After turning the clocks back one hour as we arrived in Lisbon that is in a different time zone from Gibraltar, we now have to turn our clocks ahead one hour as we round the tip of Spain, heading Northeast towards France.
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| Time Zone Change-Spain to Portugal and again Portugal to Spain |
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| Rounding Spain to get to Bordeaux |
Earline, being the “foodie” that she is, wanted to attend a cooking show at 11:00 so we went off to see what we could learn. They taught how to make Carrot & Cardamom Cream with Orange & Star Anise Foam; they also demonstrated how to make Saffron Sauce and Black Pepper Sauce. While we did not get to taste them, they were interesting to see prepared and to get tips how to make a white fish stock and a beef stock and the proper way to cook shallots with clarified butter.
I never realized that if you do not clarify your butter to remove the milk solids, then you cannot saute the shallots to be clear. They will turn brown using regular butter.
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There was a lecture on the wines of Bordeaux that was quite revealing.
A Bordeaux wine, sometimes called a Claret wine by the English, is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. This region generally surrounds the Gironne River and the wines change in complexity, the further up the river you travel due to the changes in soil nutrients. The Bordeaux region is the largest wine growing region in France. They produce over 700 million bottles of wine a year of varying qualities. Eighty-nine percent is red wine with the remainder being sweet Sauternes or rose wines. There are 54 appellations of Bordeaux wine made by 8500 producers.
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| Bordeaux Wine Region |
Wine growing was introduced into the region by the Romans and has continued to current times. In the 12th century, the popularity of Bordeaux wines in England increased dramatically following the marriage of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine.[4] Eleanor was a hot little blonde about 40 years younger than Henry, but she owned the entire western portion of France after her father died. The marriage made the province of Aquitaine part of the Angevin Empire, and thenceforth the wine of Bordeaux was exported to England. The Hundred Years War interrupted the flow of wine to England and following the war, France regained control of the wine growing region.
The swampy region of Medoc was drained by the Dutch who had the skills to do so, and the Medoc region then surpassed the Graves area, as the marshy soil was quite rich in nutrients and produced great wines. Malbec wines were the initial grape varietal gown in Medoc but are now supplanted by the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Chateau Lafite Rothschild is located in the Medoc region. (Click Link). Wines from these areas are known as "left bank wines."
The Right Bank is the area to the north of the Dordogne in Bordeaux, rather than to the south of the Garonne (this is the Left Bank) or Entre-deux-Mers (the area between the two rivers). While not nearly as famous or versatile as the Left Bank, the Right Bank is important for two essential appellations that lie within it: St-Émilion and Pomerol. The prominently Merlot-based Right Bank wines can, at the top levels, match or, by some opinions, exceed, Left Bank reds in both quality and price.
Lighter, more smooth styles of red wine are produced on the Right Bank, as opposed to the layered, intense, and complex wines of the Left Bank. While houses such as Pétrus still produce very sophisticated wine, it is of an entirely different style. This is primarily due to the use of Merlot in most Right Bank wines. Cabernet Sauvignon hardly thrives on the Right Bank, and rarely makes up more than a few percent of plantings at Right Bank châteaux.
From 1875–1892 almost all Bordeaux vineyards were ruined by Phylloxera infestations.[4] The region's wine industry was rescued by grafting native vines onto pest-resistant American rootstock.
Red Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.[9] Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines.
Typical top-quality Châteaux blends are 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 15% Merlot. This is typically referred to as the "Bordeaux Blend." Merlot tends to predominate in Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and the other right bank appellations. These Right Bank blends from top-quality Châteaux are typically 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.
Following the wine talk, I remained mostly supine for mal du mer (sea sickness) until the second Fado show at 6:30 pm. It was not much different than the first show, so we left after a few numbers and went to dinner. We sampled some of our ruby port after dinner and it was a bit too sweet for Earl and Bonnie, so we retired about 10 PM.
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