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| 1 of 46 | © 2002 Aaron Brown |
Bordeaux
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We spent Thursday in Bordeaux. Bordeaux had a completely different
character compared to the other wine regions we visited. First, the
terroir. Bordeaux is a lot more like Napa--hot, sunny, arid, and
very flat (note that there's no irrigation, however--that would be
blasphemous). But the biggest difference was in attitude. Bordeaux was
much more commercial, pretentious, and at times cold. This attitude
starts with the wines themselves--they're classified into
grand cru, deuxieme cru, and so on, down to cru bourgeois.
These are labels applied during the 19th century based on a
classification of land and technique, and although they significantly
alter the price of a bottle of wine, they may not be completely
indicative of quality anymore. Indeed, we tasted a cru bourgeois that
could easily stand alongside at least a deuxieme cru, and perhaps even
a grand, but that doesn't get the special label because the winery
only started producing quality wine in this century.
In Bordeaux, you also need an appointment to visit, tour, or taste at any of the big places; again, very different from the more inviting spirit of the Rhone. But despite all of this, we still managed to have a great time in Bordeaux, seeing some beautiful chateaux and ending up with one of the most intimate tour/tasting experiences on the trip. |
Thu Apr 25 2002 12:37:28 PM
Technical data: Canon EOS D30, EF28-135/3.5-5.6IS at 56mm (89mm equiv), 1/160 sec. at f/11, ISO 100, +0 EV