Les Talents de Bordeaux 2021 – 9 Wines Reviewed

@planetebordeaux   #planetebordeaux #talentsdesbordeaux  All photos copyright Paige Donner 2021 Vinum Terra, Bordeaux  2019   Vignobles Boissonneau  1839-2021 ‘Immaculate natural wine’ – no added yeast, acid, sugar or sulfur, no new oak barrels, no heavy handed manipulation, biodynamic practices observed in vineyards and cellar  The Natural Wine whose refinedness defies the label ‘Vin Natur’  Merlot, Appellation…

Space Wine: All Systems Go For Tasting

by Paige Donner A little more than a year after the 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine were rocketed up into orbit for space ageing, they’ve now safely landed back down to Earth. Just last week, thanks to NASA and its collaborator, SpaceX Dragon Capsule, the 12 bottles of wine along with 320 grapevine clippings (160…

Clairet Bordeaux AOC – Oscars de Bordeaux 2019 Summer

by Paige Donner Appellation Bordeaux Clairet Controllée Ni Rouge, Ni Rosé, mais toujours fruité et léger! – Château Penin, Clairet ‘Not red, not rosé, but always refreshingly light and fruity.’ Having tasted my way now through 12 AOC Bordeaux Clairets, I feel qualified to conclude that this is Bordeaux’s answer to the lighter reds of…

Time Is The Essence – Bordeaux

by Paige Donner On a recent wine tasting trip to Bordeaux, time was the essential essence of it all. It was time, and the immeasurable value of it, which truly stood out for me. Time – Here we were, journalists/media types, at best, acquaintances – asking the highly specialized and talented, unique-in-the-world, wine makers, technical…

Veuillez dîner au Château d’Yquem à Sauternes?

by Paige Donner When the gold-enclosed invitation first arrived, my initial thought was, ‘I need to frame this.’ It’s a dreams-do-come-true moment when you find yourself sitting down to dinner at the mythic Château d’Yquem in Bordeaux’s Sauternes region in the company of about 400 other invited black-tie guests. photo by Paige Donner copyright 2019 …

Alice Waters – L’Art de la Cuisine Simple

Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
West Coast USA’s culinary ambassador of slow food never went to a cooking school. Instead, Alice Waters taught herself by doing, by watching and by absorbing. Her sojourns in France, namely in Nantes and en Provence, were also great leaps of culinary evolution for this auto-didact. Now, in…

Oh For The Pleasure of Wine…

by Paige Donner There’s a new sheriff in town… Or, well that’s what it felt like anyway at the brilliant wine dinner hosted by Oenoteam, a wine consultancy based in Libourne, Bordeaux, France.  The dinner was organized here in Paris in the understated chic neighborhood of the 7th arrondissement in the fabulous Atelier Eiffel.  …

Soupçon de Graman – Crémant de Bordeaux

by Paige Donner Harvested by hand this dry rosé, full of bubbles which exhibit finesse and fine acumen, makes a good showing for the rising star of Crémant de Bordeaux. The vines are cultivated in Landerrouat, an appellation bordering on the Southwest of France that is authorized to make AOC Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux….

French Wines With Soul Château Coutet AOC Barsac and Deux Sauternes

by Paige Donner Christmastime is the perfect time to enjoy a bottle of AOC Barsac, a French appellation devoted to the production of sweet wine, with a distinguishing accent of freshness. Château Coutet is one of the region’s outstanding wine producers and what’s more, this French wine has soul. Mind you, many French wines do. Have…

a flask of Chateau Haut-Brion wine

by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017 Paige Donner) As Bordeaux’s very first wine château, is it any wonder that Haut-Brion still ranks with such stature in the world’s profile of wines and wine estates? Well, a measured answer would be both yes, and no. ​ It’s not a given that a wine or a wine estate with…

