Côtes de Bordeaux wines
And South-Western French cuisine served on Open Skies flights :The luxury airline company, Open Skies, will be offering a menu from South West France to its passengers travelling on Paris-NewYork flights. The menu was concocted by famous Bordeaux chef, Jean-Pierre Xiradakis (photo), who owns "La Tupina" restaurant in the wine capitol. His cuisine will be served with Côtes de Bordeaux wines.

IN BRIEF :
BERNARD MAGREZ BUYS VINEYARD IN PORTUGAL :Well-known Bordeaux estate owner, Bernard Magrez, who already has a large portfolio of 35 vineyards (9 of which are outside France), has bought 8 hectares in the reputed Douro region in Northern Portugal.
His new vineyard there will produce "Esperança", a top quality red wine label made with selected grapes from small yields (approximately 25 hectolitres per hectare). The first harvest (last Autumn) is due to produce 6 - 8,000 bottles. The price has already been set at 27 euros per bottle. www.bernard-magrez.com

THE WORLD'S BEST SOMMELIER CONTEST IN CHILE :
The 13th edition of the prestigious 'Best Sommelier in the World' contest will be held in Chile, with an important female contingent and a noticeable Asian participation. The last winner, three years ago, was Andreas Larsson (photo).

A UNIQUE CHANGE OF SCENE FOR AOC BORDEAUX :
A round of Bordeaux wines at an altitude of 2,300 metres.
This is the concept behind the tour of the largest ski resorts in the Alps, organised by the AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur vineyards, which they have christened "Bordeaux Neige" (Bordeaux Snow). The first venue of the tour, starting today, is the highest glacier in Europe - Val Thorens.
The idea is to promote these appellations via the trendy bars and various seasonal events in the Alpine resorts.

OLD GRAPE VARIETAL
FOUND AT LA VIELLE CHAPELLE :
The French Institute of Vines and Wine has named the mysterious varietal found in the vineyards of Fabienne and Frédéric Mallier in Lugon (Bordeaux area).
Their century old vines are of the Bouchalès variety, a varietal originating from the Garonne River valley which has virtually disappeared from France's vineyards today.

EVENT :"LA FETE DE LA FLEUR" :
IN QUINCONCES SQUARE, BORDEAUX.
The prestigious gala evening celebrating the flowering of the vine, "La Fête de la Fleur", will be held on the 25th of June, in the Place des Quinconces, Bordeaux. This exclusive venue is but one of the many events programmed during the "Fête du Vin" (wine festival) which will run from the 24th - 27th June this year. The organiser of the "Fête de la Fleur" party is Emmanuel Cruse, who is head of the Commanderie du Bontemps (Médoc, Graves and Sauternes wine brotherhood). He announced the news on Sunday evening during the Commanderie's traditional Saint Vincent luncheon in Léognan, which united some 500 guests. This Friday, the 22nd of January is the Saint Vincent's Day, the patron saint of wine growers.


Mouton Rothschild
Label for Mouton Rothschild's 2007 vintage released
Bernar Venet illustrates Mouton 2007 : Since 1945, a famous artist illustrates the label on Mouton Rothschild's bottles. Philippine de Rothschild, owner of Mouton, chose a painting by Bernar Venet for the 2007 vintage. Venet is well known for his monumental sculptures made of steel bars.


New website :
Pessac-Léognan online :
the Pessac-Léognan AOC Syndicate has a brand new website. It is sober in style and informative, and contains all the necessary information for finding out about the 75 châteaux in this appellation located within the Graves region, just 20 km South of the city of Bordeaux.
This AOC vineyard produces white and red wines and has been developing in the positive for the past twenty years. There are 16 classified châteaux in the appellation and many property owners are promoting wine tourism and opening up to the general public.www.pessac-leognan.com


THE CHALLENGE :
Château Pavie invests :Gérard Perse (photo), owner of not only Château Monbusquet, Pavie-Decesse, Bellevue-Mondotte, Sainte-Colombe and Clos Les Lunelles, but also the restaurant Hostellerie de Plaisance in Saint-Emilion, plans to invest around 10 million euros at Château Pavie.
The project consists of rebuilding the cellars of this classified growth of Saint-Emilion to make a cultural centre with a reception hall for 300 people, an underground car park for 70 vehicles and a vast patio overlooking the magnificent vista of Saint-Emilion's vine-covered slopes.



BOOK OF THE WEEK :

"Les Vins de Laure Gasparotto" :
Journalist Laure Gasparotto and photographer Jean-Marie Périer have just published their book, which presents the portraits of 40 men and women wine growers of France. The book, written in senstive style, recounts the lives of these producers in detail.
Our Bordeaux region is represented by Stéphane Derenoncourt (Domaine de l'A), Patrick Maroteaux (Château Branaire-Ducru) and Richard Doughty (Château Richard).
"Les Vins de Laure" by L.Gasparotto. Editions Grasset, 200 pages,price 24.90 euros.

Burgundy :

"Les Hospices de Beaune" :
On the occasion of the 149th edition of the
"Hospices de Beaune" wine auction, which will be held this Sunday,
this recently published book provides a detailed history of this combined hospital and vineyard, comprising 60 hectares of vines (mainly donations) and whose production is auctioned every year.
This historic annual event is one of the most important dates in the Burgundian calendar.
This lovely hardcover book includes immaculate photography and was written by a local journalist.
"Hospices de Beaune, le saga d'un hôpital-vigneron"
by Laurent Gotti, Editions Féret, 192 pages on sale at 49 euros.



BORDEAUX WORLD
CAPITAL OF WINE CAPITALS

This week, Bordeaux will host the general meeting of great vineyard capitals which will assemble eight cities. This year, Christchurch, in New Zealand, will become the nineth member. Sue Wells, one of the city's elected representatives, is here to sign up for membership.





NOT TO BE MISSED :
Weekend VIP in Margaux.
If you'd like to treat yourself to a rare tasting moment, be quick to enroll : the magazine "Terre de Vins" is organising a VIP weekend on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd of May in Margaux, with a night at the Relais de Margaux hotel. Amongst other pleasures awaiting participants, a grand tasting at Château Margaux, first classified growth of Médoc, a dinner at Château Palmer, two lunches at Châteaux Brane-Cantenac and Lascombes as well as top class tasting pleasures at Châteaux Rauzan-Ségla, Kirwan and d'Issan.
For price and reservations contact :
www.terredevins.com

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