Thursday 13 August 2009

AN HISTORY OF BRITAIN .....

“Messieurs les anglais, tirez les premiers !” Fontenoy battle, 11 of may 1745. Yes !, MESSIEURS THE ENGLISH SHOOT FIRST !!, because we own you a lot, first : what could have been of the Bordeaux wine without the English occupation in 1154, Henri II Plantagenet, husband of Alienor d'Aquitaine, take the English crown. L''Aquitaine, became a province of england (we should be part of the commonwealth so ....) and start to appreciate the «Claret» ( name for a rose in Bordeaux, or a light red). The Bordelais arrange and work with the king in order to gain fiscal advantage ( we should do that more often..), commercial monopole, lower tax level ( ah!! the good old days!!!)on export to england. To serve the demand in London the vineyard are extended into the surrounding the «palus» ( the land is cheap but apparently not too bad ... only the future will tell!!) in Fronsac, Saint-Émilion, Cadillac, Saint Macaire, Langon, Barsac…
In 1303, 102.724 tonneaux are exported, only in 1950 that number would be the same.( england import more crappy wine from USA and Australia now!!!)

In 1453, at the Castillon battle England lost the Aquitaine and so the love affair with Bordeaux is ended, but some of the Bordeaux “castle” and property will be own by Englishman until now, so, thanks to the lady of London and the the lord of england for drinking claret .

So we have in Pauillac more bold and dark wine with earthy character (the smell not the taste!!) like a Lafitte rotschild ( £390.00 for a 2006) or a Latour (£500 for a 2006, better than the English housing market) but maybe those one are a little bit expensive so go for an outsider a Pibran (£30) or Bernadotte (£20) or you could try a CHATEAU LOUDENNE, MEDOC, (£20 but for a 98) in St yzan en medoc near Pauillac. Neighbors of Lafitte and Latour, a finest medoc almost Pauillac in his richness, situated on the banks of the Gironde estuary, is one of the most delightful sites in the Medoc, the charm of which did not escape with is own private port and 125 years of English history. Deep blackcurrant with undertone of almond and nuts. You could go for a Margaux but instead of a Palmer (£400) or Rauzan-Segla (£100) try a Labegorce (£20) or Dauzac (£30) or once again a chateaux d'Arsac (£15) is a little secret but rich and with perfume of cassis a little pleasure to discover. For the St Emilion Ausone (£600, a bottle not a caisse)or Cheval blanc (£550) would be perfect but with my budget i go for Chateaux Larmande (£30) or Les Gravieres (£18) but try to find a Chateaux Jean Voisin (£15) a perfect st Emilion style at a price who would not hurt you!!. Just to say that in this moment you could still have a good dinner, a great experience with a wine as the French says it's like for women “ I am searching for the best one, so, I have to try a lot!!!” and of course “ I'm still searching!!!”.

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