Monday, January 19, 2009

Are You a Big Lover of Bordeaux?


My friend Cornelia Blume of the Bordeaux-based tour company Vitivinitours has alerted me to a special getaway her company is organizing May 15-17 on Le Weekend des Grands Amateurs—or the Weekend of Big Lovers, as I translate it. If you’re passionate about Bordeaux wine and you’ve yearned to visit the vineyards where the world’s finest wine is made, this trip is hard to resist.
While my time at the Bordeaux Fete le Vin, a biannual event, was tremendous fun, the wine offered there came from the lesser producers. Le Weekend des Grands Amateurs is for connoisseurs who appreciate the difference between Malesan (a sturdy, supermarket Bordeaux) and Margot. Participants will start Friday night with a dinner in the city, then wake up to a tasting of over 100 Grand Cru wines--the good stuff. Saturday evening promises a gala dinner at a Grand Cru estate. The weekend finishes up on Sunday with a tour of a great growth winery and lunch. Naturally, all the meals will feature carefully chosen Bordeaux.
All this glorious touring, dining, and drinking does not come cheap: the tour begins at 580 euros, which includes accommodations (double occupancy) in a two star hotel. But, when you consider the quality of the wine offered, the price seems reasonable. My own travel plans will take me further south (to Italy) this spring, but I hope one year to join the other Big Lovers at this amazing wine weekend in Bordeaux.

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