Led by Annette Schiller, the Bordeaux Tour 2015 by ombiasy WineTours took place from September 15 to 24, 2015. The group comprised 8 wine lovers from the United States, including Annette and Christian Schiller. I already provided an overview of the tour. See the list of postings at the end of the article. This posting focuses on our first event: Visit and Tasting at Millésima.
See: Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Following a welcome coffee and introduction to the Bordeaux wine region at Hotel La Tour Intendance in the afternoon of September 15, 2015, we took a short bus ride to our first event: Tour and Tasting at Millésima in Bordeaux City. At the storage facility of Millésima at the outskirts of Bordeaux City, where over two million bottles of top Bordeaux wines are stored and waiting to be shipped, we were introduced to the system how the top producers of premium Bordeaux wines sell their wine to their customers all over the world and had our first tasting, a wine and cheese pairing.
Manuela Picot was our host.
Place de Bordeaux and En Primeur
The way the top producers of Bordeaux sell their wines to their customers all around the world differs strikingly from the way their colleagues in other countries or even in Bordeaux do.
Wine maker Doug Fabbioli from Fabbioli Cellars in Virginia, for example, sells the wine he produces during the course of the year to the consumers who show up at his winery and by the wine directly from him. Wine maker Ernst Loosen from Dr. Loosen in the Mosel Valley in Germany, whose wines are available all over the world, works, I assume, with wholesalers in Germany as well as with importers from all over the world, who buy the wine from him during the course of the year. The wines of both Doug Fabbioli and Ernst Loosen are sold after the wines have been bottled and are ready to be consumed.
The way the system works for the premium Bordeaux wines is different. And it is unique in the world. The wines are sold well before they are bottled (en primeur system) and the wines are sold and distributed to the world through negociants (Place de Bordeaux).
Buying Bordeaux wines en primeur is like buying commodity futures, with cash laid down now for later delivery of something that does not yet exist as a finished product. The futures reach the consumer through a series of phases.
Today, there are 400 négociants on the Place de Bordeaux, and most labels are purchased by an average of 40. Each chateau works with a different number of negociants. Some properties work with 5 different negociants, others work with over 100.
I provided an overview of the system here: Bordeaux - En Primeur, Negociants, Courtiers, the Quai de Chartons and the Place de Bordeaux– A Short Introduction. Go there for more information.
Wine and Cheese Tasting
The stroll through the vast storage rooms felt like being a kid in a candy store. The visit ended with a wine and cheese tasting in the storage rooms.
Chateau Olivier 2012 Graves Pessac Leognan, Grand Cru Classe, paired with Chevre
Fugue de Nenin 2004, Pomerol, paired with Gouda
Chateau La Fleur Peyrabon 2004 Pauillac Cru Bourgeois, paired with Sheep Cheese
Chateau de Liot 1997 Sauternes, paired with Roquefort
Postings on the Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France (Posted and Forthcoming)
4 Wine Tours by ombiasy coming up in 2015: Germany-East, Germany-South. Germany-Nord and Bordeaux
Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Bourgogne Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Bordeaux Wine Tour 2013 by ombiasy
Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Bordeaux Wines and their Classifications: The Basics
Bordeaux - En Primeur, Negociants, Courtiers, the Quai de Chartons and the Place de Bordeaux– A Short Introduction
How Does the Negociant System in Bordeaux Work? Tour and Tasting at Millésima - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Tour, Tasting and Wine Dinner at Domaine de Chevalier, Graves,with Director Adjoint Rémi Edange
Saint Emilion Wines and their Classification, Bordeaux, France
Tour and Tasting at Château Angélus, Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé A.
Tour and Wine Lunch at Château Beauséjour, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, with Owner and Winemaker Gérard Dupuy
Tour and Tasting at Château Tertre-Rôteboeuf, Saint-Emilion, with Owner and Winemaker François Mitjavile
Tour and tasting at Château de Figeac, Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé.
Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars in Saint-Emilion
Tour and Wine Lunch at Château Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol, with Dany Rolland
The Wine Empire of the von Neipperg Family in France, Bulgaria and Germany
Tour and Wine Dinner at Château Canon La Gaffelière, Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château de Fargues, Sauternes, with Prince Eudes d’Orléans
Wine Lunch at Restaurant Château de la Tour in Cadillac and Tour at Château Du Cros, Loupiac, with Catherine Boyer, Proprietor of Château Du Cros
Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars in Bordeaux City
Schiller's Favorite Seafood Places in Bordeaux City
Tour and Tasting at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé.
Lunch at the 2 Michelin Starred Restaurant La Grande Vigne
Tour of the Earl Ostrea Chanca Oyster Farm and Oyster Tasting in Grand-Piquey, with Oyster Farmer Ralph Doerfler
What is a Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois? France
Tour and Wine Dinner at Château Le Reysse, Vignobles Paeffgen, Médoc, in Bégadan, with Stefan Paeffgen
Château Léoville-Poyferré, Chateau Le Crock, Didier Cuvelier in Bordeaux and the Cuvelier Los Andes Wines in Argentina
Tour and Tasting at Château Léoville Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2ième Grand Cru Classé, with Didier Cuvelier
Tour and Wine Lunch at Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron, Pauillac, 2ième Grand Cru Classé
The 5 Premiers Grands Crus Chateaux en 1855 of Bordeaux, France
Tour and Tasting at Château Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac, 1ière Grand Cru Classé.
How a Barrel is Made: Visit of the Cooperage Berger & Fils in Vertheuil
Lunch at Restaurant Le Peyrat in Saint-Estèphe with the Grape Pickers of Château Sociando Mallet
Tour and Tasting at Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Basile Tesseron
Tour and Tasting at Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, 2ième Grand Cru Classé
Tourt and tasting at Château Palmer, Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Wine Dinner at Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Diana Paulin