Bordeaux

Some restaurants in Bordeaux as well as some of the top wineries in the area; a visit to the stellar two-star Chateau de Cordeillan-Bages where Thierry Marx works his magic

I have been remiss in keeping up to date with this blog and have many things to report. I went to Bordeaux at the end of August and had some delicious wines and meals in several places. I always thought that I preferred the Burgundy wines, as they tend to be smoother than the Bordeaux and not tannic. However, if you age a Bordeaux appropriately or choose carefully, you can find many that are easily swallowed and not tannic at all.

I took the train to Bordeaux from Paris and then rented a car and drove to St. Emilion. It is a very pretty town but totally for tourists. It is medieval and has a beautiful stone church. I stayed in the Logis des Remparts--a small hotel with a lovely pool and a beautiful garden for relaxing, reading, soaking up the sun. The first day was very hot so the pool was in order. I didn't think to bring my suit and there was no store that sold them (actually only two clothing shops and no supermarkets in this little town). Rather than hike to the next big town in my car, I just cut my shorts and wore a tank top and that was fine.

The first evening I dined at the Hostellerie de Plaisance which has 21 rooms and is definitely the fancier place to stay. They do not have a pool however. The restaurant has one Michelin star. I had a simply delicious meal--rather classic cuisine with inventive touches. I prefer that to the really far out things many of the big name chefs are doing. After the several amuse-bouches which I gobbled up (royale de foie gras with an asparagus foam (not really a foam but more like a light sauce), a toast with fancy Spanish ham, parmesan and tomato, a maki of lobster without rice, a quenelle of goat cheese, etc.) I opened the meal with a lasagna de foie gras de canard, wild mushrooms and a black truffle emulsion. This was spectacular and there were enough truffles (preserved from the precedent season) so as to be able to taste all the flavors. My main course was small pieces of pink lamb provençale--with eggplant and zucchini. The lamb was rolled around the mixture of vegetables. That came with pommes soufflées (the Cadillac of potato chips), green asparagus and other baby vegetables each lovingly prepared.

The pre-dessert was a basil jello served with a compote of apricots and a sauce flavored with fennel. That came with an apricot sorbet and was light and lovely. For dessert I chose La Pêche--peach served in a variety of ways: in a melba, as a garniture for a baba au rhum, in a mousse and as a sorbet. They also had a chariot of mignardises--so that you could choose from a panoply of beautiful tasty macaroons, canneles (the typical Bordelais cake), cookies and chocolates.

As I tend to dine alone, the sommelier suggested that I order wines by the glass--or as I prefer: the sommelier chooses my wines for me. I know a lot about wine but the sommelier in a restaurant knows the dishes that are served and can choose the wines that marry best with those dishes. I had a lovely Alsatian Pinot Gris with the foie gras (which commands a sweet wine), and a glass of a St Emilion Grand Cru classé with my lamb (Château Franc Maine 2001). The Bordeaux wine was a pleasant surprise. As I mentioned (and as I requested of the sommelier) I prefer a wine that is not tannic.

The breakfast at my hotel was acceptable, but the weather was not. It poured the entire day--such a contrast from the hot sunny day before. No pool this time. I did do a little sightseeing and went on a visit of nearby vineyards. For dinner, I went to a bistrot which I loved. It is called L'Envers du Décor. I had a typical Bordelais meal. My appetizer was a delicious sauté of calamari in their ink garnished with red peppers. For my main course, I chose the roast free-range chicken. Sometimes a simple dish like that just hits the spot and this one was sensational. I had a wonderful crème brulée for dessert and was very happy. With the meal, I ordered another St. Emilion (Château Bel-Air St. Georges). Of course, this meal came to much less than the first one and it was delicious in its own simple way.

