Grape Wine Journey

This summer, my husband and I spent a week in shopping in Paris and wine tasting in Bordeaux: my kind of vacation!

As a wine lover, it is pure ecstasy just the thought of visiting Bordeaux.  Standing at the vineyard, smelling the fresh air with the backdrop of blue sky felt like home.  It was so amazing.

We visited a total of 6 vineyards in the 3 days we stayed at Bordeaux.   We went with a wine tour organized by the Bordeaux Tourism Board, visiting Château Desmirail, Château Pontet Canet and Château Gruaud-Larose.  It was a full day tour including lunch in one of the vineyards. 

I loved to listen to all the stories on how the wines were made and their style of wine.  There was so much passion that went into the bottle.  At Chateau Desmirail, we were greeted by the owner.  He said his wine was made for serving with the regional cuisine.  It was not made for drinking by itself, which was the style that will have high score from Robert Parker.  It is for the same reason that his wines are not expensive.   He was very proud in telling us that he would not change his style to get high score from Robert Parker.  You had to respect him for that!

Chateau Pontet-Canet was the perfect picture for a classic chateau.  A long winding dirt road leading towards the Chateau with endless view of the grape vines on either side.  You could say every tour was very similar; the best part for me was always standing in the aging room with all the new French oak barrels.   The tour would then end with the tasting of the wines.  My husband and I were quite surprised at the end of the tour when a grey hair gentleman greeted us at the tasting room.  He then invited us, 20 tourists, to the Chateau.  The lunch was at the Chateau Pontet-Canet, hosted by the owner Monsieur Alfred Tesseron!

You can imagine how excited I was.  My husband and I made sure we sat across from him.  He was a very pleasant host; he made sure we felt like home.  It was a three course lunch paired with three wines, all personally selected by Monsieur Tesseron.  One would expect it would be all red from different vintage. 

To our surprise, the first wine was a white wine – Caillou Blanc de Chateau Talbot 2006 served with Salmon Tartar.  It was light, crisp, with lemon aroma.  A simple wine but matched perfectly with the salmon tartar.  I asked Monsieur Tesseron what was the grape variety and the answer was Sauvignon Blanc.

The two Chateau Pontet-Canet served were 2001 and 2003  vintage. They were very classic tannic complex Pauillac wines, and would definitely age well.  The wines had been decant since 9 am in the wine cellar and brought to the dining room just before serving.  The main dish was Roast Rack of Lamb followed by Cheese Platter.

After lunch, Monsieur Tesseron personally bid farewell to us at the foyer.  It was a perfect touch to a great lunch!

Upon return from Bordeaux, I went searching for the Blanc de Talbot in the wine stores locally, but with little luck. About three weeks ago, I was reading a local newspaper and saw an ad in the paper from a wine store in Central.  The Blanc de Talbot 2004 was on sale from around HK$300 to HK$250. 

My husband enjoys cooking and I enjoy a glass of wine, so we were exploring other choices of seafood to pair with the Blanc de Talbot.  He prepared a baked halibut to serve with the wine.  The result was BAD.   The Blanc de Talbot had a bitter taste; it would need to be paired with the right dish to bring out the flavor.  The taste of the baked halibut was too bland and it didn’t match well with the wine.

We were invited to a friend’s house for lunch on a Sunday; they had also bought a case of the Blanc de Talbot after hearing my story from Bordeaux.  This time, my husband bought sashimi grade salmon and prepared salmon tartar, just like the one we had in Chateau Pontet-Canet.  And the result – perfect match!