the new bordeaux

Bordeaux was officially declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in July 2007 ( http://www.decanter.com/news/127668.html ) and has since seen a rise in visitor numbers of around 25% according to figures from the Tourist Office at the end of 2008.

Unesco recognition is well known to enhance tourism and therefore the economic development of an area. In recognition of this, in 2008, the Unesco Heritage Center received a World Tourism Award for its outstanding achievements in the travel industry (for a very interesting look at this, read http://www.unausa.org/Page.aspx?pid=1334 )

The problem for Bordeaux are the plans to build a new bridge across the Garonne river in the city centre, between Bacalan and the Bastide. It is badly needed, because there is currently only one main bridge in the centre of town (in the photo below, and yes it is rather attractive, while the new one will be much more modern in design), and traffic is usually snarled up around it. But for the UNESCO committee, it will affect the look of the historical centre, that was awarded UNESCO status for its perfect preservation of its 18th century heritage.

Mayor Alain Juppe has said he favours the bridge over UNESCO, if he has to choose, but is doing everything he can to find a compromise. The local newspaper this morning reported that work may begin as early as September. Negociations with UNESCO took place throughout June (although reportedly Juppe came back early from one of the them in Spain so as not to miss the Fete de la Fleur, very sensible man). There were suggestions from UNESCO to create an underground tunnel between the two sides of the river rather than a bridge but that idea has been rejected because of cost, and also the effect on cylcists and pedestrians.

They have submitted new plans that modify the bridge and allow boats to pass underneath and is (they hope) more aesthetically pleasing, but are still waiting to hear what UNESCO decide.

As summer gets fully underway, I thought I would highlight another excellent wine tourism opportunity that is going on in Bordeaux this summer.

I spent last Friday afternoon, with my sister, father and our families, onboard the 'Coeur d'Estuaire' boat, on a three hour cruise around the Estuary from the Citadel de Blaye down to Bourg, where we got to eat an enormous platter of seasoof, and drink the lovely Chateau la Rose Belleuve with the owner Valerie Eymas ( www.chateau-larosebellevue.com ).

This cruise won the Jury Prize at the Best of Wine Tourism awards last year ( www.greatwinecapitals.com ), and I had wanted to try it ever since being at the awards ceremony and seeing Valerie and Jerome win. Last year they had a smaller boat, that was fully open. They decided this year to raise the stakes, and upped the boat to a small private motor-boat, about 15 metres, with a retractable sun cover and a sun deck (the definite highlight for the children on board).

This tour was 35 euros per person, plus 40 for the seafood platter - but the same company offers other excellent tours that are less expensive, such as the Balade Autour des Iles that is a guided tour around the monuments of the Estuary lasting just an hour for 12.50 euros, and a Balade Ile Margaux, which I want to try later in the summer. This one goes to the Ile Margaux, one of the small islands that you can see in the Estuary between the Medoc and Blaye, where there is a small wine estate, Chateau Tour de Castillon. This two hour trip stopes at the island and you get to do a tour of the winery, then leave with a bottle of wine. This tour is 38 euros per person with a picnic, 28 euros without.

Information on these tours www.coeurdestuaire.com , 06 82 17 58 22.

The new Sweet Bordeaux association (twitter followers, see @sweetbordeaux ), has had the excellent idea to group together its wine tourism offers for the rest of 2009.

Just to recap, the 11 appellations of moelleux and liquoreux wines of the region are Bordeaux supérieur, Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire, Graves Supérieures, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, Sainte-Foy Bordeaux, Cadillac, Cérons, Loupiac, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Barsac, Sauternes.

And the tourism on offer is:
May 16 to October 11 : contemporary art exhibition Chateau Guiraud in Sauternes. 40 works of art from major contemporary figures from the 1970s onwards (owned by bordelaise private collector Louis Nègre.
Free guided tour. Château Guiraud - ' 05 56 76 61 01 ; http://chateauguiraud.com

June 14 to September 15 : 'Sauternes au fil de l’eau'
Take a canoe trip along the Ceron river from the 'Base Nautique' at Bommes, for around one hour. Arrive at Domaine de Carbonnieu (AOC Sauternes) for visit and tasting.
Departures at 10h30 and 3pm, reserve at tourist office. 12 €/pers.
Langon : 11, Allées Jean Jaurès 33210 LANGON – ' 05 56 63 68 00 ; langon@sauternais-graves-langon.com
Sauternes : 11, Rue Principale 33210 SAUTERNES – ' 05 56 76 69 13 ; sauternes@sauternais-graves-langon.com

18July : Cinema night at Château Bastor-Lamontagne in Preignac
Drinks and snacks at 7.30pm (reserve ahead, 9,50€ per pers.) then free showing of Sideways.
Les Ateliers des Trois Rivières : Mairie 33210 Preignac - ' 05 56 76 86 29

August 21-23 : Walks through Cadillac
Animations, music, street theatre, Cadillac car rallies and wine tastings. Fireworks over the Garonne on Sunday night.
Free access. Informations : 05 56 62 12 92 ; http://baladesencadillac.free.fr

