Our winery visit was to a grand cru, Chateau Rochebelle. Today was Ascension Thursday and most of the premier cru St Emilion estates were closed. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality and value of this grand cru. A wonderful visit through their cellars  housed in former quarries was followed by a tasting of 3 of Rochebelle vintages: ’07′ ,’00 and ’95. Many of us bought wines here: who wouldn’t when you could buy  a 17 year old St. Emilion for under $50!

Then we followed with lunch at the Palais Cardinal: foie gras, filet mignon, crème brulée, accompanied by the ’97 Sarpe produced by the winery owned by the restauranteur. We had 2 hours to wander around this gorgeous town; 10 of us went to the Cave des Cordeliers, a producer of Crémant de Bordeaux. We had  their brut, rosé and semi-dry crémant- delightful sparkling wines made from semillon brought in from Entre-deux-Mers.

We ended our stay with a short trip to Fronsac and the stunning Chateau La Rivière, with over 12 miles of underground tunnels! We enjoyed a very nice rosé and their beautifully aged ’95 Fronsac made primarily from merlot. A wonderful day for wine lovers.

Chateau Rochebelle grand cru

Lunch at Lion d'Or Always Brings a Smile

lunch at The Lion d’Or, the restaurant frequented by  Bordeaux winemakers ; ending with 2 visits to classified growth estates: Chateau du Tertre and Chateau Dauzac. We remember the ’08 Margaux as being so easy to drink and the ’06 Tertre being a sumptuous delicious wine. Enjoy the photos- tomorrow is dedicated to St. Emilion; hopefully the weather will cooperate. Today was a sublime day!

Chateau Dauzac

Chateau du Tertre

Chateau Margaux tasting

Nadalié Cooperage Bordeaux

Hennessey, Cognac's largest producer

Christian Babinot, 5th generation owners of a 25000 bottle Cognac producer in the borderies area. This artisanal producer sells half his production to Martell and the rest from the distillery. This is typical for the many small producers; Christian’s friend nearby sells all his production to Hennessey.

What a contrast with our visit to Hennessey, Cognac’s largest producer: over 30 million bottles a year, and they only own vineyards for 2% of their production; the rest they buy from small producers. A polished visit with a video, and a spic and span facility including a short boat ride on the Charante River. Compare that with the cobwebs I had to brush off my hair on Bobinot.

And we had a wonderful lunch at the Moulin de la Baine, a restaurant housed in a former mill on the Charante. Everyone could choose their 4 courses from the menu and here’s what I had: an appetizer plate of smoked trout, foie gras, smoked duck, shrimp, sardines rillettes  and paté; followed by escargot casserole; then frogs’ legs; a cheese selection and nougat glacé for dessert, accompanied by two local still Charante wines. No dinner for me tonight!

Cognac is a 90 minute ride north of Bordeaux and worthy of a side visit if you ever get to Bordeaux.

Brandade: cod fish capuuccino

Hennessey, a huge Cognac producer

Bobinet, small Cognac producer

Nicolas de Bailliencourt of Chateau Gazin, a great Pomerol

Roz and I arrived in Bordeaux 2 days ago and it seems as if we did so much already. It has been much too long since our last visit: we have some great friends here and had dinner last night with Serge, who used to be our bus driver before he retired. In a way it makes me wish that I just did tours to Bordeaux so I would come back every year. This is such a beautiful city with a lot to offer besides wine, although it is the indisputable mecca for wine lovers.

Yesterday I went to the tasting of the Union of Grand Cru producers held in Hangar 14 along the Garonne River in downtown Bordeaux. It was like the Boston wine Expo, except only Bordeaux producers pouring two of their wines: the 2009 and an older vintage. There were many great estates there and I tried tasting (and spitting) as many as I could before I pooped out. Here’s what I learned:there are over 4000 estates in Bordeaux! It is probably the largest wine producing area in the world. Please enjoy these photos and I look forward to many updates during our stay so please check our blog regularly.

Olivier Casteja of Doisy-Védrines: One of the great Sauternes!

Eric Miailhe of Chateau Coufran, well-known cru bourgeois

Enjoying a great tasting and meal onsite on our 2009 Sicily Wine Tour

If you’re good at something, you make it appear easy to do. I marvel at electricians who work with live wires, or skaters who can twist several times in the air, or cheerleaders who can somersault, or pianists who can play Mozart…the list goes on and on. Experience and practice  make it look easy.

