Led by Annette Schiller, the Bordeaux Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours took place from September 6 to 15, 2016. The group comprised 14 wine lovers from the United States and Switzerland, 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 Wine Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Following a welcome coffee and introduction to the Bordeaux wine region at Hotel La Tour Intendance in the afternoon of September 6, 2016, 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.
Pictures: At Millésima in Bordeaux City
Wine and Cheese Tasting
Following the tour through the vast storage rooms we sat down for a wine tasting paired with cheese. We tasted 4 entirely different wines: white, red right bank, red left bank and sweet.
Fugue de Nenin 2004, Pomerol, paired with Gouda
Fleur Peyrabon 2006 Pauillac Cru Bourgeois, paired with Sheep Cheese
Chateau Olivier 2012 Graves Pessac Leognan, Grand Cru Classe, paired with Chevre
Chateau de Liot 1997 Sauternes, paired with Roquefort
Postings on the Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France (Posted and Forthcoming)
Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Bordeaux Wine Tour 2013 by ombiasy
Bordeaux Wines and their Classifications: The Basics
Bordeaux - En Primeur, Negociants, Courtiers, the Quai de Chartons and the Place de Bordeaux– A Short Introduction
Tour and Tasting at Millésima (Wine Merchant) in Bordeaux City
Tour and Tasting at Domaine de Chevalier, Graves
Dinner with a View: At Restaurant L’Estacade in Bordeaux City
Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars in Bordeaux City, France
Schiller's Favorite Seafood Places in Bordeaux City, France
Saint Emilion Wines and their Classification, Bordeaux, France
Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in St. Emilion, France
The Wine Empire of the von Neipperg Family in France, Bulgaria and Germany
Tour and Tasting at Château Canon La Gaffelière, Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Wine Lunch at Château Beauséjour, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, with Owner and Winemaker Gérard Dupuy
Tour and Tasting at Château de Figeac, Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château Beauregard, Pomerol
Tour at Château Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol, with Dany Rolland
Wine Lunch at Château Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol, with Dany Rolland
Tasting were it all Started: At the "Garage" of Jean-Luc Thunevin, Owner and Winermaker of Château Valandraud, Premier Grand Cru Classé since 2012
Tour and Tasting at Château de Fargues, Sauternes, with Prince Eudes d’Orléans
Wine Pairing Lunch at the 1-star Michelin Restaurant Claude Darozze, with Marie-Hélène Lévêque, Owner of Châteaux Chantegrive
Tour of Château de Chantegrive, Appellation Grave
Tour and Tasting at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé.
Wine Pairing Lunch at the 2-star Michelin Restaurant La Grande Vigne (at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte)
Tour of the new Musee du Vin in Bordeaux City
Seafood lunch at Pinasse Cafe in Cap Ferret
Tour of the Earl Ostrea Chanca Oyster Farm and Oyster Tasting in Grand-Piquey, with Oyster Farmer Ralph Doerfler
The 5 Premiers Grands Crus Chateaux en 1855 of Bordeaux, France
What is a Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois? France
Tourt and tasting at Château Palmer, Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron, Pauillac, 2ième Grand Cru Classé
Wine Lunch at Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron, Pauillac, 2ième Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Michel Tesseron
At the Invitation of Owner Michel Tesseron: Private Dinner at Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe, 4ième Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc
How a Barrel is Made: Visit of the Cooperage Berger & Fils in Vertheuil
Lunch were the Locals eat: At Le Peyrat in Saint-Estèphe in Saint Estephe
Tour and Tasting at Château Léoville Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2ième Grand Cru Classé, with Anne Cuvelier
Tour and Tasting at Château Margaux, Appellation Margaux, 1ière Grand Cru Classé
Tour and Tasting at Château Kirwan, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Nathalie Schyler
Picnic Lunch at Château Kirwan, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Nathalie Schyler
Tour and Wine Dinner at Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Daina Paulin