August 29-30 Medieval Weekend in Saint Macaire.
Free access except to banquets and tavern, which should be booked ahead. Programme sur le site http://www.medieval.dropt.org

Friday July 24 : Bielsa Family (variété) ; vendredi 31 juillet : New Bumpers (jazz band) ; vendredi 14 août : Groove Factory (jazz-rock) ; vendredi 21 août : Le Grand Ordinaire (fanfare). Office de Tourisme de St Macaire : 8 rue du canton 33490 Saint Macaire - ' 05 56 63 32 14 ; saintmacaire@entredeuxmers.com

Aug 29-30 : Harvest Sounds at Château Majoureau in Caudrot
Photographer Florence Moëgling and music group will be leading the show, from 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Vignobles Delong : Mathieu Delong ' 05 56 62 81 94 ; familledelong@hotmail.com

September and October, Harvest Weekends in Premières Côtes de Bordeaux et Cadillac
Cultural and wine discovery, take part in harvests, visit and stay in properties, visit the Cadillac Bastide 141 € par pers. Office de Tourisme de l’Entre-Deux-Mers ' 05 56 61 82 73 ; info@entredeuxmers.com

October 3-4 Journées "Chai ouvert" à la Cave de Quinsac
Cave de Quinsac ' 05 56 20 86 09 ; contact@cave-de-quinsac.com

Early October: Harvest Day at Château de Rolland in Barsac, from 9-4, take part in harvest, then tasting and lunch.
30 € par pers. Château de Rolland ' 05 56 27 15 02 ; info@chateauderolland.com

12-18 October: "Apprenti-vigneron" at Château Dauphiné-Rondillon in Loupiac. Workshop for children from 4 years old about viticulture and wine. Château-Dauphiné-Rondillon ' 05 56 62 61 75 ; info@vignoblesdarriet.fr

October 17-18: Open Doors Weekend, AOC Graves Supérieures
Maison des Vins de Graves ' 05 56 27 09 25 ; http://www.vins-graves.com

Autumn and Winter: Tasting Introductions at Cadillac.
Automne et hiver : initiation à la dégustation à Cadillac. 9-11am & 2-4pm http://www.closiere.com - Inscriptions : maisondesvins@closiere.com

http://www.sauternais-graves-langon.com

I heard today that the shortlist has been announced for the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2009, and am absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted.

The full shortlist this year is:

International Wine Feature Writer of the year 2009
Jane Anson
Articles from Decanter

Tim Atkin
Articles from Wine & Spirit; The Observer

Chris Losh
Articles from Imbibe

Margaret Rand
Articles from Decanter

International Wine Columnist of the Year 2009
Tim Atkin
Columns from OLN, The Observer and Intelligent Life

Michael Broadbent
Columns from Decanter

Robert Joseph
Columns from Meininger's Wine Business International

Joanna Simon
Columns from Classic FM Magazine and The Sunday Times

Louis Roederer Award for International Wine Book 2009
Neville Blech, Philip Williamson and David Moore
A Guide to the Wines of England and Wales

Kathleen Burk and Michael Bywater
Is this bottle corked?

Oz Clarke
Bordeaux

Robert Parker
The Wine Buyer's Guide (7th Edition)

Champagne Writer/ Presenter of the Year 2009

Giles Fallowfield
Articles from Harpers Wine & Spirit and The Drinks Business

Jane Parkinson
Articles from The Drinks Business

Tom Stevenson
Articles from Wine & Spirit, The World of Fine Wine
and Meininger's Wine Business International

John Stimpfig
Articles from Financial Times & How to Spend It

Online Wine Writer of the Year 2009

Julia Harding MW
Articles from www.jancisrobinson.com

Natalie MacLean
Articles from www.nataliemaclean.com

Neal Martin
Articles from www.erobertparker.com

Kate Thal
Articles from www.greenandbluewines.com

Regional Wine Writer of the Year 2009

Christine Austin
Articles from Yorkshire Post

Will Lyons
Articles from Scotsman on Sunday

Hamish Marett-Crosby
Programs from BBC Radio Jersey

Liz Sagues
Articles from Ham & High

Helen Savage
Articles from The Journal

The Panel of Judges
Victoria Moore
Author, Feature Writer and Wine Columnist
Simon Berry Chairman of Berry Bros & Rudd Ltd
Tom Cannavan Wine Writer and Journalist
Andrew Jefford, Journalist, Author and Presenter
Charles Metcalfe, Wine Writer, presenter, co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, Chairman of the Panel of Judges

The awards will be presented on Monday 7th September 2009 at The Gherkin,
30, St Mary Axe

I had a very interesting visit this morning with Pierre Antoine Casteja of the negociant company Joanne this morning. It was the first time that I had visited their offices, in Fargues St Hilaire just outside of Bordeaux (a very nice gourmet village on the outskirts of Entre deux Mers) with one of the best poissoneries in the Gironde) - and also the first time I had properly met the owner, although we happened to be sitting next to each other during the recent Masseto tasting at Vinexpo and it turned out that we both had a shared love of all things Japanese.

