The Auswine Forum

Hi all,

A little advice please.

Never been to France, let alone the wineries, but am aware the tasting experience is quite different to that here.

We are writing to chateaus/domaines for appointments to visit and taste. How long do these visits usually take? Is it viable to visit two wineries in an afternoon?

So far, Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Bouchard are confirmed.

Knocked back from Rousseau, Meo Camuzet.

Awaiting to hear from others.

Any other suggestions for Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone???

Thanx in advance.

Monghead.

Chateau Lafon-Rochet is a good one in Bordeaux in terms of QPR though if you're playing with the big boys as you obviously are you'd be taking a step down. It's also near Cos d'Estournel which I'm sure you'd be aware of and may be on your list anyway.

Thank you Loztralia.

Wifey is sending out the emails, but I think Cos d'Estournel is on it.

Just confirmed M. Chapoutier as well.

Another question for all...

Do the French wineries sell their wines from winery?
If so, how do the prices compare to their bottle shops?

Cheers,

Monghead.

I haven't been to Bordeaux but I've done Burgundy a few times and the Rhone once. Chapoutier is a shop, basically. You choose things to taste at a counter and then buy what you like. Not very impressive ...

By the way, letters or faxes are sometimes better received than emails, and going through their importers a much better way of getting in than approaching direct (in Burgundy at least).

As for sales, pretty much everyone will sell if they have stock ... and of course places like Meo and Rousseau don't have stock! If you were a long-time local customer though, a bottle of Chambertin would probably set you back about 80 euros.

If you are roaming around Burgundy, Hudelot-Noellat in Vosne is your best bet for buying a few bottles, including back vintages. Bouchard also have a shop now and an enotec machine in their tasting room. Hopefully they have figured out how to use it now. My group was the first to try it, and they were all oxidised but the host thought they were fine They have also started charging for guided tours of the caves.

There are a few wine shops around Beaune. Just don't buy from a place called Magnum as everything appears cooked. Prices are pretty frightening at some others as well.

As for the timing of visits, in Burgundy I have done two in the morning and three in the afternoon. Hours for tastings are generally 8am-midday and 2pm to 6pm. Just be aware of travelling times if you are going from Meursault to Gevrey, for instance. And better to be more relaxed than too rushed. I would advise something like a 10am appointment, lunch, then a 2pm and a 4pm.

"How long do these visits usually take? Is it viable to visit two wineries in an afternoon?"

Most of the prestige properties like to include a tour of the premises which can take an hour or more. Often the 'tasting' component can be over in minutes as there may only be a coule of wines to taste.

Some of the larger, more commercial producers are more like an Austrlain experience with a larger range of wines - you could expect this at Chapoutier and Guigal....

Around Bordeaux, tasting a range of wines can be harder to find - the Co-Ops or local Wine Tourist offices are best bets - try the 'Maison des Bordeaux et Bordeaux Superiere' - maisondesbordeaux dot com - the 'average' wines of Bordeuax - but a very well set up education. tasting and retail centre at Beychac.

Also try the Pauillac Office de Tourism (main street Pauillac) - for a small fee you can sample some very good wines from Pauillac - pauillac-medoc dot com

Hope this helps - look forward to the TNs and pics.

Tony

Thank you for the advice thus far.

We are certainly after a "civilised pace"... 10, 2, and 4 sounds good. May even opt just for 10 and 2.

Also, thanks for the tip on where to source some nice bottles for the nights in...

Cheers,

Monghead.

monghead wrote:
Do the French wineries sell their wines from winery?
If so, how do the prices compare to their bottle shops?

Cheers,

Monghead.

Most French wineries sell wine retail ex-cellars at prices lower than at wine merchants; indeed it is their most profitable business as trade customers, especially supermarkets, demand a big discount to bolster their margins.

Big Bordeaux châteaux are an exception; most don't sell retail and the few which do tend not to charge competitive prices so as to avoid embarrassing their trade customers.

I notice that most wineries on your list are pretty big concerns which will lay on rehearsed tours, probably quite well done and in English where required. Bouchard and Chapoutier are négotiants with big ranges while Lafite, Latour and Margaux will only show two or three wines in any one vintage.

Personally I find visiting smaller artisan wineries much more fun and in the Southern Rhône I can recommend Oratoire Saint-Martin and Marcel Richaud, both at Cairanne, where the most expensive wine is unlikely to top by much some €20. I don't know, however, whether English is spoken.

Even if you don't speak and read French, it might be worthwhile getting one of the French annual guides to give you an overview of the best wineries. IMO the most user friendly is Les Meilleurs Vins de France 2009 published by La Revue de Vin de France http://www.amazon.fr/meilleurs-Vins-Fra ... 798&sr=1-1 . The 2010 edition should be available by September. There is a lot of factual information which does not need translation and you may be surprised by how much of the text you can decode; that is my experience with Italian and German guides, both languages which I have never learned.