Travel
France: Bordeaux uncorked
We drink in the French city of wine on a trip that takes note of the area's Jewish history
July 1, 2016 08:46
By
David Gerrie
3 min read
We drink in the French city of wine on a trip that takes note of the area's Jewish history
July 1, 2016 08:46By
David Gerrie
Mention Bordeaux to most people and they'll struggle to picture anything apart from a tempting glass of red. In fact, most Brits travelling through France give this beautiful city a miss altogether as they hare down to the south.
Which is odd, because Bordeaux has had stronger links with our nation than perhaps any other French city, dating back to the 12th century. To this day, the city is twinned with Bristol, due largely to the wine trade and only we Brits refer to Bordeaux wines as claret, a legacy of the historic description used here, "clairet".
Bordeaux also has a Jewish history dating back to the destruction of the Second Temple, with a first wave of immigrants followed by others in the 6th and 7th centuries, thriving for more than 500 years. Jews were never expelled wholesale in the Middle Ages and the population expanded following the Inquisition. Although the Second World War took its toll, the Jewish population is now higher than in the 1940s and the city's Great Synagogue is one of the largest in France, with 1,500 seats.
If you love Paris but find it a bit big and busy, you'll adore Bordeaux, not least because it has the capital's broad, sweeping scale with elegant squares and boulevards flanked by impressive slate-roofed buildings. Wide open spaces balance small hidden squares and the majestic Garonne river splits the city into Left and Right banks.
While "a la Bordelaise" may not have the impact of some of the country's more esteemed gastronomic capitals, its geographical location gives it access to most of the gourmet delights we associate with la belle France, meaning you're able to eat your way through all your French cookbooks without having to drive thousands of miles to do so.
Getting there
Voyages-sncf.com serves Bordeaux from London by high-speed rail from £111 return.
Rooms at the Grand Hotel cost from €600 (£502), at La Course from €180(www.lacourse-bordeaux.fr).
The Estuary Jump package to discover the Medoc and right bank wines combines stays at Chateau Cordeillan-Bages, in Pauillac with its two-Michelin-star restaurant and l'Hostellerie de Plaisance, in Saint-Emilion, with one star.
Two nights half board including visits to two prestigious wine estates costs from €1,258 for two.
There's a good reason most people know Bordeaux for its reputation as the wine buffs' Holy Grail. With 10,500 winemakers, 8,000 properties and 16,000 different wines produced in an area 4.6 times the size of Burgundy, it accounts for 2.5 per cent of the world's wine output. The area is home to 14 per cent of all French vineyards, the largest of any region, and one in every six Bordelais works in the wine trade.
Until recently, the region has also seemed a good deal snootier and less accessible than areas like the Beaujolais, Alsace, the Rhone and even Burgundy.
And while it's true the opportunities for tasting anything that's anywhere near decent are less common than elsewhere in France, increasing and very serious competition from global rivals mean the vignerons of Bordeaux are becoming much more outward-looking than in the past.
The latest embodiment is the new Cite de Vin, which opened in May this year. A stunning gold futuristic museum full of interactive modules, including one detailing the link between wine and Shabbat, this tour through the world's wine cultures is aimed very much at the e-generation. Its crowning glory is the Belvedere, with a 360 degree panoramic view out over Bordeaux, its city and vineyards. And of course there's the chance to taste a glass from one of the world's best wine regions, with a constantly changing selection of 20 bottles to choose from.
Together with the city's sleek, snaking tram network and massive investment in the regeneration of the riverfront area, it's hoped to
replicate the "Guggenheim Effect" experienced by Bilbao in the wake of Gehry's construction there.
As to dining, while far from cheap, it's best to stick to places with a history, so try Le Chapon Fin,with its eccentric mix of fin de siecle and Disneyland grotto, or the sheer theatre of a grill-side seat at La Tupina, where almost everything is cooked over an ancient wood-fired stove.
The five-star InterContinental Grand Hôtel Bordeaux is the city's grand dame and as luxe as you'd expect. It's handily placed right next door to L'Intendance, Bordeaux's premier wine shop and ideal for exploring the old city centre, discovering enchanting squares like Place du Parlement, Place St Pierre, Place Fernand Laffarge and Place Camille Julian. Don't miss the magnificent "water mirror" in front of the Place de la Bourse, which reflects back one of the world's great 18th-century facades of golden stone. For an altogether less formal but equally elegant stay, try the exquisite La Course guesthouse, a short hop from the city centre with its own hammam (steam room).
You'll need wheels to discover Bordeaux's stunning winescapes, with the vines reaching down to the roadside and hallowed names cropping up with almost the same frequency as road signs. Blink and you'll miss a fleeting glimpse of the tiled roof of Chateau Margaux, one of only five growers to have the classification of Premier Cru bestowed upon it. Should you wish to impress the folks back home, the other four are Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Latour and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild.
This is one game of I Spy that's worth raising a glass to.
