Tour de Bordeaux - Tuesday Evening - Chateau de Fargues

Tuesday Evening at Chateau De Fargues was beautiful and special evening.

 Peter and Patricia Kitchak with owner Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces.

We first did a tour of the Chateau, its cellars and the adjacent old castle with the owner Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces. The castle on the property dates from the 14th century (it was built in 1306) and the Count is in the process of slowly restoring parts of it. The architect for the restoration project was also there and he joined us on the tour showing us how they were doing the work to be the same as the original construction.  The good news for them is that they do not have to do earthquake retrofits like we would have to do in California.

Much of our group on the grounds  of Chateau de Fargues with the castle in the background.

In Napa, we pick grapes with a Brix (sugar percentage) of  around 25.  In Sauternes the grapes are picked with a Brix of around 33.  If all of the sugar in the grapes were fermented or converted to alcohol, the wine would be 20% alcohol.  But this wine is generally around 13.5% with a lot of sweetness and a lot of unfermented sugars. This Chateau makes only 15,000 to 20,000 bottles of wine a year, which is not much. The wine is generally a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillion.  I smiled when the Count called the process of making Sauternes wine as a bit of "Alchemy".

In the Cellar -note the glass bungs in the barrels

Count Alexandre has a very significant history in Sauternes.  For years, he and his family had owned Chateau Yquem, having acquired it in 1785 via a marriage. The count was the manager of Yquem until 2004, some time after it was sold to LVMH in 1996 following a bitter family feud. Following the Counts retirement from Chateau Yquem in 2004 he took a more active role in de Fargues.

The evening events were very nice with a lot of people, a lot of wine and a lot of wonderful passed appetizers. We had a light dinner, and boy did we need it. During part of the evening we sat and talked to a grand lady who owns Chateau Giscours.

All and all, it was a wonderful evening.
 On to Leoville Las Cases tomorrow morning.