Jun 21st - Bordeaux

Today we took a winery tour to the area of St Emilion.  Still part of the Bordeaux region but about 40kms east…..ish of the city.  We lucked in a bit as there were only four of us on the tour plus our guide, a vigneron from the region who supplements her wine making activities with tour guiding.  She was really knowledgeable about the area, wine, and St Emilion and so it made for an interesting day. 

The first winery visited was Château Balestard La Tonnell, a winery which has existed since about 1300 which still has a tower on site that was built by the English (to help defend themselves against the French!).  We were shown around the winery and the process for making the wine was explained.  All the equipment and buildings had recently been renovated, with everything sparkling in new stainless steel, but it was just a little sterile which was probably the purpose!🙄.  However, it would have been nice to see some of the old underground cellars, which are still in use, but unfortunately are currently being renovated.  We tried two wines here, both of which were amazing, and enjoyed them out on the terraces overlooking the vines and Château’s with St Emilion in the distance. Loverly!😊

The next stop was to Château Sarpe, another St Emilion vineyard, with an old château, windmill, and other old buildings on site.  Much more traditional looking and original than Château Balestard had been, the tastings here were with lunch the vigneron having opened a couple of bottles for us to try.  It was all very pleasant with nice food and even nicer wine. 

Moving on from the wine tasting we visited the Unesco heritage listed town of St Emilion. This is another beautiful medieval town that’s also home to one of the largest underground churches in Europe.  


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