Ninth experience ... Vinset !

Hi friends! As you saw in our last posts we love hanging out in wine bars in the Saint-Pierre area. And as we were never really disappointed we decided to go again and this time we went to a special place called « Vinset » close to the church on the Saint Pierre place.

The inside of this bar is refined and modern and very laid back which put us in the convenient mood for our new tasting. Look for yourself! You just want to go in and have a glass:

As we said this place is special, and why, because it is one of the few wine bars in Bordeaux where you can have a personalized wine tasting course and on top of this Vinset offers take out gastronomic food and wine! Perfect when you are not in the mood to cook and not in the mood for a fast food by nice a refined food!

Vinset has no less than 30 different wines by the glass ranging from 3 to 8€ a glass which is similar to all the other wine bars we did. And in order to not be narrow minded on only one region, wines from the South Ouest of France or Champagne can be bought! And as all the other wine bars you can have some tapas of meat, cheese or even seafood! Ok we kind or always repeat ourselves with this tapas thing but it is the perfect idea to make people stay longer and order more wine!

In the mood of tasting nice wines, we decided to taste two wines that the waiter advised us. These ones we served by the bottle no high tech machine. Yes everyone has switched to serving tapas, but not everyone is decided to buy the machines yet..

Our experience: 

1. Château Bernateau 2006: Saint Emilion Grand Cru

Yes as the end of the year is approaching for us students we have decided to offer ourselves a Grand Cru Classé to celebrate! The wine was complex, fruity with a piece of cloves, the whole was long in the mouth.

2. The Dada Rouillac, Pessac Léognan 2010:

This wine is the second wine of the very famous Château Rouillac which we always see beautiful adds on the French wine press with a beautiful landscape and horses! This is why this wine is called this way as dada means little horse in French and as the owner loves horses! The nose is smoky, wired to say but it is in fact barbecue sauce aromas that we felt… but also more typical ones such as ash: you know this aroma you smell in tobacco boxes.  

Location: 27 rue des bahutiers, 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: Wine bar by the glass, by the bottle, special tastings courses, take out

Budget: 3€ to 8€ the glass

Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday: 7pm to 1am

Telephone number: 09 52 19 09 37

Special services: Wine courses, take out food and wine

Web site: http://www.vinset.fr

Eighth experience ... La Robe

This week your taste buds have decided to honor ... women! The perfect place to do this: “La Robe”, a wine that only serves wines created by women! This bar/restaurant located in front of the “mirroir d’eau”, is born of the of owner’s Alain desire to mix two of his passions: wine and women.

In this way, your two taste bud girls decided to offer themselves a feminine tasting this week and what a choice we had! In all 51 red wines among the very famous Château Troplong Mondot (Saint Emilion Grand Crus Classé), Château La Clotte (Saint-Emilion Grand Crus Classé) Château Talbot…, 14 rosés, 16 white wines, 6 sweet wines and 2 champagnes!

The colors of this bar are very girly without being too much, it is a place where we feel … good. 

Not only wines, but tapas are also proposed at “La Robe” for roughly 5 euros, a good starter before eating in their restaurant that offers affordable meals for only 20€ including starter, main course and dessert! On the menu: Roast beef, Beef tartare, lamb chops, stew of leeks and duck fillet, tuna steak…miam!

Our experience:

1. Château les Palais, red, Corbières, Anne de VOLENTAT BACHELET

Red cherry color with red crystallized fruits and slight pepper aroma felt to the nose and to the mouth. To the mouth the tannins are smooth, the hole is aromatic and full. Perfect to pair with a spicy dish!

2. Mas Karolina, red, Côtel Catalanes, created by Caroline BONVILLE

The syrah present in this wine gives a spicy nose that is also toasted with red fruit aromas and … coconut! To the mouth the texture is silky the tannins are suave and the fruits ripe due to the present of Grenache a very fruity a creamy grape variety.

Bye Bye Machism…women do make great wines !

To sum: this place is perfect for a girls night out! The place is cozy and girly and the ambiance is jazzy. The prices are more than affordable! Great women temple! This special place also offers many special events such as meetings with the wine growers ! 

Next special event: special meal for Valentines day ! Check out the meal on their website and reserve fast ... 

