A Taste of Bordeaux

With about 60 appellations, even if you had a year to explore the country, you may never get through the wines of Bordeaux, let alone the wines of France.

On a recent trip to the region, I dived into a small part of this area, Pomerol, Fronsac, and the Medieval town of Saint-Emilion, where they hosted the bi-annual Harvest Festival of the Jurade, a prestigious group of wine approvers that dates back to the 13th century. Here, wine is life and in Saint-Emilion alone, over 200 chateaux exist, most growing merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc grapes. Red is king, and in a scant week, after sampling wines from Chateau Gaby, Château Montaiguillon, Vignobles Bardet, Château la Dauphine, Château Ambe Tour Pourret, and Château Angélus, to name a few, I am convinced I need to go back to try the 100-plus that I missed. However, the highlight of the this expedition came near the end, and involved indulging in a bottle of and 1985 Tertre-Roteboeuf with the ascot-wearing and legitimately proud wine maker François Mitjavile over dinner in his charming home with his wife and two cats.

—Linnea Covington