It was back to RIBA on Tuesday Night for our Burgundy 2008 tasting. As usual the crowds poured in early and the place was buzzing well before the official 6pm opening time. We showed over 80 wines from 21 growers – most of whom were on hand to talk tasters through the wines and the vintage. Luckily for those of you who couldn’t make it, our intrepid reporter Gal was out about with the Flip …
Posts Tagged ‘En Primeur’
Nov
12
Burgundy 2008 Day 3: Roux, Barthod, Morey-Coffinet, Burguet
(Blues skies over Le Montrachet – a good way to start the day)
Today started where we last night left off: with widespread incredulity at Camilla’s prior career at the sharp end of the fast food industry (see below!). Finding ourselves with twenty minutes to kill before our first appointment, Ben suggested we head into Meursault for an Egg McMuffin and a cafe crème at …
Apr
03
Bordeaux Blog Day Four – A Mission to find La Mission
(Above: those imposing Tourelles at Pichon)
Our last day in Bordeaux. Just a few hours to finalise our impressions of the 2008 vintage before the long trip home. We had just a handful of appointments: Grand Puy Lacoste & Pichon-Baron in the Medoc followed by Haut-Brion and Smith Haut Lafitte way down in Pessac. It all looked so simple.
It should have been so simple.
In the end, it was anything …
Apr
02
Bordeaux Day Three: No protests outside this Bank (the 'Right' one…that is)
(Above: The car park attendants at Margaux (Alex and Ben). I didn’t tip them. They did an awful job. )
One of the great conundrums of life is why French cafes seem to be able to do a Grand Cru espresso or a perfect croissant but never both at the same time. Breakfast in Libourne involved sitting in the dark outside a boulangerie with the most delicious coffee and …
Apr
01
Bordeaux Day 2 – Getting to the root of it all
(Above: we never get tired of this picture…Margaux in full glory)
Alex spotted it first. The wines today didn’t taste quite as good as they did yesterday. Whereas on Monday they were full of voluptuous fruit and silky tannins, today started off a bit angular. Everything was there but the fruit had been turned down a bit and the tannins were far more to the fore. ‘Could it be …
Mar
11
One Foot in the Graves
Well, we’re coming into Bordeaux season. Before he heads off to taste in April, our very own tweed-lover, Gareth Groves, casts an eye over the latest news…
I love the Graves. I like the location (it’s probably the only semi-urban wine region in the world), I like the people, I love the brasserie at Les Sources de Caudalie – and, most of all, I like the wines.
There’s something …
Nov
06
Bigger than Obama – Burgundy Day 3
Gareth gets all political down in the Cote d’Or…
Barack Obama’s win has made huge waves over in France. He seems to have some big fans amongst the vignerons of Burgundy. If this enthusiasm continues, we might even see an entente cordiale between Les Yanks and les Frogs and ‘Freedom Fries’ will be consigned to the dustbin of history. Good riddance, I say. I’ve always prefered pommes dauphinoises …
Nov
05
The Lothario Strikes Back: Burgundy Blog 2
More from Gareth in Burgundy
Breakfast is not a strong point of our hotel. The croissants are so old that Ben reckons they buy them from Christies. My habit of substituting a large cup of coffee for every hour of sleep missed is also backfiring a bit. Tasting wine at eight o’clock in the morning with the shakes is a decidedly bad look.
Today was …