How easy is it to plan a wine tour?  Some people may think you could just get on the phone or send emails and in a matter of minutes, it’s done…as long as there isn’t a language problem. But try to plan tours of 5-9 days and allowing for a variety of visits with no logistical problems – that’s another matter, and let me assure you: it’s intense. This is hospitality people – and for wine lovers and passionate foodies at that – but it’s why Wine Lovers Tours exists and where it excels.

Image of the exterior of the Bordeaux wine estate Chateau Margaux. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the end of this blog, I’ve included my 3 freshly minted Bordeaux tours to take place this May. You can try to estimate how much time it took to craft these tours; suffice it to say that if I got paid by the hour, it would probably be about .25/hour.

What are the secrets:

1. Develop lots of contacts and leads. When attending wine fairs or trade shows, always anticipate future wine tours to develop contacts
2. Do your research. Keep lots of files with information about all of the areas you visited, or plan to visit
3. Learn from your past successes and mistakes
4. Subscribe to key journals & emails, such as the Tre Bicchieri Awards, or Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, to select the right wineries to visit;
5. Learn your geography well
6. Be prepared to work early in the morning if you have to make calls to Europe
7. Be prepared to work late at night to get all of your emails done
8. Check with as many hotels as possible to get the best rates
9. Most importantly, love what you do because that will get you through.
10. When you’re finished you can hopefully look at your completed chef d’oeuvre with a great sense of satisfaction
11. Better yet, let us do it all for you. With over 30 years in wine tour crafting, it’s not only our passion but our goal to make it one of your best experiences ever.

P.S.  - Be sure to check back on our blog or Facebook while we’re conducting our Bordeaux & Cognac tours for tour recaps and photos.

Vin Marottoli’s Wine Lovers Tours
Itinerary 2012 – Cognac – 2012

Sunday May 13

7:30pm   Meet in hotel lobby for welcome dinner

Monday May 14

10:00am  tour & tasting at an artisanal Cognac producer, Babinot

12:30pm  Lunch at Le Moulin de la Baine

3:30pm  Tour & tasting at Hennessy

balance of afternoon free to walk in Cognac

Tuesday May 15

Afternoon Bordeaux city tour with Bordeaux 101

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Vin Marottoli’s Wine Lovers Tours
Itinerary 2012 – Bordeaux 101

Tuesday May 15

12:00pm Rendez-vous at Bordeaux airport

City tour of Bordeaux. check-in hotel

7:30pm Meet in hotel lobby for dinner at Gabriel

Wednesday May 16

9:15am Tour of Tonnellerie Nadalié

11:00am Tour & tasting at Chateau Margaux

12:30pm Lunch at Le Lion d’Or, Arcins

3:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau du Tertre

5:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Dauzac

Thursday May 17

9:40am Train ride through the vineyards of St. Emilion

12:30pm Lunch in St Emilion at Palais du Cardinal

4:30pm Visit & tasting at Chateau de la Rivière

Friday May 18

9:00am Visit & tasting at Chateau Haut Bailly

11:00am Tour & tasting at Chateau Roquetaillade

12:30pm Lunch at Auberge Les Vignes Sauternes

3:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Raymond Lafon Sauternes

Saturday May 19

9:30am Visit & tasting at Chateau Marjosse Grezillac

11:00am Tour, tasting & lunch at Chateau Lavergne Dulong

3:00pm Visit Abbey of la Sauve Majeur

4:30pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Fontenille La Sauve

Sunday May 20

11:00am Boat ride & Oyster tasting in Arcachon

1:00pm Lunch at La Guérinière, Gujan-Mestras

Afternoon visit of Dunes of Pyla

The Great Dunes of Pyla, France, the tallest sand dune in Europe, being 107 m high at its crest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday May 21

10:00am Tour & tasting at Chateau Pitray

11:30pm Tasting at Clos Puy Arnaud Castillon

1:00pm Lunch at Le Belvedere Juillac

afternoon free in Bordeaux

Tuesday May 22

Depart for airport or for Bordeaux 201

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Vin Marottoli’s Wine Lovers Tours
Itinerary 2012 – Bordeaux 202

 Tuesday May 22

9:30am Tour & tasting Chateau Rauzan-Ségla

11:00am Tour, tasting & lunch at Chateau Lalagune

2:30pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Mongravey

Wednesday May 23

9:30am Visit & tasting at Chateau Branaire Ducru

11:00am Tour & tasting at Chateau Pichon Baron

12:30pm Lunch at Cordeillan Bages

3:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Haut Marbuzet

5:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Lynch Bages

Thursday May 24

9:30am Tour & tasting at Chateau Phelan Ségur

11:00am Tour and lunch at Chateau Loudenne

3:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau La Cardonne

5:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Vieux Robin

Friday May 25

9:30am Tour & tasting at Chateau Léoville Poyferré

11:00am Tour,  tasting & lunch at Chateau Lagrange

2:30pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Beychevelle

4:00pm Tour & tasting at Chateau Beaumont

Saturday May 26

9:30am Tour & tasting TBD

11:00am Tour, tasting & lunch at Chateau Maucaillou

3:00pm Tour & tasting TBD

Sunday May 27

Depart for Bordeaux airport

Tony May's new restaurant

decided to share what we tour planners do in the way of background knowledge. Since contacts are the most important part in crafting a tour, we have to constantly be on a quest to make new contacts. Yesterday was one such day- and a very productive one! I’d like to share it with you.

