Chateau Kirwan 22nd July 2008

We visited Chateau Kirwan in Cantenac on a very hot day last week. The chateau is easy to get to, hop on the 705 bus at Ravezies and 45 minutes later get off at Cantenac Bourg. There is a very visible sign pointing to the left and 5 minutes walk away is Kirwan.



We were shown around by a very competent bilingual Cindy Aubier, a bilingual tourism student who had spent some time in Philadelphia in the USA.



Chateau Kirwan produces two wines, the grand vin which contains a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon for ageing which is recommended to be kept for at least ten years by which time it has transformed, and the second wine Les Charmes which is usually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc though in 2002 40-45% Cabernet Sauvignon was used.



In the barrel ageing room, a lot of the barrels were covered with wine due to carbonic pressure but this will be fixed next year when the chateau switches to using glass bungs.



We tasted two wines, the 2002 Les Charmes and then the 2003 grand vin. The 2002 Les Charmes was very drinkable and the 2003 still had some oak to meld and tannins to integrate but it could also be drunk now.

Website : Chateau Kirwan

Chateau Lynch-Bages Visit 2007

This August I was in Bordeaux for week and visited Chateau Lynch-Bages. Getting there was very easy. Take the Bus 705 from Bordeaux and the stop is called Bages. The journey is quite long but once you get outside the city suburbs, the scenery is great if you are a wine lover.


The tour cost 5 Euro per person. We didn't get to go out in the vineyards but we got to taste the 2001 vintages of Lynch-Bages and their second wine, Haut-Bages Averous. This wine is named because the chateau once belonged to the family Averous. The grand vin was superb but I thought the second wine lacked concentration. The guide said it was vinified identically to the grand vin but the vines were much younger which would explain the lack of concentration. A white wine is also produced but this wasn't available for tasting due to the limited production.



The old winery still exists and has been extended for the modern facilities.




There was a modern art exhibition containing paintings by artist Guenther Foerg but it wasn't my cup of tea and I didn't feel the paintings fitted into the setting.



Once the tour had finished, we went to, the nearby, Cafe-Restaurant Lavinal which was very good but the patisserie was unfortunately closed.



There was a wine shop where one could purchase wines produced by the Cazes family all over the world but I felt the prices were higher than one could find in Bordeaux. There was also a selection of books for sale but these can be purchased much cheaper using Amazon for instance.



Website : Chateau Lynch-Bages

Chateau Pape Clement Visit 2007

On August 9th 2007, I visited Chateau Pape Clement in Pessac on the outskirts of Bordeaux.


It was very easy to get to, either bus from Bordeaux or tram from Bordeaux and then bus. The bus stop is right outside the chateau and is called Pont L'Orient. The journey takes about 30 minutes altogether.


We were greeted by a friendly tour guide who turned out to be very knowledgeable. Our tour lasted about 45 minutes in total and cost us nothing.


First we walked into the vines where we had a short talk about the viticultural philosophy. The vines are green harvested but only on one side so the grapes are subjected to the morning sun but are not sunburnt in the afternoon. The grapes were going through veraison so half of each bunch was black whilst the other half was still green. The fermentation hall was not viewable as all the steel tanks were being replaced by oak vats (a la Robert Mondavi Winery).


We saw both the red and white maturation rooms. The rooms are kept at nearly 100% humidity and no topping up of the barrels is performed as no wine evaporates. Next we toured the basement of the house which contains a replica of the tomb of the ex-pope but I thought it was a bit out of place and the choral music (from a boom box) didn't help.


Lastly, the tour guide took us to the wine boutique for a tasting. Unfortunately, we couldn't taste the grand vin but it was possible to taste a wide variety of Bernard Magrez wines from around the world as well as Gerard Depardieu wines as a lot of the times their properties are adjacent.


If I lived in Bordeaux, I would be making regular trips to this wine outlet. I believe Bernard Magrez also has an outlet in Paris. The chateau came into ownership of Bernard Magrez as his wife inherited the property.



More details about the history of the chateau etc. can be found on the website.

Website : Chateau Pape Clement

Chateau Pichon-Lalande Visit 2006

During August 2006, I visited Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande for a tour. The tour itself was private i.e. nobody else but us and personal guide. We went by public transport which was pretty easy; direct bus from Bordeaux to Saint Lambert and then a two minute walk. Thus we could taste a lot without fear of being caught drunk-driving. We had a tour around the winemaking facilities, barrel aging facility and glass museum. The glass museum is filled with wonderful pieces that May Eliane de Lencquesaing received during her travels around the world promoting her wine. In addition, I bought a golfing cap and a copy of the book "Magic of Wine" by May Lencquesaing. The wines we tasted were Chateau Bernadotte, the other winery that May Lencquesaing owns, and the grand vin.


Website : Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Website : Chateau Bernadotte

Chateau Mouton Rothschild visit 2006

I visited Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac, Bordeaux in August 2006. The tour started with a film describing a short history of the chateau. This lasted for about 15 minutes its seemed. We walked through the barrel storage room then the underground cellars where the barrels are eventually moved to. There we saw the Baroness's private cellar. The chateau puts three bottles of each vintage into storage in the cellar; the bottles are never touched so it is basically a museum. I paid 23 Euros for a tasting of barrel samples of 2005 Chateau d'Armailhac, Chateau Clerc Milon and the grands vin Chateau Mouton Rothschild. I took public transport to the chateau from Bordeaux due to the increase in police breathalysing people. It was pretty simple - a direct bus from Bordeaux which stops about a 5 minute walk from the tasting room. There are some small groups of vines around the chai so it's possible to examine what each variety looks like. I purchased a poster with all the labels on it along with a copy of the book "Mouton Rothschild L'Art et L'Etiquette paintings up to 1995". The book contains some extra loose leaf pages for future labels later than 1995. It was produced for the art exhibition in Waddesdon manor in Buckinghamshire, UK held from 31st march until 16 October 1995. The book contains a picture and description of each painting used for the labels and tasting notes for each vintage of the grands vin up to 1993. I also browsed around the superb wine museum which contained artifacts related to wine.