Saint Emilion III

Saint Emilion is one of four main wine regions of Bordeaux. What makes it so special is the special microclimate and unique soil conditions that are just right for making this wine. Small chateaux and vineyards surround the town and vines grow everywhere.

The first place that we visited and toured was Chateau Fonplegade, a beautiful chateau on a hill just outside of town. After the informative guided tour we learned a great deal about wine tasting, in the “salon de degustation.” There is the visual examination, first nose, then the swirling (to reveal the bouquet), then the second nose, then the sipping/slurping, the sitting in the mouth (until it gets to body temperature and saturates your tastebuds), then the aspiration (sucking in air while keeping the wine in your mouth), the swirling, and finally the spitting. All of this is carefully choreographed to get all the smells into your nose and mouth to experience the utmost taste… the result of a many-years process of planting, harvesting, fermentation, pressing, aging in oak barrels, bottling, etc…. It was interesting to learn about all the time and care that goes into one simple bottle of wine.

Later we dropped in on another wine producer, who was in the midst of working but took some time with us to tell us about his wine, the region’s best years, what makes the soil special, and the whole process… He was very friendly, and very passionate about his work. This was all in the time of vendange, peak-harvest! We saw tractors pulling trailers loaded down with grapes going down the road… It was neat to think of where the final product would end up… all over the world!

We visited Chateau Bel-Air on another day. That was probably the most interesting guided tour (though all had their own unique flavor). We got to see and explore the underground caves and catacombs. That’s another thing that makes this region special.. All around Saint Emilion, kilometers of underground caverns and catacombs naturally hold a perfect temperature for storing wine!