The main reason for my trip to this area was to dine at the restaurant of Thierry Marx--two Michelin stars--an inventive chef who is bound for a third star before too long (my prediction). His restaurant is in Pauillac--another home of excellent Bordeaux wines. Although I was told that it would take me 45 minutes to get there from St. Emilion, it actually took almost two hours. I had a morning appointment at the Château de Beychevelle and arrived exactly at 10:30 am to meet my group. We had a nice tour of the Château and of the caves. Later that day, I went to Mouton Rothschild where I paid 25 euros for a tour and a tasting. This was spectacular. There is also an art museum with the collection of the Mouton-Rothschild family and a short visit of that museum is included in the tour. Afterwards, we were able to taste three wines--three examples of the different types of wine that this Château produces. Of course, the most sought after and the most expensive is the Mouton Rothschild itself. Each year, the label is designed by a different fine artist and so there are labels by Braque, Picasso, Chagall, etc. The Mouton Rothschild 2006 (too young to serve) was spectacular. The tour guide told us that it retails for 800 euros per bottle!! A bit pricey for me, I happily purchased wines in the 30 euro price range--the Clerc Millon for one and the Château d'Armailhac for another. Mouton Rothschild puts out Mouton Cadet--one of its most well known wines, and that one is not bad at all and quite inexpensive. It is ubiquitous in the states. The tour with the tasting was well worth the 25 euro price. If you are interested, you must call in advance to reserve but it is not difficult to get a place.

The next day, I left for the Château de Cordeillan-Bages which is the Relais Château hotel run by Thierry Marx. I love to treat myself to such luxury. I had reserved a standard room and that was quite fancy for me: with a beautiful view of the chateau and the vineyards. I dressed up for lunch and was ushered in to the modern and minimalist diningroom. The menu is organized by dishes and you can order two or three. During your meal, you will also be served bite-sized portions of some of the signature dishes you didn't order. The menu comes with cheese and your choice of dessert. The experience lasted four hours and was truly memorable. Although I am moving away from the ultra modern inventive cuisines, Chef Marx's creativity makes for delicious and fun dishes. Some high points were the bread wagon and the chariot de mignardises. I will talk about that at the end of my description of the meal.

Some examples of the amuse-bouches: orange flavored clam, a cube of cauliflower with passion fruit, potato and spicy chili from the Basque country, a little vegetable soup flavored with curry. I started with a hot soufflé that he says has not been cooked, housing an oyster with a cauliflower-foie gras sauce. This is very rich and very delicious. Everything works even if it sounds crazy.

My second course was a lobster dish with verbena, lemongrass, and lemon rind--superb. As I mentioned, in the course of your meal, you are served snacks that are examples of other signature dishes. One of these was a succulent dish made of crabmeat, lime and almonds. Another "signature snack" I was given to taste was a risotto with shallots and oysters. Mmmm.

My main dish was his famous spaghetti, cèpes and truffes with is filled with ris de veau. The spaghetti is made into a cap shape and served upside down. When you break into the "cap", you discover the various and sundry delicacies. This is truly a wonderful dish.

This time, I asked the sommelier to help me choose a 1/2 bottle of wine--not too expensive but delicious. So with my meal, I had a 2000 Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux--my first Margaux. It was perhaps too young to drink, but after resting and aerating in the carafe it did fine and stood up to the entire meal very well.

After tasting a variety of cheeses and some of the delicious breads served to me from the butcher block rolling cart of breads and butters, I chose the destructed lemon tart for dessert. This was a wonderful lemon tart served in various sections: lemon curd and pâte sablé as one component, lemon sorbet and soft meringue with lemon cream as the other components. The whole dish is served together and all the components make up one lemon tart (with sorbet) Along with the fruits and sorbets that came with dessert in general (crystallized eggplant for an example of something wild), there was a beautiful chariot of chocolate cakes and cookies that you could choose from to go with your coffee.

With dessert, I had a lovely glass of Doisy Daêne Sauternes 1997.

The meal was spectacular--and a challenge to explain. There was a lot of food, as you can see, but it was not sickening as portions are very small and most things are quite light.

After a meal like this, there was only one thing to do--rest up in my room, take a walk and then a swim. I slept well that night!

Breakfast was lovely--a variety of cakes and viennoiseries, fresh fruits, yogurts and fromage blanc, hard cheeses, hams and scrambled eggs, freshly squeezed juices and coffees. There is a bakery up the street that sells M. Marx's breads, viennoiseries and cakes.

And so back to Paris, with a full stomach and wonderful gastronomic memories.