5:30Am- The alarm goes off and I get my tired bones to the shower, have a quick breakfast, check my email and dash to the train station to catch the 7:00am to Grand Central

9:30am-I attended the seminar “Master Class on Zinfandel” sponsored by the Society of

Doug Beckett of Peachy Canyon Winery

Wine Educators of which I am a member. The panel had 3 people, a Zin winemaker from Napa (Duane Dappen- D-cubed Cellars),one from Sonoma (Carol Shelton- Carol Shelton Wines) and one from Paso Robles (Doug Beckett- Peachy Canyon Winery) We were to taste 9 wines blind and try to decide which flights came from Paso Robles, Napa and Sonoma. Each winemaker talked a little about the styles of Zin from their respective areas and one piece of information was crucial- Napa Zins are more austere with more structure; Sonoma Zins are fruitier and Paso Robles Zins are the fruitiest of all. After 15 minutes of silent tasting, the identities were revealed and yours truly had correctly identified the 3 different flights. I was so proud of myself, because it doesn’t happen too often. Then we sat down for lunch. I made sure I sat next to Doug Beckett because our next tour to California will be to Paso Robles. By the way, the venue was Tony May’s new venture- SD26. He’s the owner of the Four Seasons and the former San Domenico. We had a very nice lunch of homemade fettucini with baby lamb ragu, beef cheeks braised in wine and chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream. All 9 wines were on the table and they were pretty much the same style with no big alcohol bombs. All went very well with the food.

1:30pm- I left SD26 across from Madison Square Park and went to 27th Street for a

Moore Building Vintus tasting

tasting of  the VINTUS portfolio. They import Guigal, Montelena, Tommasi, Telmo Rodriguez, Bruno Paillard Champagne, Sandrone Barolos, the list goes on and on- and the winemakers were at the event. I made some great contacts for future visits, including one missing piece for our Bordeaux tour next month.

2:45pm-And if all this was not enough, I was able to walk to W. 36th from E. 27th to take in the Spanish Wine Cellar Trade Show. Compared to the other two events, this one paled in comparison. But I did make one possible contact for our 2013 tour to Valencia.

4:07pm-Back on the train to return home after a tiring but productive day.

Gotham Hall Spanish wine venue

Brasil: a wine destination of the future!

Well, after another wonderful wine tour to Portugal in October 2011, I am happily back in Lisbon again for 3 days. My wife calls me ‘Crazy Vin;’ my brother-in-law’s name is ‘Capt. Chaos.’ But there is a method to my madness.

First I was invited to attend the BTL, international travel show, held each year in Lisbon. Second, the Portuguese Tourist Board paid for me to come here (remember, I’m Marchegian.) Third, I want to make contacts for a possible wine tour to Brasil and many, many of the booths here are from Brasil, including the wine area in Southern Brasil. I’ll try to post another update but I’ve had Brasil on the radar screen ever since I attended a tasting of Brasilian wines in NYC. They are very good and they are owned mostly by Italian immigrants.

The show by the way is huge: 4 halls each as large as the Boston Wine Expo venue at the World Trade Center. Many grandiose booths with many pouring Champagne and Portuguese sparkling wines freely with all kinds of delicious nibbles. It was tough work but someone had to do it.

So it has been very productive; and remember Brasil is a wine destination to watch, and you heard it first right here.

Enjoy these photos from the BTL Portugal.

Making a Champagne mojito

Making a Champagne cocktail

a new wine friend

Brasil: a future Wine Lovers destination

Vin Meets Charlie in Miami Beach

When I was at the ‘Wines of Northern Italy’ tasting held a few weeks ago at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fl, I attended a panel of winemakers chaired by Charlie Arturaola. I had never heard of him before but in the weeks that followed I learned quite a bit.