Location: 3 Quai Louis XVIII, 33000 Bordeaux
Concept: Wine bar composed of wines only made by women, restaurant

Budget: 20€

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday : 3pm to 11pm

Telephone number: 05 56 69 04 80

Special services: wine tastings with the wine grower

Web site: www.la-robe.fr/

Seventh experience...Wine More Time

Once again we have decided to find the sun in a cold Bordeaux night, and this is why your taste buds crossed the door of the “Wine More Time” a “bodega” in the heart of the Place Camille Julian owned by Alexandre Lahitte and Jean Astruc.

This “Bodega” atmosphere wine bar has more than 350 wine references as well as 70 different beers and spirits! What a large choice we had there...and at a very affordable price: in fact roughly 4€ for a glass of wine.

The inside of the bar is very chic thanks to the leather sofa's and typical white stones. Seeking for some coziness were fell inside the comfortable sofas and started are 100% Bordeaux wine tasting. This week, we wanted to try two wines from the same soil and the same vintage the only thing that changes is the blend, and you will see the difference of tastings just because of this 10% changes of the grape variety.

Our experience:

1. Château Haut-Chaigneau 2009 – AOC Lalande de Pomerol – red (4,50€): 

This blend from 90% Merlot Noir and 10% Cabernet Franc has been aged in French oak barrels for 12 months. The nose shows enjoyable flower aromas and ripe fruits. To the mouth the wine is full bodied with lovely polished tannins and a very nice structure. Lovely length and class to this wine. A very nice Lalande de Pomerol!

2. Château l’Archange 2009 – AOC Saint Emilion – red (5,00€):

Just like the Lalande de Pomerol this 100% merlot Noir wine has been aged 12 months in new oak barrels. The beauty of wine is here: Lalande de Pomerol is very close to Saint Emilion but the wines that arise are opposites: To the nose we have black liquorice and aniseed aromas. To the mouth this full bodied wine has fine tannins and a long finish. This wine is delicious and really well balanced.

Like many wine bar now, tapas can be enjoyed with your glass of wine: cold cuts, cheese, foie gras... from 10 to 16€ the plate.

And what about the “Bodega” spirit?

Many events are organized such as tastings of different regions and countries: Portuguese night or Spanish night etc. But not only this wine bar also organizes meetings with wine growers mainly from Bordeaux. These meetings with the wine-makers are a blast to discover a new vineyard through their eyes and learn more about wine: how it is mad how to taste it etc!

To sum: A great place to spend time with friends. Charming wine bar, in the town center of Bordeaux that mixes Bordeaux and Spanish style. This very chic bar is great by its diversity of prices and wines, from all over France and wines by the glass! This was a great place to come and try wines. Our impressions are that even if you have the same wine from the same vintage, with the same soil and only 10% change in the blend, it could be a wine totally different in terms of taste.

Location: 8 Rue Saint-James, 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: Wine, Beer and Spirits bar

Budget: 20-25€

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday : 3pm to 11pm

Telephone number: 05 56 52 85 61
Web site: http://winemoretime.blogspot.fr/

And Happy Birthday to those who are born on the 3rd of february ;) 

Sixth experience...La Cantina

As the weather outside was reaching the 0 degrees, we decided to warm up and headed for the Corsica sun and heat! And that is why are way led us to the “A cantina Comptoir Corse” in rue Bahutiers near the famous “Place Camille Julian”. What a great way to travel in another wine region of France that some tend to forget but hides beautiful treasures.

This 100% Corsica place, holds a typical wine bar downstairs and a typical restaurant upstairs.  As we walked inside the wine bar we traveled miles away to one of this Corsica place’s we see on television. Judge by yourself:

The wine card is incredible: 27 red wines, 22 white wines and 8 rosés. The wines are all available by the bottle and 3/4^th are available by the glass: prices from 4€ to 5€ for a generous portion! In all 57 different references from the famous AOC’s: Calvi, Patrimonio, Sartene etc. To fulfill the experience, these wines can be paired with Corsica cheese and Corsica cold cuts for roughly 15€ the plate. The restaurant offers a typical and complete meal (entrée + main dish + deserts) for 27€.

As “Get it up for Love” was playing (Ned Doheny) a band was setting up for the concert of the night: Corsica band of course, just like all the bands that come here once a month. 

Our experience

1. AOC Ajaccio – Clos Capitoro (4,50€) 2010 – red

Very deep ruby color. The nose is toasted with hints of leather. To the mouth the wines tannins are soft, the wine is well balanced and light. Dark fruit aromas are found such as abundant toasted aromas. A little green pepper. Great discovery! Perfect wine for lovers of light wines.

