400 Drones Light Up The Sky At The Bordeaux Wine Festival

The Bordeaux Wine Festival was held June 22nd to 25th, where attendees were part of wine-tasting programmes and other fun experiences. But the highlight of the festival was the spectacular drone show.  The Bordeaux Wine Festival 2023 took an environment-friendly approach to replace its annual firework with drones.

Over 400 drones lit up the night sky over the Garonne River in Bordeaux. There were 20-minute shows held on both Friday and Saturday where the drones created stunning formations of wine being poured into a glass from a bottle, a vineyard, and the drones went into formation spelling: ‘Bordeaux celebrates wine’ in bold letters in the stunning night sky. The drones were operated by the French company Dronisos.

AOC Entre-deux-Mers – the wine region between two rivers that is steeped in history

Frédéric Roger, Director of AOC Entre-deux-Mers gave a wonderful and detailed presentation to US/Canadian journalists and wine importers on the Entre-deux-Mers region yesterday at Wine Syndicate and House of Entre Deux Mers Wines, 16 rue de l’Abbaye, The Sauve, 33670.  Following the presentation was a three-hour “speed dating” with 10 local winegrowers, owners and producers so we can taste and learn about their wines – this was followed by a massive plate of oysters and light lunch.

Firstly, the Entre-Deux-Mers is a large region located 80 km southeast of the City of Bordeaux, and secondly, it is situated between the Dordogne and Garonne rivers.

Each winegrower, owner and producer expressed with exhilaration and passion the typicality of their terroir.  Their individual wine portfolios were also as diverse as their huge and wonderful personalities – this was a wonderful experience!

Some History
The Benedictine monks (in the Middle Ages) established the terroir and wines in this region. In 1079, Gérard de Corbie founded the Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure. The monks cleared the forest, planted the vines and worked to improve farming methods.  It’s interesting to note that they established trade with England during this period.

The Abbey of La Sauve is today the property of the State and was officially classified in 1998 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

White Grape Varieties

According to the AOC Entre-deux-Mers regulations, the wines must be blended, with a minimum of two white grape varieties.

Sauvignon  – this variety creates a more lively wine, with powerful aromas and brings to the nose fresh scents of citrus fruits, grapefruit, passion fruit, underlined by wild plants, acacia flower, and boxwood.

Muscadelle – this variety brings floral and fruit notes and flavours, and at the same time contributes to the complexity of the wines.

Sémillon  – offers notes of flowers, white and yellow fruits, pears, white peaches, and at the same time offers suppleness and roundness in the mouth. As a young wine, it is subtly discreet and reveals itself and expresses its aromas as it ages.

Sauvignon Gris  – gives aromas of exotic fruits and fatness to the wine.

By the Numbers:

  • Entre-deux-Mers is an appellation that covers over 1,700 hectares of vines
  • 94% of the surface area has adopted an environmental approach [Environmental Adaptation].
  • There are 300 winegrowers
  • There almost 10 million bottles sold each year.

Historical dates :

1937 : the year the Entre-deux-Mers Appellation was established.
1953 : the year the decree defines new production conditions and designates the white grape varieties that will make up the blend: Sauvignon, Sémillon and Muscadelle [September 23 1953]

#vinse2m #vinsentredeuxmers #histoire  #abbayedelasauvemajeure #entredeuxmerstourisme #girondetourisme @charmeu_usa @charmeu_canada and @vinsblancsdebordeaux_usa #enjoyitsfromeurope #euAgriPromo #MadeintheEU #thecharmingtasteofeu #charmeu #loupiac #cadillac  #saintmacaire #cerons #saintecroixdumont  #bordeauxsuperieur #premierescotesdebordeaux #bordeauxmoelleux  #bordeauxwine#bordeauxlover #madeinfrance #wine #winelover # #winelife #winetourism #winedestinations #winetasting #sweetbordeauxwine  #sweetbordeaux

 

Sweet Bordeaux Wine and Food Pairing Master Class 

Sweet Bordeaux Wine and Food Pairing Master Class 

Ms Emma Baudry of Union des Vins Doux de Bordeaux gave an amazing Master Class tonight at a charming historic chateau in Cadillac on Sweet Bordeaux wine along with food pairings – what a wonderful experience and a great surprise.  Watch this space for the full report.

