The 2009 Bordeaux Wine Tours getting cheaper every day

Our 2009 Wine Tours are getting cheaper and cheaper. Due to the stronger dollar our tours have become almost 20% cheaper. Our tours are priced in Euro at € 3595.
In dollars this now is just USD 4601 per person.
Understandably many of you are planning far ahead. If you are thinking about touring Bordeaux with us next summer, this might be a good time to book. One tour is already sold out. So if you have a preference for specific dates in 2009 I invite you to contact us today for a detailed itinerary and more information!We proudly present the following Tours and dates for 2009:

§         The Grand Tour of Bordeaux 2009
(May 25 - May 30, 2009 and
July 6 - July 11, 2009 and (sold out!)
August 31 - September 5, 2009

§         The Bordeaux Harvest Tour 2009
(September 21– September 26, 2009)

Your Tour host and Bordeaux Wine Expert and Wine Writer:
Ronald Rens, M. Sc., Wine Master

People that join our tours are both wine and food lovers and usually this is their first trip to the Bordeaux region. We have tastings at First Growths like Mouton, Yquem, Margaux and Haut Brion; Second Growths like Pichon Baron, Léoville Baron and Léoville Las Cazes and many many more.
When you tour with The Bordeaux Wine Experience, you taste more Classified Growths than on any other Bordeaux wine tour!

But there is more than “just” the wine!
Meet Chateau owners and Wine Makers! We are invited into chateaux, see art collections and visit unique and private gardens.
We indulge in meals at restaurants varying from typical local cuisine to Michelin-rated tables. And of course live the very special experience of eating in private dining rooms of some wonderful Bordeaux Chateaux.
So you see, it’s not just a wine tour but a real Bordeaux Wine Experience!

Remember we want to keep things personal. That’s why we only organize tours for small groups and tailor made trips. A small group from our perspective is a maximum of ten people. That’s just you and four other couples! These Tours are 6 days, 5 nights. All our tours will start as of one couple.
I invite you to contact us today for a detailed itinerary and more information!

You can subscribe to this Bordeaux Wine Newsletter here:  To see an online version of the latest edition, please click here

The The 2008 vintage, the harvest completed

The weather in 2008 has by no means been like 2005. Like Madame Borde from the Couvent de Jacobins said: “Il faut pas rêver” (sweet dreams). But this doesn’t mean that we cant ‘t produce a good wine.
I spoke to Nicolas de Bailliencourt of Chateau Gazin in Pomerol this morning and he was quite optimistic about the quality. Let’s start with the bad news: the yields will be low. For Gazin it will be around 27-30 hl/ha (hectoliters per hectare). A normal yield would be 40 to 45 ha/ha.

The summer was much better than in 2007 but still not very good. The vines of Gazin are on the plateau of Pomerol, the best terroirs (their neighbor is Petrus!).
In 25 years the chateaux have never harvested this late. They waited longer than usual in order to take advantage of the good after season we’ve had.

In August Bailliencourt was very worried but the vintage is turning out to be a pleasant surprise in Pomerol, in his opinion. Maybe even a very pleasant surprise. The Chateau is convinced that the quality will be better than the 2004. “On the plateau in Pomerol this vintage will be somewhere between 2005 and 2006″.
Even if our Pomerols are very good we have to wait for the wines from the Medoc as they will create the image of the vintage; we are too small for that, he concludes with a bittersweet hint of irony in his voice.

I will be following the vintage 2008 for you. To be continued…

You can subscribe to our Bordeaux Wine Newsletter here:  

To see an online version of the latest edition, please click here

More than a Wine Experience (by Margaret Rens)

The Chapon Fin is Bordeaux’s oldest Michelin starred restaurant and is by many considered Bordeaux’s to be best restaurant. This restaurant was founded in 1825 and was among the 33 establishments featured in the original Michelin guide.
The name always puzzles Ronald. A “Chapon” is technically a rooster deprived of the pleasure his manliness could have brought him… Anyhow, in the beginning of the 20th century the restaurant was a well appreciated stop for travelers en route to their holiday resorts on the Basque coast.
The restaurant, in its long history, always attracted a sophisticated gourmet clientele. Famous clients were painter Toulouse Lautrec and the French theatre legend the actress Sarah Bernhardt
The Chapon Fin had a renaissance in 2003, with the arrival of Nicolas Frion, star pupil of Boyer and Bocuse. Nicolas Frion’s cooking is innovative and refined and has its origins in the terroir of the South West.

What I find inspiring is the way Nicolas is adapting traditional recipes with great creativity. In the cooking class I took with Nicolas, I saw that he chooses the best fish from the estuary and the best organic vegetables on the market. His inspiration comes from classical techniques but he is not afraid to try out subtle and original combinations.
A food experience at The Chapon fin is in our tours for 2009. Join us now and take advantage of the low euro rate.

You can subscribe to our Bordeaux Wine Newsletter here:  

To see an online version of the latest edition, please click here