2. AOC Corse Calvi – Domaine Maestracci E prove (5€) 2009 – red

The wines color is also very dark and ruby. Cold tobacco, spices and crystallized dark fruits are found in the nose. The attack is greedy, rich and very tannic. This is the perfect wine for lovers of very tannic wines not too fruity and light.

3. AOC Patrimonio – Domaine Santini (4.50€) 2009 – red

The wines color is very deep, same ruby color as the two other appellations. The nose is fruity while smoky. To the palate the wine is very light and fruity. The wine is a little bitter because young but shows a potential future. Will be perfect in a year or two for lover of fruity wines.

To sum: In a way this wine bar and restaurant is the perfect place to go to taste good wines we don’t usually drink. Moreover the experience is completed with the Corsica food: we highly recommend the cold cuts buy the way…but also the music. Nice place to discover the beautiful region of Corsica and warm up during winter time.

Location: 14 rue de Bahutiers 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: Corsica bar and restaurant

Budget: 20-30€

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 7pm to 1am

Telephone number: 07 87 04 28 97

Special services: Corsica wines and food, Corsica bands

Web site: www.comptoir-corse.fr

Fifth experience...Oenolimit

For our fifth Bordeaux wine bar experience we have decided to change completely this time and show you an associative wine bar: no outstanding furniture (random chairs and tables) and no high-tech machine, but what a great place we discovered …

More traditional, this wine bar has an actual wine card very rich in content: wines from Bordeaux, Grands Crus Classés, wines from Burgundy, Loire Valley, Languedoc Roussillon, Champagne, Rhone Valley, South-West of France, Rosés, Wine in Tube AND MANY MORE! All these wines can be bought online or in the wine shop to carry back home! For those who want to drink in the bar, these same wines can be drank by the glass or even the bottle for those who want a full experience! The glasses of wines are well filled for really reasonable prices going from 3€ to 8€ the glass.

The owner is very nice and he selects the music from his own MacBook, and sometimes he even lets the customers put their own music on! Usually the music chosen is a selection of Jazz and Soul which enters completely in agreement with the inside atmosphere: old stones of Bordeaux and old oak barrels which are used for the tastings. 

Finally tapas are proposed at a very reasonable price (less than 10 Euros) of “pâté de campagne”, “mousse de canard”, sausage, cheese etc.  

Not only in the back of the wine bar is a pool table for those who want to play a game! And it is also possible to play board games in this wine bar, what makes the atmosphere friendlier.

Our experience :

1. Domaine Yann Chave – Crozes-Hermitage 2010 – red

4,5€ the glass, 22,5€ for the bottle:

A unique grape variety 100% Shiraz. It is an excellent Crozes-Hermitage, supple in the mouth, fresh, fruity with a nice acidity. Its purple color and its spicy aromas remind the tipicity of the Shiraz. This wine is really well-balanced and good for ageing at least for 5 years up to 10 years.

2. Vouvray – La Richaudière 2003 – Loire valley – 3€ the glass, 12,5€ the bottle:

Half dry white wine from the Loire Valley, delicate nose, with notes of white flowers, fruits and anise. In the mouth the wine is very round due to its content in sugar. The final is fresh. Good length with some fat, elegant wine. Perfect for an aperitif or accompanied with tapas!

Location: 2 rue Ayres, 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: associative bar, wine bar, wine shop, art previews

Budget: 20€

Opening Hours: all week long 12pm to 12am

Telephone number: 05 57 88 34 19

Special services: wine by the glass, wine shop, tapas, music, wine tastings, previews

Web site: www.loenolimit.com : online purchase

Fourth experience...Bu!

After a couple days of vacation where your favorite taste buds travelled all around France: Paris, Limoges and Caen, we are now back in the beautiful wine city of … Bordeaux! Next stop the wine bar « Bu » (« drank » in French) near the place Camille Julian and the very famous Kebab place « Coluche » if you are in the mood of a good Kebab… 

This one is very similar to the “vOv” and “Aux 4 coins du vin” because just like them, "Bu" has the famous machines that allow doing wines by the glass. And just like them the same credit card is used where you can put the amount you want to spend on wine. This made us think that this machine is the future as more and more wine bars are buying it. Of course it is an expensive machine but wines last longer once opened.

Though, even if the wine bars are starting to have this machine their concept differs one from another. What is very different at « Bu » is the presence of « VINI-ettes » (in French « wine » thumbnails) that refer to the taste of each wine in order to guide the customer on which wine is the best suited for him!

