#CHATEAU DES GANFARDS BERGERAC PLUS#

We tried a Saint-Émilion ‘normal’ a ‘Cru’ and a ‘Grand Cru’. I learnt that clos means enclosed and this producer took that name because they had a small vineyard that was surrounded by brick walls.

The next day, mum and I went to Saint-Émilion and visited the ‘Clos la Madeleine’ château. But I was still keen to prove to my mum how nice the Côtes reds could be and swore to myself we’d drink a special one before she left. A different, more natural monster to KA Black Grape juice: my soda of preference when I lived in London. I tried the grape juice, it was delicious, strong and full. Then in Bourg she bought a grape jam, grape salt and sparkling grape juice because their wine was “not to taste”. On her wine tour my mum bought a white from the Blaye vineyard she visited, because she often prefers white to red. This particular wine I’d give four stars again **** I’ve found the difference between liking and loving is often driven by alcohol. It was fruity, as I’d come to expect from Côtes wines: they taste like strong grape juice! I like grape juice. It was good to see my mum again and it was good wine. We washed it all down with a bottle of Château Haut Gravier 2009 Côtes de Bourg, which I’d bought from Auchan for just over €5. The first night my mum arrived I cooked faux-filet steaks with sautéed onions, spiced potato wedges and oven baked tomatoes. Like the little bugs, I was in a haze: dazed by being suddenly and completely intoxicated. I don’t know how much it cost – I didn’t think to save the receipt – I was in a daydream that made any thoughts of the future (especailly of blog posts) completely disappear. That wine had an ever-so slight peppery heat, an unusual drop and well worth a try.

I was in the middle of nothing except the Jardin Public and as the evening slowly progressed little bugs dived into our wine and we saved them and they stumbled off, covered in the thick purple liquid, drunk and lost. Her team’s early gambles were paying off and she was relishing overtaking all her other classmates. She was in the middle of a week-long university game, playing with millions of euros as they pretended to run hotel empires, competing against other teams to see who could make the most money. Yes, this purchase broke both the above mentioned rules but we just blindly picked it, trusting luck, wanting to get outside and profit from the first spring rays of evening sunshine. On one of the last occasions I spent with the young Bordelaise lady, we’d drunk a bottle of Chateau Les Ganfards 2012 Bergerac. Since then I’ve always sought them out, and sticking to earlier advice from another French girl (this one from Île-de-France) I’ve tried to find bottles from 2009 because she’d told me that was a very good year. Sadly she has slipped away but the recommendation of the Côtes de Bordeaux was sound advice that I can keep. Her uncle owns a vineyard and she seemed to have a natural intuition for knowing what I liked. I was there with an immaculate Bordelaise girl, who advised me to take a glass of the Côtes de Bourg or Blaye. I first tried a Côtes de Bordeaux when I went to La Comtesse, one of Bordeaux’s down-to-earth wine bars. The wines produced in Bourg and Blaye, known as Côtes de Bordeaux wines have become my go-to regions when choosing a ‘nice’ bottle by that I mean something a bit more special than Château Mouchac-La Rame, my trusted everyday cheap wine. Each day they visit different wine regions and as she went on a Monday my mum went to Bourg and Blaye. It was the Châteaux et Terroirs tour organised by the Office de Tourisme de Bordeaux.

#CHATEAU DES GANFARDS BERGERAC PLUS#

Her trip was a Christmas present from me and my siblings, plus I’d booked her onto a wine tour. Not so often do I get visitors here in Bordeaux, but this past week my mum came to stay. So to make up for it, in this post I’ve reviewed not one, but three different bottles and talked about other wines as well! Its been a while since the last wine review here on Drinking it all in.

Chateau des ganfards bergerac