The French wine way

Today we visited the Laroze winery near St. Emillion, in the Bordeaux region. After seeing the Robert Mondavi winery in Napa, this is the second place of that kind we’ve visited. We learned a lot from that excellent guided tour and, with the knowledge acquired during our earlier Californian visit, we now understand better how wines are made and also why they’re not created equal. Arcane rules, extra handcrafting and extensive blending seems to set the Bordeaux wine-makers apart from their Californian counterparts, while at the same time handicapping them in the way they’re marketing their product against those of the “new world.” They seem to be both obsessed by them as well as upset about them. It would seem to me that in the end, what should be the ultimate test is how the wine tastes, period. The wine we tested yesterday was outstanding among its Bordeaux brethren.