I was there to look at this new bonded warehouse, to be called Provenance in Bond (not Chateaux Bond as they had previously thought). Joanne are one of the investors in Bordeaux City Bond that I have written about recently, but have also decided to set up their own version. They already had extensive warehouse facilities at their offices, so clearly decided that they would be missing a trick if they didn't make the most of them.

The warehouse for the new project is 3,500m2, has three different systems of security, and like Bordeaux City Bond will cost 6 euros per case per annum to store wine, plus insurance. The thing that seems most attractive is that all wine will be insured at the price on the Place de Bordeaux, which is always pretty much the best highest price worldwide for older wines, and therefore very attractive for anyone storing their wine there.

The fact that there are now two very good alternatives for storing wine tax-free in Bordeaux (with surely plenty more on the way), will I feel sure change the dynamics of Bordeaux, and make it less of an archaic place for purely trading en primeur wines. In theory, it should make it a viable world-wide centre now for not only trading but storing and therefore re-selling wines over a longer period of time. And in a bonded warehouse where wine gets delivered with perfect traceability straight from the chateau, with no carbon footprint. So good to finally have an example of Bordeaux acting in a commercially-minded, modern manner!!

There is always one dinner at Vinexpo that you really wished you had made it to. Last time (2007) it was Chateau Haut Bailly's opening celebration, which is generally renowned as being the best opener in recent years (I didn't make the same mistake twice, and accepted their dinner invitation very quickly this year).

This Vinexpo, it was the Dîner Millésimes de Collection, held on June 23 at Château Angélus, where everyone ended up drinking Premier Grand Cru Classes of Saint Emilion from various old vintages of the 20th century, with food cooked by Michel Troisgros. I had decided to have a night off formal dinners and gone to the (very enjoyable) Clos des Quatres Vents in Margaux, but clearly missed the best night of the week...

Anyway, that dinner was the occasion for Eric d’Aramon, the President of the Groupement de Premiers Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Emilion to announce his departure. After 13 years at the head of the Groupement, which comprises twelve of the Saint-Emilion First Classified Growths, Eric d’Aramon, the Managing Director of Château Figeac, has decided to step down.

Hubert de Bouärd de Laforest, owner of Chateau Angelus, has been appointed as the new President. The new presidency will come into effect July 3. He stepped down as president of the St Emilion wine body a few years ago, and was clearly missing the local action!

I received this press release today from the Bordeaux Museum of Contemporary Art (the CAPC), and think it is worth reproducing in full, in support of the museum's (former) director and curators who are being affected by a judge who sounds to have not moved on from Lady Chatterley's Lover. It concerns an exhibition that was held at the excellent CAPC museum back in 2000.

"Presumed Innocents", the trial: 10 years later

Bordeaux Judge Reopens Decade-Old Child-Porn Charge Against Curators Marie-Laure Bernadac, Henry-Claude Cousseau, and Stéphanie Moisdon

Indicted at the end of 2006, after six years of investigations, a long period during which no element was produced that could have fed the prosecution (the specialized unit for minors and the rectorship gave a favourable opinion) and after the attorney general of Bordeaux called for a not guilty decision in march 2008, the trial judge Jean-Louis Crozier has just decided to refer before the magistrate's court Marie-Laure Bernadac, Henry-Claude Cousseau, and Stéphanie Moisdon, for having, within the exhibition entitled "presumed innocent- contemporary art and childhood " organized 2000 in the CAPC contemporary museum of art in Bordeaux exposed " violent and pornographic art works "*.

With this decision—which, in an extremely unusual move, disregards the conclusions of a Parquet investigation—the entire national and international artistic and professional community, together with the cultural image of France, have come under attack and stand accused, offended.

For the first time in France, two museum directors and a curator are to be tried in a criminal court for exhibiting works of art that have already been shown throughout the world or put on view since the Bordeaux exhibition in art shows that have not elicited the least unfavorable reaction from the public. The thinking that went into preparing the incriminated exhibition, focused on a major subject of art history, was developed collectively and was shared by the relevant state oversight authorities.

This court case from an earlier century, fiercely, relentlessly prosecuted by a single judge in contempt of artistic creation and individuals' right to accede freely to all forms of art, is indicative of a dangerous obscurantist attitude. The trial will take place in Bordeaux under pressure from a local child protection association named La Mouette, in turn supported by an extremist press that has already been found guilty of libel against one of the accused.

How is it possible that what is considered viewable and acceptable everywhere else should not be so in Bordeaux? What will be put on trial in the Bordeaux magistrates' court a few months from now is the work and personal and professional conviction of three figures of the world of art and culture unanimously recognized for their commitment to that world. They have already received thousands of messages of support from all horizons.

This attempt to "criminalize" artists and other actors for their creative work, together with the cultural sites that diffuse that work, requires us to be extremely vigilant about censorship of this kind, whose perpetrators are ever ready to use noble causes such as child protection to authoritarian, liberticidal ends.

* including works by Christian Boltanski, Gary Gross, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elke Krystufek, Carsten Höller, Annette Messager, Ugo Rondinone…..