Medoc opens its doors

We travelled to the Medoc region, north of Bordeaux, for its annual chateaux open-door weekend.

This is an opportunity to have a chateaux experience without the need to book.

On Saturday, we checked into our hotel on the waterfront at Pauillac, as heavy rain clouds drenched and emptied the streets.

I'd imagined a bustling, tourist hot-spot. Instead, it was a tired, grey town with a worrying number of defunct businesses, such as the Yachting Hotel on the main strip.

Following advice obtained at Pauillac's brilliant tourist office, we took the road to St-Estèphe and stopped at the unassuming Chateau Chantecler.

Its owner, an urbane, well-groomed man his early 40's, grows grapes on just one hectare of land.

Yannick Mirande doesn't make a lot of wine. But what he does make is sensational.

A stylish and artistic nook at Chateau Chantecler

Yannick Mirande 

At his stylish cellar door, with its massive marble table, there were two millésimes (vintages) to taste.

For a wine not yet out of the barrel, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend showed remarkable character and balance.

He told us if we wanted it, it would be available later this year. Instead we opted for the 2016, which he assured us would age as well if not better than its successor.

After the tasting, Yannick showed a group of us his collection of vintage cars and motorbikes in a garage on the premises.

The collection was supposed to be out on display but the rain had killed that idea.

miniatures

Amilcar 1926

A rather old Ford, in reasonable condition

A Peugeot from a bygone era

We toured the garage with an avuncular old man from Brittany and a rather suave, well-heeled German couple in their mid-sixties.

Despite a number of guests in the tasting room, Yannick agreed to a photo outside his cellar door.

From Chateau Chantecler we went on to Chateau Le Crock and Chateau Cos Labory.

At the latter, we bought six great wines, four of 2011 and two of 2015 which we plan to cellar for at least five years.

In Pauillac that night, we had dinner in a tapas cafe just off the esplanade.

The lovely lady who served us understood quickly that we were not French and asked, with a disarming smile, if we spoke Spanish. Regretfully, no, I said. We got by in French.

She told us that she and her husband, both Uruguayans, ran the place, him in the kitchen and her  front of house. They are working hard to make a go of things in France. Good luck to them.

Sunday morning ... the town was drenched, this time in sunshine, but it didn't last long. Fog rolled in from the west, over the Girond Estuary.

A ship's foghorn sounded in the distance.

There were lots of people running or walking along the waterfront. They wore numbered singlets so it must have been some kind of organised event.

A bustling vide grenier was well-attended.

We decided to drive to the Atlantic coast and visit Lacanau, before coming back through Castelnau-de-Medoc and continuing our wine tour in and around Margaux.

The majestic exterior of a Margaux chateau

Cellar doors sell more than wine

Brilliant glass and polished wood

We visited Chateaux Ferriere, Lascombes, Prieuré Lichine and Haut Breton Lariguadière.

Our weekend in the Medoc was enjoyable and informative ... we bought a few high-class wines which will be cellared and appreciated down the track.