Bordeaux 2009: A Trip of a Lifetime

Four lucky members and their guests joined The Society’s chief wine buyer Sebastian Payne MW and me, on a trip to Bordeaux last month.

‘We are still wondering if the events of last week were real or some sort of dream,’ was the wonderful reaction of John and Elizabeth Maycock when they got back from our mini-tour of Bordeaux in July, and I must say I share their sentiments.

Première Cru: Château Margaux

Earlier in the year we offered members who had proposed a wine-loving friend or relative as a Society member the chance to win a place on a trip to some of Bordeaux’s finest vineyards with chief wine buyer Sebastian Payne. We stayed at the beautiful Margaux estate of Château Rauzan-Ségla, who really couldn’t have done more to make our stay enjoyable.

During a whirlwind four-day trip we learned a potted history of Bordeaux wine (how the French Revolution, inheritance tax laws and scoundrel uncles are behind property divisions and châteaux name changes). We had a crash-course in viticulture and vinification (including why soggy roots make bad wines, how candles are used in racking, and how fining using egg whites explains egg-yolk-based Bordelaise gastronomy).

We explored the notion of terroir and tasted the difference between the ‘merlot queens’ of the right bank (represented by flagship examples from Châteaux Magdelaine and Bélair-Monange in Saint-Emilion, and  Château Hosanna in Pomerol) and ‘cabernet kings’ of the left bank (represented by special bottles from Châteaux Lafite, Margaux, Palmer, Rauzan-Ségla, Lynch-Bages, Léoville-Barton, Langoa-Barton and Angludet).

Winning Wine Society members with Chief Buyer Sebastian Payne MW at Rauzan-Ségla

All were brought to life by the experts behind the wines: Frédéric Lospied and Edouard Moueix of JP Mouiex; Sabrina Permet at Château Palmer; Jean-Charles Cazes of Lynch-Bages; Charles and Ben Sichel of Angludet; Lilian Barton of Léoville-Barton and Langoa-Barton and John and Delphine Kolasa of Rauzan-Ségla, who, together with Magali Puppo and team where instrumental in organising the trip. As members Barry and Mandy West so eloquently put it:

‘It was such a wonderful few days, seeing and meeting such interesting people and visiting all the châteaux – a trip that we don’t think can be repeated.’

Outstanding wines (tasting the 2009s made us all want to rush home to place an en primeur order), sumptuous food and the companionship of liked-minded members made it a never-to-be-forgotten trip of a life-time. New member Danielle Fletcher summed up her experience:

‘I didn’t even know there was a prize draw! I just proposed a friend because we have enjoyed The Society’s wines since we were introduced by another friend. But this was a very special trip. It has really cemented my relationship with The Society.’

Member the Reverend Philip North e-mailed us to say that he had to attend a parish party as soon as he returned from Bordeaux. ‘Being fed the cheapest supermarket plonk after days of vintage Bordeaux was extremely painful!’ he said. One hopes we haven’t all been spoiled for life.

Over the coming weeks I look forward to sharing our experience with you through blog posts, videos and photos. So whether you are an avid Claret fan and want to learn more about these special châteaux, or you want to discover more about the region of Bordeaux, make sure to visit SocietyGrapevine regularly. For regular updates follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks to the experts at each Château and Sebastian Payne, we all learned a lot in the four days. So, if you have any burning questions about Bordeaux, its wines or the different Châteaux we visited, please feel free to post your questions below. I can’t promise to answer all of them, but if we were taught it on the trip, I’ll try to answer.