So Many Dishes

I should have figured that a cruise that is named Rivers, Chateaux & Wine would involve tasting wine and learning more about it. I think that, for some people on our cruise, wine was the reason they chose the itinerary. Wine didn’t really factor that much when we chose this itinerary, but we certainly enjoyed that aspect of the trip.

Bordeaux is one of the premier wine regions in France, and everywhere we went we heard about wine production or trade. Driving through acres and acres of vineyards and seeing the beautiful chateaux where wine is produced was a real treat.

There were optional excursions that focused on wine that we didn’t take. We passed on the visit to the St. Emillion area because of the intense heat, and people who went told us we’d been smart to skip it. A wine master class and a session about cognac were offered, too, but there were other tours that appealed to us more. We did enjoy the two included excursions that focused on wine.

The Médoc is a peninsula north of Bordeaux, home to the wine regions of Pauillac and Margaux. Driving through the region, we passed one chateau after another until we reached Chateau Marquis des Terme, where we toured the cellars and had a tasting.

While there are a number of beautiful old buildings, we learned that, just because it’s called a chateau doesn’t mean there is a fairy tale castle on the property, or even anything other than utilitarian buildings to accommodate wine production. Dinner that evening was at a different chateau, Chateau Kirwan. I thought that meant that we’d be eating in one of those grand old buildings. Dinner was in an old building, but it was a large, almost barn-like space. It was, thankfully, air-conditioned; the temperature that day was over 100 degrees. Our dinner was accompanied by three different wines produced by the chateau.

Our last day took us to the area where Sauternes is produced. Our guide explained the unique microclimate that is conducive to the fungus Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot, which results in concentrated sugar in the grapes. We visited one of the top-rated premier cru chateaux, Chateau des Rayne Vigneux. We were able to get a close look at the vines, as well as visiting the cellar and tasting the delicious wines.

We drank some excellent wines, but how wine is paired with food is important, and you know that I am all about the food. There’s one more travel post coming, this time about what we ate. Until then, happy eating—and drinking!