Saint-Émilion

 October 17, 2021

Saint-Émilion

 We set out for Saint-Émilion after breakfast this morning.  The town is tiny, only about 1800 inhabitants, but it is in the center of the Saint-Émilion district which is a major wine center.  It took us about an hour to get there, passing vast fields of grape vines.  The region is flat and the vines are on the flatland, not on hillsides as we’re used to in the Finger Lakes:


We learned about the differences in the soils from one region to another, and on the drive we had an explanation of the various names (Domaine, Chateau, etc.) and the rules governing the use of the region’s name.  In this case, for a wine to be labeled Saint-Émilion, all the grapes must have been grown within its borders.  A winemaker or chateau may purchase grapes from other vineyards, but they must be in the same region.  We passed some very famous names, such as Petrus, in the adjacent region of Pomerol.  Finally, we arrived at the Chateau Villemaurine:

 


We were taken on a tour of the fields, where the harvest had just finished last week (by hand for their best wines).  The leaves are just starting to change:


We saw the wine-making operation which is quite similar to what we’ve seen in the Finger Lakes.  This whole area is riddled with underground quarries (much of the stone used to build the city of Bordeaux was quarried here) and the extensive carved out caverns and tunnels are now used to house aging wine in oak barrels (French oak only, of course):


After our tour we had a tasting of two red wines.  Saint-Émilion wines are typically a blend of mostly Merlot, with some Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc.  Our first wine was one of their more ordinary ones, but the second was one of the ones made from their hand-picked grapes.  It sells for around 60 euros/bottle:


It was quite wonderful!  We then walked to town.  We passed the remnants of a dry moat which had protected the town:


We then had lunch, which included freely poured Saint-Émilion wine, and wandered the town which is on a hillside:


We visited the local church, a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles:


At the entrance is something I’ve not seen before and of which our guide had no knowledge: a wooden post, with brass tacks and a small hammer which one could use to hammer a tack into the post.  This needs explanation.

Finally, back to the vineyard and an hour’s ride back to Bordeaux.  Tomorrow we head west towards the Medoc chateaux.  More then.

Comments

  1. Rwa442October 17, 2021 at 1:56 PM

    Tacks in post - just as guess. A representation of the believers complicity in Christ's crucifixion??? Never seen or heard of that before, but it's a possibility...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann Carol GoldbergOctober 17, 2021 at 3:01 PM

    Wonderful day. We drink their wines and enjoy them. Happy travels. Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ralph P. LockeOctober 19, 2021 at 1:04 PM

    Interesting, all the regulations and restrictions. I have read that the French are trying to outlaw American companies from using such cheese names as Camembert!

    ReplyDelete

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