a bottle of red, a bottle of white (St Emilion - Chatelet)

sorry, there is no bottle of white. Well there could be, but white wine production here is insignificant and the quality is variable. In fact, in St Emilion, if you produce a white wine, you aren't permitted to name it with the St Emilion appellation. It gets labelled as a 'Bordeaux' white. However, the unwooded reds are so light and drinkable I don't think I'd ever be concerned about drinking white wine again.

Today is Friday according to iCal. We decided to have a rest day at home. We had a relatively late night last night with Carmel and Allan, the Australians on the last throws of their 12 month tour of Europe. It was close to midnight before we went to bed (well, that's late for us). So, we slept in, had a late breakfast, skyped home and basically relaxed.

I did some net research on the wineries because I was determined to send some wine home. I had thoughts of it for wineclub, before I discovered what it costs to freight a case back to Oz. Anyway, I found a winery that would send wine home and we set out for there. Sorry, there are no pictures, I forgot to take the camera. Just imagine vines and rendered houses and underground limestone wine cellars. I know, I missed a once-in-a-lifetime shot. The winemaker, Patrick, opened his cellar for us to wander around in. It was a limestone passage under the house that went for kms, filled with vintage Bordeaux reds. *sigh* The cellar is actually part of the catacombs that the Romans built. Impressive.

File footage of Bordeaux vines.

Patrick was lovely. He had a little English and Jayne has a little French. You know the rest. We managed to communicate well enough and he is a man with a passion for what he does. It matched my passion for his product.

And the wine you ask? Well, it was a significant departure from the €5 stuff we've been picking up at the supermarket. Unlike Australia, the winemakers over here specialise. Bordeaux makes reds, generally merlot/cabernet blends. There is no attempt to make the whole range and be everything to everyone. Another lesson we could learn form the French. I just love this country.

So, we tasted the Grand Cru from Chateau Chatelet from the 2005 vintage through to 2009. What a difference a year in new French oak makes. Yum. Every wine was delicious and at around €40 it would want to be. OK, we bought some. The pick, from my point of view, was the 2007. Thankfully Patrick agreed and so did some wine magazine that he produced. 17.5/20. Not bad.

My new babies.

Now the big question ... can you ship to Australia? Mais, oui. One case? Just €190! OMG! They don't do sea freight from France, everything flies. A once in a lifetime chance was hanging in the balance. Then I noticed how cheap the 2011 vintage was @ just €27 a bottle and when you add the freight it was about the same as the other vintages. Chance? Coincidence? I think not. Clever marketing move? Absolutment! He had me at hello. The taste of the wine straight from the vat sealed the deal. I hadn't been offered that in Australia for 20 years or so. Sometime in September 2013 a dozen of St Emilion's finest will arrive in Woodbine. Don't put the date in your diary dear reader, a cork will not be pulled until 2016 at the earliest. Nothing like having a plan.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, Patrick produced a bottle of 2007 as a present! Nice touch and it will go beautifully with the pasta I'm cooking for dinner tonight.

Random garden photo to break up the text.

Tomorrow we head to Alaigne, near Carcasonne. We are travelling via Condom as I'm curious to see what it is famous for ... So, tomorrow we'll be driving for around 5 hours so there may not be blog entry till Sunday. For those of you suffering withdrawal symptoms, you could read the blog entitled "aimez-moi, aimez mon chien" it has proven to be the least popular to date with only 5 hits.

au revoir pour l'instant

ps. did you notice that I finally justified the text?