyone ordered some delicious food and we could not help but indulge in more of Bernard Magrez’s top notch wines.
Alas, the night was coming to an end, so it was time to board the bus and make the journey to St Émilion to jump in our comfortable beds and get our beauty sleep at Château Fombrauge. I hope you enjoyed tagging along; please stay tuned for the final installment of the Bordeaux trip soon.
Group at Château La Lagune. Caroline Frey in red jacket. Photo by: Frederic Lot/Millesima
