Photos

Trowbridge 13
Devon 10
Piedmont 09
Devon 09
Bordeaux 08
Oporto and Douro 07
Yorkshire 07
Bath 06
Montalcino 05
Bordeaux 04
Bath 04
Bath 02
Lake District
Tawstock 01
Mosel 01
Mosel p2
Champagne 00
Champagne p2
Ide

All photos

Bordeaux Trip - Sept 2004

Photos by Roger.
Note: The pictures are scaled down for web viewing, if you want copies of the high-res originals for printing, just email me.

The 'plane was delayed for 2 and a half hours

Delayed Ed

The parade of the Jurade, ambassadors for Saint-Emilion wines

Jurade parade

In September, the vintage banns are proclaimed

Ban des Vendanges

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Saint-Emilion

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The square

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Streets

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TitleGoesHere

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G in St.E

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Me in St.E

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Square again

Roses are often planted at the ends of each row as an indicator of the health of the vines.  Any lack of nutrients or disease will show up first on the roses.

Petrus Vines

We found Petrus, but the name is nowhere to be found on the buildings... are they trying to hide?

Ch.Petrus?

in the middle of our field.

Our Gite

Very refreshing in the morning (i.e. bloody freezing!!)

The pool

Nice house, but it's empty, no-one lives there, seems a shame.

Chateau D'YQuem

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The waiting room

Priced as if it were the very best, which if course it is.

Mmmmmm...

It turns out these are actually sugar water, coloured to match the actual vintage, the wines are too precious to leave on display.

Nice Collection

I used the timer function to get all of us, but where was Mark?

Most of the gang

As YQuem is the highest point in Sauternes, you get a good view.

The View from D'YQuem

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Botrytis cinerea!

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Tasting Leoville-Las Cases

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Outside Las Cases

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Ed and tanks

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More steel tanks

Smell the oak on that...

Cellars at Larose-T

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Tasting La Tourette

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Larose Trintaudon

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Bordeaux

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Bordeaux

Whilst we were waiting for the gates of Latour to open, I took a quick snap of Chateau Pichon-Longueville-Baron, a lovely looking chateau, but not a great picture though...

Ch.Pichon-Baron


Latour

You can see the river in the background passing behind the Latour vineyards

View from the sorting table

No expense is spared here, even the tanks are better than all others we've seen.  Will this investment and care pass on to the wine?

Best tanks...

Everything corner of the Latour chai oozes quality

Quality and precision

We tasted 5 wines at Latour, the 2 Grand Vins were magnificent, and in my opinion, way beyond comparison with anything else we tasted.

Heaven!!!

From the size of grape and the shape of the leaves, I think these vines must be Merlot

Grapes of Latour

The tower that is 'Latour'...

The Tower

An interesting contrast to Latour, Ch.Margaux feels steeped in history, but gives less impression of precision and investment.

Cellars at Margaux

They have an in-house cooper at Ch.Margaux.  (I think this photo came out rather well)

Coopers area

The Margaux we tried was lovely, but I much preferred the Latours...

Chateau Margaux

Quentin and Mark stand guard at Cos

Cos D'Estournel

The cellars

Cos Cellars

Another wonderful tasting, the second wine is excellent, and interestingly is quite similar to the first, and thus seems a great bargain...

Drinking Cos

...so we buy a few bottles.  Hmm, for some reason the 'after-tasting photos' all seem a bit blurry...

Buying Cos

At La Tour Blanche, we get an especially detailed, and most excellent tour.

Examining the grapes

And their wines are pretty good too! In a separate tasting at the Maison du Sauternes, the La Tour Blanche wins hands down. 1 bottle of D'Yquem, or 5 La Tour Blanche, you decide...

Tasting La Tour Blanche

Here are some of the wines we drank whilst there, in no particular order.  Some were had during the two gite-tastings, others were just drinking wine. They range from €5 supermarche bargains to Ch.Lafite.

Wines

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Wines

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Wines

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Wines

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Wines

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Wines

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Wines

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Wines