La Mission Haut-Brion, A Château With True Soul

by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017) Château La Mission Haut-Brion’s chapel for me sums up the essence of the property. It has been for centuries, and still is, a family home. A home where people have worshipped, where they have begun their lives and taken their last breaths, where meals have been shared, verses…

Dinner At Château Latour Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé en 1855

Bordeaux, June 18, 2017  by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017) On a hot summer evening in the Médoc’s Pauillac, Bordeaux guests arriving for the 1855 Grands Crus Classés dinner held this year at Château Latour were greeted with a marching Scottish-sounding band and flutes of Roederer champagne (who happens to own the closest neighboring…

From Bordeaux to Château Margaux

 All photos by Paige Donner copyright 2015 I’ll close with a quote from Oscar Wilde, that great lover of our wines, who remarked quite rightly: “The French are so proud of their wine that they have even named some cities after their great growths.” From Bordeaux to Margaux, he couldn’t have put it better… –…

Episode 16 GOOD food+wine

by Paige Donner This episode 16 of Paris GOOD food+wine  focuses on Wine Tourism in two of France’s most famous wine regions: Burgundy and Bordeaux. To round out our show this month, Episode 16 of Paris GOOD food + wine, I was able to catch up with Wine Spectator’s sr. Editor, James Molesworth, as he…

From Paris to Bordeaux And Back Again

by Paige Donner This episode of GOODfood+wine airing on World Radio Paris is all about Bordeaux. Well, nearly. In honor of the bi-annual Bordeaux Vinexpo extravaganza (opento the trade only) we did some pre-tasting at two of Bordeaux’s most prestigious chateaux – Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Château Lafleur. And there I spoke…

What Tops Wine Tasting in Pauillac & Pomerol…?

by Paige Donner What Tops Wine Tasting in Pauillac & Pomerol…? Wine tasting with Dad in Pauillac and Pomerol! FULL SLIDESHOW of BOTH CHATEAUX HERE   (All photos by Paige Donner © 2015) These two châteaus, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande on Bordeaux’s Left Bank and Château Lafleur on Bordeaux’s Right Bank are two of…

Bordeaux Nibbles And Fresh Markets

Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
by Paige Donner Bordeaux is the ideal-sized city to just wander around. In this sense, it is a bite-sized city that still offers enough funky and charming little neighborhoods to give you the feeling that you are exploring. Chartrons is the traditional wine district of Bordeaux where, during the…

Bordeaux’s Musée du Vin et Du Négoce

Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
By Paige Donner Read Full Article on Bordeaux Food And Wine Bordeaux’s Musée du Vin et Du Négoce is resplendent in its devotion to the history of this region’s cause celèbre; it is humble in its presentation; and it is welcoming in the way it greets its guests. A…

Bar á Vin, Bordeaux

Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
Bar á Vin, THE wine bar in Bordeaux, is shamelessly easy to find and as user-friendly as an iPod app. If you’re even a little bit like me, Bordeaux is, well, it’s intimidating. It is the heart and epicenter of W I N E. In La France. Are…

If Music Be The Food Of Love – Episode 52 podcast

by Paige Donner Welcome to the first Paris GOODfood+wine podcast of the new decade! 2020 has come in like a bolt of lightning, and riding on these vibrant waves we take a page from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for the theme of episode 52, dedicated to music. If music be the food of love…play on! Listen…

Wine Rockets to Space for Near-Zero Gravity Ageing

Update by Paige Donner Twelve bottles of French Bordeaux wine just rocketed off to the International Space Station on a mission to help further the science of food here on Earth. The project is being fueled by Luxembourg startup Space Cargo Unlimited.  They acknowledge that in addition to the importance of food and wine having…

Bordeaux River Wine Cruise on Luxury Barge, Le Tango

Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
Bordeaux, France? by Paige Donner Barge cruising is a thing here in Europe. In France, it is a niche luxury market and caters to people who prize relaxation during their vacations, but who still want to explore small French villages, dine on extraordinary gourmet foods and sip the…