Bordeaux Wine Tourism

This is great news for Bordeaux wine tourism. A €55 million investment in wine tourism.
Serious investment in such a beautiful city that has been a Unesco World Heritage city for the last couple of years.
Every time I go to Bordeaux there seems to be an improvement. The recent opening of the 5 star Regent Grand Hotel right in the centre is very positive. Although they really must do something about the lighting. They are either using re usable (and dim) light bulbs or they are happy to have a brothel ambience.
The tram way seems to function very well after we all suffered a few years of near gridlock with the traffic in the centre, whilst the work was being done.
The Theatre always looks stunning, the wine bars, restaurants and wine shops are all vibrant and fun.
The strip of land on the old Quai de Chartrons(where the old merchant ships loaded the wine in barrels)has now been revitalised to having concerts and events and the wonderful water features along the waterfront and around the Bourse are fantastic.
A truly fantastic city, with an amazing history and a modern vtality.

Australian Wines...Andrew Jefford lecture.

Here are the words from a fascinating presentation by the UK journalist Andrew Jefford. The lecture took place two days ago in Australia.
The interesting points are the challenges facing the Australian wine industry........also the fact that the Australians refer to their grape growing and winemaking as an industry! No wonder people don't like 'industrial' wines.
There are many interesting and relevant points from Andrew's lecture.
The positives are undoubtedly the diversity of Australian wines and also the potential. Also the relative youthfulness of Australian wines within the global market place...they have come a long way in the last 30 years.
The negative aspects are the perceived homogenous styles and also 'Brand Australia', which has lead to big wine companies dealing with big European supermarkets....and destroying the price on promotions.
Also the over adjustment of acidity and tannins has made the wines seem bland and 'made' rather than natural.
And the key and most current point is that the Australian economy is relatively healthy at the moment (certainly in comparison to others), and the exchange rate means that Australian wine is 25% more expensive in the UK than 12 months ago.
I would be amazed if these price promotions continue in supermarkets. They are un sustainable and do more damage to Australian wines than good.

Rainbow in Minervois

I would love to think that the crock of gold was at my house!!!