Quick trip to Vinexpo or it's surroundings...

Due to the amount of work we have in the vineyards right now, and the fact that I'd have to go alone, I wasn't planning on going to Vinexpo in Bordeaux this year. I was extremely unhappy about it.  There was a reunion of  "vignerons blogeurs" that I wanted to go to, and some other really great tastings that I'd received invitations to, so I was pretty bummed that I couldn't go.  That all changed when our friends, Denis Gayte and Kirsten Johnson, told me that they were going to drive over and camp for two days to check it out. You may remember seeing Denis before on my blog. He has a winery here in the Côtes du Rhône too.  Bingo!  I'm going too!  I made some quick phone calls to Thierry Desseauve and Michel Bettane to make sure I could get in, then emailed Alice Feiring to see if she'd have the time to meet.   All was confirmed with amazing speed, so the decision was made.  We hopped in the car Sunday and made the 5+ hour trip to Bordeaux.   My goal was to make it there by 5:30 so that I could attend the blogger meeting, but it wasn't meant to be. Finding Vinexpo, parking etc.  we realized that there was no way we would have time to register and get in there before it was over.  Oh well.  We headed into Bordeaux to walk around the city.  It was a beautiful evening and the city was enchanting.  Of course, when you live like we do in the country, almost any city is enchanting, but Bordeaux is particularly beautiful.  We sat through an amazing rainstorm at the end of our meal. Luckily we had chosen a table outside yet well underneath an awning!  It rained very hard all the way back to our camp ground! We all thought our tents would be underwater and soaked through, but miraculously, the rain stopped about 5 km from the coast where we were sleeping. Phew!

The next morning after a walk on the beach, we headed in to our first tasting which was a little outside of Bordeaux.  Let me explain, Vinexpo is the largest trade show of it's kind in France, and maybe Europe, maybe the world, I don't know.  It takes place every other year in Bordeaux, and everyone in France goes.  It's very expensive to have a stand, so usually only the bigger or shall I say richer wineries go, or a bunch of small producers get together and share a place.  It would make no sense at all for a small winery like ours to participate in such a big event. Many other people feel the same way so there are the "off" tastings.  "Off"  like "off Broadway".  Groups of wineries will get together, rent a small Chateau and have a two day invitation only tasting.  They are lots of fun, in a much smaller venue, and there is a much more convivial atmosphere.  Our first one was called "Haut les Vins" or "Wines Up"... not a great name, but there were some great producers like Sylvain Fadat of Domaine d'Aupilhac,  Mathieu Baudry of Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon, Hélène Thibon of Mas de Libian,  Jean Paul Brun of les Terres Dorrées...etc, etc.  Luckily for us it was the first day and pretty calm in the morning.  There we met up with Alice Feiring, which was a real treat. Alice is one of my favortie bloggers and we have corresponded a bit over the past few months.   It was great to meet her in person.  The second cyber-friendship made real in the space of a couple of weeks.  We tasted a few wines with Alice, then she introduced us to Joe Dressner and his wife Denyse.  Another cyber acquaintance, Joe Dressner has a great blog and is the importer of many many wines that are mostly organic, biodynamic, natural.  You name it, Joe's the man importing them.

Then we were off to the "Grand Tasting" an event at the Novotel, just across from Vinexpo, sponsored by my friends and employers, Bettane&Desseauve.  What a great event!  1999 Corton Charlemagne in magnum from Bonneau de Martray, 2001 Jurançon Quintessence from Cauhapé, a bunch of Bordeaux; 96 Léoville Barton, 2001 Cos d'Estournel, 1999 Valandraud, on so on... Hervé Bizeul of Clos des Fées was there in person pouring the 2005, Jean-Claude Le Brun of Prieuré Saint Jean de Bébian was pouring their 2001.  Amazing wines all around.  I even got to meet Béatrice Boullier with whom I have been working on the guide for months, but have never gotten the chance to meet!  (that's her below with Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve.) It was a great afternoon, and a great day.  We ended with a quick tasting of Domaine Saladins wines, one of my new favorite Côtes du Rhône producers located in the Ardeche, which is about an hour north of where I live.  The Saladin sisters are great winemakers with a light touch. Their wines are pretty and elegant and not at all over done.  It was quite a day, and we decided to call it quits, without ever setting foot in the actual Vinexpo event.  Oh well, we had the chance to do exactly what we came to do, taste some good wines, and make some good contacts!

When we got back out to the coast it was a beautiful evening, and we were happy not to be attending one of the invitation only dinners.  There's only so much schmoozing one can do in a day, and we had had our fill!  We found a laid back surfer bar/resto, had a couple of beers and some moules-frites and went back to the camp ground.  Not quite ready to hit the sack, we decided to open some of the 2006 Denis Gayte Côtes-du-Rhône as well as some 2006 La Gramiere.  The only problem was we didn't have a cork screw or wine glasses!  We asked a neighboring camper if they could open our bottle and Denis fashioned some lovely glasses out of an empty water bottle! It was a great ending to our trip to Vinexpo....

Comments

[Iris]

I envied you, when I read the other day, that you had found a last minuite possibility to go to Bordeaux... I understand that you haven't met the bloguers community - nobody has written about it yet...

But as usual, you give such a lively description in wods and pictures of what you saw and whom you met - that its enough plesure to read - and especially the ingenious beach drink in the end was worth going there!

I think its a bit too far from Saint Quentin to Gap, where I will be for a slow food workshop on samedi the 30th of june - vins des femmes - vins de caractète with Lucie Peyraud du Domaine Tempier comme autre invitée! Othewise it would habe been nice to meet you...

[William Patton]

Thank you for this account of your visit to Vinexpo; work prevented me from going but I am glad you got the chance to go and share your trip with us.