Bordeaux, nothing to w(h)ine about!

"You have only so many bottles in your life, never drink a bad one" - Len Evans

Foodie moment

The salads, baguettes, free tapas with drinks (dips and toast) and home cooked pasta meals we have had since being in Bordeaux have all been tasty but probably don't qualify as a foody moments!

A couple if honourable mentions though... Croque Madame - Toasted cheese and ham sandwich (cheese inside and on top) with a fried egg - delicious snack

The thunderstorm which hit while Mark was making us dinner out the door of 'Na'vi'. Complete with rain, hail, lightning and thunder! Needless to say we did call it quits and settle for lukewarm pasta sauce!

Cultural moment

The French take their wine VERY seriously. It is something they all seem to know a bit about, and they drink a lot of it! Most will have wine at lunch, aperitif and dinner. They know what wine should be drunk with what foods to get the best taste. Having said that, they don't have the culture we seem to have in Australia - drink to get drunk - instead it just seems like a normal part of the meal that they enjoy but don't get too carried away with.

To prove how seriously they take their wine, we learnt the process of wine making in France today on our tour. For a wine to be labelled a Bordeaux wine, it needs to follow the strict guidelines of France, Bordeaux and its Appellation (region). These included rules such as needing to be a blend, no watering of the vines and controlled use of preservatives. After the wine is made, it has to be sent away to have a scientific analysis of it made, to ensure these rules were followed. Finally before being labelled as Bordeaux it would need to be part of a blind tasting to ensure it tasted good enough to bear the name!

Wow moment

The city of Bordeaux was another architectural beautiful city. The buildings were all made out of giant limestone blocks with black tiling on the roofs, and the way they all looked the same down the street looked great. It had a great youthful vibe, with lots of universities and young families, and had a fun and relaxed feel to it.

Within the town was the Cathedrale Saint-Andre church, an amazing massive Gothic structure. The pictures speak for themselves

What we learnt today

In France, the area/land that you have your vineyard on is the main contributor to how much your wine will be worth. French winemakers put all the importance in the soil, sunlight, drainage and humidity to the quality of the finished wine, the winemakers themselves seem to be somewhat irrelevant. They can choose the blends and create the best tasting wines they can, but they will never be considered in the top quality level unless their vineyard is the particular place that is recognised as 'Grande Cru'. Seems kind of unfair! You could never just decide to try your hand at wine making, as no matter how good your wine was, unless it is in the appropriate areas it will never be worth much.