If you enjoy French wine, you will recognize the name St. Emilion as one of the more famous appellations for red wine coming from the Bordeaux region of France. Lisa and I recently had the joy of visiting the small medieval town of St. Emilion, which lies just east of Bordeaux in the southwest part of France. Whether you like wine or not, a trip to a place like St. Emilion can be extraordinary.
Contrary to what many people seem to think, driving in a foreign country, especially in western Europe, is not difficult. In many ways the system of highways (autoroutes) in the developed countries of Europe is superior to our own, and I heartily recommend renting a car and taking your chances. It allows exploration of places like St. Emilion, which you simply cannot experience any other way.
As we approached St. Emilion from the northeast, the roads became progressively smaller, until finally it felt like we were driving on the back country roads of Lancaster County. Instead of cornfields and dairy farms, however, we encountered row after row of grapevines, as far as the eye could see, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Just on the outskirts of town we came upon a small proprietary vineyard and stopped to have a look. Although the door was locked, my tap on the door was met by an older gentleman who invited us in and offered a taste (“degustation”) of some of his recent vintages. He quickly returned with several glasses and bottles from his 1996, 1997 and 1998 production.
The French take their wine seriously, and you could sense the great pride this gentleman had in opening his door to us. He showed us his maturation rooms (new oaks barrels lying on their sides spanning the room from end to end) as well as his bottling arrangement. His annual production was just over 20,000 bottles, a tiny operation by any standard.
So how was the wine? Each of the three vintages qualified as grand cru classe wines, and all were excellent. The cost? About 15 Euros ($13.50 at today’s exchange rate). The equivalent wine purchased in the United States would cost at least three times as much. But you can’t buy this man’s wine in the United States. As with so many small producers in France, the cost of exportation is prohibitive.
I now have several bottles of fine St. Emilion in my wine cabinet, just waiting for the right moment to be opened so that we can relive a truly memorable experience in the Bordeaux wine country.
— Kevin Palmer