Kris takes a lot more pictures while we're travelling than I do; I chalk it up to the fact that I am often navigating and 'gets' to trail along. Make sure to check out his Insta to see more of what he finds interesting in our travels.
Our first tasting today was in the garage of Jean-Luc Thunevin. A bit of a bad boy in the Bordeaux wine scene, he kicked off the garagiste movement here which lead some to rethink how wines in this region should be made. Anyway, after picking our way on foot through the supposedly drive-able streets of the ancient city of Saint Emilion (Those who have been with me for awhile will remember that I learned my lesson on that front in Italy.) we end up on a quiet back street at a double door that looks like a garage. We're a bit early so we amble down the street for a croissant and un cafe. Amble back...Still no signs of life. Kris finally calls them and learns that we've some how ended up at a back door. We hear someone scrambling inside and sure enough, our hostess pops her head out and welcome us.
After a short explanation of the wine making process and many, many references to tech start-ups and Disney, and garages, she leads us through the back door we entered at (We never did learn where the 'front' door was!) and popped around the corner to one of their 6 (Or was it 8?) shops in tiny Saint Emilion. For reference, one of their other shops was literally across the ally.
We tasted 5 of their wines, which were quite nice. As this was early in the trip, and we have a tendency to buy heavy on the first day, we made Vivino notes on what we particularly liked and plans to come back depending on how the rest of the visits go.
We had a bit of a break until our appointment at the second chateaux, so we wandered around town for a bit until places started opening for lunch. We stopped at Le Bistro des Vignobles. The weather was perfect, so we sat outside in their courtyard. Everything was quite good, but Kris' dessert of Saint Emilion-Brest was the stand out. Sort of a cross between a macaron, a canele, and an ice cream sundae; it was a feast!
We headed back to the car and left for Chateau Franc Mayne. This was a true tour that took us into the caves that were formed with stone masons quarried limestone to build the town of Saint Emilion. Apparently one of the other tours offered here includes a light show 'experience' in the tunnels. All in all, I was very much reminded of Jarvis in Napa although the wines here are much more affordable. We met a couple from Boston who shared some of their favorite wineries around the world (Ironically, Jarvis was on their list) including some dubious geo-political commentary. This was a great opportunity to learn about the caves/tunnels in the area, but neither of us were particularly impressed with the wine.
Our last stop of the day was at Chateau Canon La Gauffelier. Some how, our wires got crossed when we made the appointment here, so we ended up being 20 minutes late when we thought we were 10 minutes early. :/ Although we started off on the wrong foot here, our hostess was more than gracious as she lead us into the vineyard and we started talking about the differences in soils and exposures across the Saint Emilion region. We were able to sample wines from 3 of the other wineries owned by the same family. Really tremendous wines here! We ended up taking 2 bottles of the Gauffelier with us and would have taken two of the La Mondotte as well, but I didn't think I could organize a short sale of the house in time.
Dinner tonight was back in the old town at Chai Pascal. A wine bar-restaurant we passed several times today. I had an aperitif today that I've never seen before: pineau. Sort of a fortified grape juice, it's very strong, but still sort of fresh in a way I can't explain. It paired perfectly with the assiette de charcuterie we started with.
I had a sort of shepherds' pie made with duck confit and Kris had duck breast in a sort of licorice sauce. Both were excellent! Kris finished off dinner with a rum babas, one of his favorites!
Tomorrow we head north west to Medoc for 4! Four tastings! Should be a busy day, but I'm excited!
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