Charlie as it turns out is the star of El Camino del Vino, a film by Nicolas Carreras released in 2010 and also starring Michel Rolland. It’s the story of a famous sommelier who suffers from a rare disease, loses his palate and how it gets it back. It takes place in Mendoza and by no coincidence Charlie is one of the founders of the Masters of Food and Wine held each year in March at the Hyatt Mendoza. There are guest appearances of Michel Rolland and Donato DeSantis, Argentina’s outstanding chef.

And thanks to a contact of my son, aka Miami Vin, I was able to meet Charlie and his wife Pandora (also in the film) at their home in Miami Beach. Charlie is a fascinating person with a multidimensional background in the food and wine industry. He is currently on a cruise ship conducting wine seminars and in April will be in Verona and Vinitaly.

So I got up to speed pretty fast on Charlie and I encourage you to try to see the movie.

The Great Wines of Italy Seminar at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables (Miami)

Plonk is the word that comes to mind when you think pinot grigio. The early pinot grigios were the banal mass produced wines and the memory lingers. But today I had the chance to attend a seminar a the Biltmore Hotel in Miami called “Great Whites of Italy” and I saw pinot grigio in a completely different perspective.

The tasting was another in the series of Simply Italian Great Wines sponsored by the Italian government and organized by IEEM. Among the 10 white wines we tasted were 4 pinot grigios and one pinot grigio blend- and they were outstanding. They

Tasting in the Biltmore ballroom

showed a depth of texture and acid backbone normally associated with superbly made white wines. In addition to these wines, we also tasted some other new wave Italian whites, all of which deserve to be found in your local market.

The easiest to find will be the ones with decent production, such as the San Angelo Pinot Grigio Toscana IGT 2010 by Castello Banfi; the Contessa Manci Trentino DOC 2010 by Concilio or my favorite the Pitars “Braida Santa Cecilia” Friuli Grave DOC 2010 which at $15 retail makes it a wonderful find for a truly outstanding wine with an explosion of fruit.

There were also some outstanding wines made with the Friulano grape, formerly called Tocai. My favorite was Tai di Castelcosa IGT Delle Venezie 2007 by Furlan but at an annual production of 3000 bottles it will be difficult to find.

The Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables/Miami

Image of Château Picque Caillou via Snooth

We’ve read and heard a lot recently about the 1% of the population that is super wealthy and then there’s the other 99% (to which I belong.)

Image via Wikipedia

And if you’re a lover of Bordeaux wines, then you know how astronomically expensive they’ve become. This is directly attributed to increased demand, mostly from the Chinese market.

But here’s a very encouraging fact for depressed lovers of Bordeaux: there are 7,700 estates in Bordeaux but only 164 (2%) are classified. Let’s count them together: 61 classified Médoc; 26 Sauternes; 61 in St. Emilion and 16 Graves. And of these, only 40 to 50 have fetched the 300% price increases.

Guess what? There are great values among the remaining 95%. The task is to find them. But how does the average wine lover sort through over 7,000 wineries? It’s easy: find someone like Jean Christophe Calvet.

I just returned from the Boston Wine Expo which I faithfully attend every year. I fortunately signed up for the Bordeaux seminar conducted by Jean Christophe and his American born wife Margaret.

They are the owners of the Aquitaine Wine Company which specializes in “discovery” wines and up and coming wineries in Bordeaux. At the seminar they presented 14 wines of the 2009 vintage from their portfolio, ranging in price (Massachusetts minimum) from $12 to $45. In a word, they were outstanding and delicious. I list them here because I think they are worth your quest and you deserve a decent wine from Bordeaux!

I also plan to consult Jean Christophe for visits during our upcoming Bordeaux 101 tour this May.

• Chateau Doyac  AOC Haut Médoc Cru Bourgeois $25  ***
• Petit Manou AOC Médoc $25
• Larose de Gruaud AOC St Julien $30 (2nd label of Gruaud Larose)
• Chateau Mongravey AOC Margaux Cru Bourgeois $35
• Chateau Deyrem Valentin AOC Margaux Cru Bourgeois $20
• Chateau Fonbadet AOC Pauillac Cru Bourgeois $45   ***
• Chateau Bel Air AOC Sainte Croix du Mont $12
• Chateau Mylord Cuvée Milady AOC Bordeaux Rouge $12
• Costes du Chateau Feret Lambert AOC Bordeaux Supérieur $12
• Chateau Tire Pé La Cote AOC Bordeaux Supérieur $20
• Chateau Haut Colombier AOC Cotes de Bordeaux- Blaye $15
• Chateau Prieuré Canteloup AOC Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux $15
• Chateau Saint André Corbin AOC St. Georges St Emilion $17
• Chateau Picque Caillou AOC Pessac Léognan $35   ***

 *** my favorites!

Image of Château Fonbadet via Snooth