Sunday We Drink Sauternes in Sauternes, Oct 21

Breakfast is again a long affair.  We toy with the idea of heading a half hour further west (and away from both ours and Bill’s homes) to the actual city of Bordeaux.  But, we decide that stores are probably closed on Sunday, so we’re back to Bill’s original plan.  We’ll drive south an hour to Sauternes, which has the benefit of roughly taking us back towards home.  Once more breakfast ends with us planning lunch. 

Maxine’s also done research on which Sauternes wineries are likely to be open on Sunday so that we can get in a tasting before we head home.

We’re not confident that they are open so Isabelle calls.  She’s French.  She’s a native French speaker.  But, even she has problems understanding the accent of the guy who answers at the first winery.  But yes, he is open and happy to invite us to taste.

Maxine reminded me earlier that this weekend away wasn’t really about wine tasting, but more about enjoying a trip away with Bill and Isabelle and their family.  So, when Bill mentions a restaurant that they’d previously been to and enjoyed, we all agree that should be our first stop when we get to Sauternes.  Here are some sauterne grapes -- notice the mold...

 

Lunch – we drink Sauternes in Sauternes.  Three different ones.  With foie gras. The flavors burst in my mouth.  Delicious.   I’m delighted…  Lunch, the food, was good too…  We’re there from 1pm till 3:30 (normal timing for Bill, but somewhat extraordinary for Maxine and me).  And here we are with Bill's family at one of the many meals we had together.

 

 

We show up at the winery and an older man, hunched over, greets us outside the building.  Maxine and I get to him well before our language crutches Bill & Isabelle show up.  I’m not feeling competent in my French (plus, I knew my language crutches were going to come round the corner of the building in a minute), so all I say to M’sieur is “bonjour”.  This is their entrance:

When Bill arrives, he explains that he and Isabelle live in Toulouse, but that we were visiting from America.  Seems to work.  The old man begins his explanation of the vineyard and one of the first things he does is to point out towards the vines.  Here, as well as everywhere in Bordeaux, the landscape is more groomed than Gaillac.  Our host outlines with his arm the extent of his vines and points out the house beyond, on the hill.  It’s Chateau d’Yquem, the most famous Sauternes.  He is adjacent to them, which can’t help but be a good thing.  This picture is looking towards their field and the chateau.

 

 

Six cars of Chinese tourists, who all seem to speak good French, arrive a few minutes after he starts.  They join in with us and our host proceeds to give us a 1 ½ hour talk and tour of the property.  About the only thing we don’t see is the cave.  It’s a great experience, and we head back to our temporary home in Broze knowing a lot more about how to taste Sauternes than we’d ever expected.