@charmeu_usa @charmeu_canada and @vinsblancsdebordeaux_usa

#enjoyitsfromeurope #euAgriPromo #MadeintheEU #thecharmingtasteofeu #charmeu #loupiac #cadillac  #saintmacaire #cerons #saintecroixdumont  #bordeauxsuperieur #premierescotesdebordeaux #bordeauxmoelleux  #bordeauxwine#bordeauxlover #madeinfrance #wine #winelover #travelling #traveldiaries  #winelife #winetourism #winedestinations #winetasting #winepairing #sweetbordeauxwine g #sweetbordeaux

Bordeaux Allowed to Irrigate

The Bordeaux appellations of Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol and Saint-Emilion have recently been granted permission to irrigate their vines this year after heatwaves and low rainfall across the region threaten the vines with hydric stress. The weather in these areas has been extremely dry for months and French national weather service, Météo France, has reported that July 2022 was the driest since 1959.

As regulated, irrigation is forbidden in the region although recent modifications to the winegrowers’ code “The Cahier des Charges” has allowed it under certain conditions. The Cahier des Charges of all three regions permits irrigation “only in case of persistent drought and when this disrupts the good physiological development of the vine and ripening of the grapes”.

Representatives of France’s national appellations body, the INAO, visited the Bordeaux region to review the situation.

According to news agency AFP, “three [appellations] obtained the authorisation to irrigate to try to preserve the threatened vines”. Other sources, such as local news publication Le Résistant, added that the authorisation also spans to the so-called “satellite” appellations of Saint-Emilion (Lussac-Saint-Emilion, Montagne-Saint-Emilion, Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion and Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion) and Lalande-de-Pomerol.

The region is not equipped for irrigation with many relying on rudimentary technology to supply the water to the vines. According to AFP, the Bordeaux wine trade body is pinning its hopes on “two or three storms in the coming weeks” to make for “a good vintage”

#bordeaux #bordeauxwineregion #bordeauxwine #madeinfrance #bordeauxlovers #winelovers
#winenews #heatwaves #wine #bordeaux #winelive

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux announces 10 cities to host “en primeur” tastings [April 26-29]

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux has announced that this year’s en primeur tastings will be held in 10 cities worldwide (which includes Bordeaux) from April 26-29.

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux has said that Bordeaux, New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Zurich, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Hong Kong will be the host cities for this year’s campaign.

As noted on their website, tastings will be held from 26-29 April in Bordeaux, with further tastings held around the world on the following timetable:

26 April: Zurich and Shanghai
26-27 April: Brussels
27 April: Frankfurt and Hong Kong
27-28 April: Paris, London, San Francisco and New York

Dedicated venues in each city will be chosen where professionals will be able to taste the 2020 wines from the UGCB’s 131-member estates, in accordance with local health regulations.

The UGCB’s president, Ronan Laborde, said: “We are incredibly committed to maintaining ties with our clients and ambassadors. Despite the restrictions in place, we will do everything in our power to ensure they can enjoy the Bordeaux 2020 vintage.”

The new dates for this year’s campaign were confirmed earlier in the year but the UGCB at the time remained unsure if it would be able to hold the annual tasting solely in Bordeaux. It mentioned that its fall-back option would be to hold the tasting in cities around the world, building and improving upon the system of sending out samples that it rushed into place last spring.

#bordeaux #redwine #winetasting #enprimeur #bordeauxwine #instawine #frenchwine #vin #sommelier #finewine #vinsdebordeaux