We spent a week in
Bordeaux in November on the Uniworld River Royale and I'm now a river cruising fan. The food, wine and experiences on shore were beyond my expectations. I really liked docking in the little towns and being able to get off the ship in the mornings and evenings for some exploring.
We boarded in the pretty city of
Bordeaux and
settled in for a week of adventures in gastronomy. The next day we headed north on the
Garonne
River to the
Gironde Estuary and our port of
Pauillac and the
Medoc peninsula,
home of some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon dominated, red wine blends in the
world. Our 1st winery of the trip was to be a surprise destination.
The excitement was building as we pulled up to Chateau Rauzan-Segla in
the Margaux region.
A tour of the winery showed an attention to detail in
the way they painted the middle of the barrels with wine so there was never any
drip marks.
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| Barrels at Chateau Rauzan-Segla |
The elegant tasting room was on the second floor, up a
circular staircase.
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| Tasting room at Chateau Rauzan-Segla |
We were treated to their
Grand Cru Classe, Rauzan-Segla, from the exceptional 2005 vintage and Segla,
the 2
nd tier wine from 2009, another good vintage. Both wines were delicious but the difference
was reflected in the 100EUR price discrepancy.
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| Chateua Rauzan-Segla Grand Cru Classe Margaux 2005 |
The atmosphere on board that night was electric. It had been an excellent start to the trip.
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| Hard not to imagine Steve Martin as Cyrano |
Our 2nd day we were docked in Bourg and drove to Bergerac for the weekly market and a tasting of delicious duck confit and fois gras and a delightful lunch at L'Imparfait, a lovely little restaurant in the centre of town. Charming service and good value. We had the daily menu. I'd never had fish and chips for a starter. The picture doesn't do justice to the delicious piece of cod fish.
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| Fish n Chips appetizer at L'Imparfait |
The cod fish in the Bay of Biscay is fantastic, probably comes from Newfoundland ;-) so I didn't hesitate to have the cod entree as well.
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| Cod at L'Imparfait |
The manager was quite particular choosing a red wine for us to have with fish. The Chateau de la Jaubertie was a good choice.
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| Chateau de la Jaubertie from Bergerac |
In Saint-Emilion we enjoyed a tour and tasting at Chateua de Ferrand. I have a couple of bottles aging in my cellar now.
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| Chateau de Ferrand all in wooden boxes |
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| Beautiful barrel storage at Chateau de Ferrand |
One of the highlights of our trip was an optional tour to Remy Martin.
The highlight was the barrel room where the light was blocked from the windows by spider webs. They will never kill one or destroy their webs. Some barrels are over 100 years old with wooden hoops. No photos allowed in the storage room.
The cognac tasting was matched with exquisite small bites. We tried a VSOP straight up and on ice as well as an XO Excellence.
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| Chocolate and XO Excellence won my heart |
A bottle of VSOP made it into my suitcase. I'm resisting opening it because I know it will become a regular night cap until I finish it. I'll have to start sometime. Today seems good.
I had mixed feelings about the Sauternes visit. I don't like sweet wines but it turned out to be a great day. On the way to Chateau d'Arche for lunch we stopped to taste some grapes with noble rot. I never thought I'd volunteer to eat moldy grapes but they were delicious.
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| Grapes with Botrytis Cinerea |
At Chateau d'Arche we had lunch paired with the sweet white wines. Startimg with smoked salmon.
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| Smoked salmon, creamy centre, horseradish and Yuzu vinaigrette |
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| Chateau La Bouade 2010 - Cuvee Coccinelle |
The menu was designed with Cilantro carmelized hen as an entree but they accommodated us with fish and mushroom pastry.
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| Fish entree with mushroom pastry and asparagus |
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| Chateau Filhot 2003 |
Peach melba with crunchy praline, roasted peaches, vanilla whipped cream and chocolate drizzle definitely paired with it's match.
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| Peach Melba |
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| Chateau Lamourette 2002 |
Lunch was thoughtfully prepared and presented and we were all ready for some fresh air afterward. A walk around the estate surrounding the beautiful Chateau Filhot was just the ticket.
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| Chateau Filhot |
The vineyards were planted from 1630 to 1650 and the chateau built in 1709. Still family owned, the proprietor guided us around the estate. When you have this much potential vineyards devoted to parkland, it's obvious how grand the estate really is.
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| Park at Chateau Filhot |
On our final day in Bordeaux we did a walking, eating and drinking tour.
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| The Way of Saint James takes you through the heard of Bordeaux |
We visited the 100 year old La Maison Darricau for some exceptional chocolate. Same family proudly producing chocolate all these years. You can count on it being fantastic.
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| Chocolate La Maison Darricau |
Next stop was Caneles Baillardran to try the Caneles de Bordeaux, a little fluted cake with a thin caramelized exterior and rich rum and vanilla interior.
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| Caneles de Bordeaux |
Finally we stopped at David's in the Place des Grand Hommes to try the famous Dunes, cream puff extraordinaire.
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| The famous Dunes by David |
By now we needed a drink so our last stop was Maximitas Bordeaux, where you buy a prepaid card and can merrily taste wines from the enoteca dispensers.
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| Look up at Max Bordeaux |
With prices ranging from 2 to 30 EUR per tasting , we spent an hour trying wine after wine ending with a Mouton Rothschild at 30EUR a taste. Drinking can make you extravagant.
These are just the highlights of our fabulous trip to Bordeaux. The lovely dinners on board our ship created by Chef Frank and his team were outstanding. Chef Frank is a deft hand with mussels and I'll crave his mussels in tomato and cognac forever. The wine selection changed daily and was always regional and interesting.
I can now enthusiastically recommend Uniworld River Cruises and the city of Bordeaux.
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