32 references of wines by the glass are proposed and 100 by the bottle. The prices of wines by the glass start at 1,6€, a very attractive price, and go up to 14€.

Once the wine is ordered you can pair it with the “MIAM” products: plates of cheese, cold cuts, antipasti, “foie gras” and also meals such as fish and meat. Prices go up to 18€.

Our experience:

1. MOOIPLAAS – South Africa / Langtafel (Sauvignon Blanc – Chenin Blanc) 2009 - white

This is the first time we try together a South African wine, this one was very good with its floral nose and complexity in the mouth. The wine is thick and supple, and at the same time fresh with a vivid finish.

2. MOMO – New Zealand / Domaine SERESIN (Pinot Noir) 2009 - red

As first experiences never come alone, we also tasted a biodynamic wine: our first time! The aromas to the nose remind cherry aromas, leather and spice. This wine shows its strength by its black fruit aromas, toasted sensation and tannins. 

3. REMHOOGTE – South Africa / Remhoogte Estate (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage) 2006 – red

This wine vinified by the famous wine-maker Michel Rolland, has a fruity nose with smoked aromas and liquorices. To the mouth the same aromas are found. The wine has an enjoyable fresh finish. 

To summ: « Bu » is a modern and « laid-back » wine bar that proposes many wines by the glass at affordable prices. The concept of the « VINI-ettes » is very helpful for the customer who can in this way experience “Bu” and the wines without the help of the staff. Combined with a plate of “MIAM”, « Bu » is an experience to … experience! 

Location: 5 rue du Pas Saint Georges 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: wine bar, wine by the glass, tapas, restaurant

Budget: 30€

Opening Hours: 

At night : Tuesdays to Saturday 6pm to 2am

At lunch: Monday to Friday 12pm to 2pm

Telephone number: 05 56 52 87 48

Special services: wine by the glass, tapas, music, wine tastings

Web site: www.baravin-bu.fr 

Xmas special #3 ... Final Stop Caen !

We hope you had a good time in following us in our wine bar experience out of Bordeaux. Our final stop Caen, the capital of Normandy!

Let’s say Caen is not renowned for its high number of wine bars, in fact less than 5 wine bars are in Caen, but is hidden in these 5 wine bars an incredible place: Le Piano à Vins.

Le Piano à Vins is born of an original idea of its owner Benoit Leneveu. It is in 2008 that he decided to launch a restaurant/wine shop/wine bar: first time in the region! The idea is that a client can come in just to buy a bottle of wine, or he can come in, buy a bottle of wine open it and drink it with some homemade meals. This original place hides over 250 different wines, which makes it the restaurant/wine bar/wine shop with the most references in Caen. 250 different bottles can then be opened and on top of this roughly 10 wines are proposed by the glass: these ones change every week! On the wine-list Champagne, grands crus, wines from all the wine regions of France, Spanish wines, wines from Chili, Argentina and also Calvados!

What surprised us from all the places we went to before was the inside. In fact difference “ambiances” were conceived responding two different targets: 

- traditional tables for families
- tables for two for couples
- high-stools in front of the bar for people coming alone and wiling to talk with the owner and chef that are on the other side
- a special table in the corner of the room with sofas for those coming for the “aperitif”

We then decided to “grab a bottle in the wine shop” and went to the sofas to open it: 

Château Dubois Challon “Fleur Amandine”, Bordeaux white, 2009 (11.90€). In fact we decided to open a bottle from Bordeaux but only because the story behind it is original: this Bordeaux white wine is very particular by its fermentation and barrel ageing. Unlike many Bordeaux wines this wine is part fermented and aged in American oak barrels!

The color of this wine is light yellow the tints are silver. The nose is aromatic with vanilla and coconut aromas (due to American oak) such as white flowers, almonds, white peach and wood. This wine is very fine. To the mouth the attack is fresh, the wine has texture and a great balance. The same aromas of the nose are found in the mouth. An incredible wine very different thanks to the barrel ageing in American oak! To be tasted!

As the owner has a past as a sommelier, he is the perfect person to help you pair your wine with his homemade food. On the menu tapas, main dishes, appetizers, cheese and desserts: all home made… His suggestion with this wine: goat cheese, tuna kebab, salmon cooked with almonds, filet mignon cooked with cream (very nomand :p) and tarte tatin. The prices of the tapas are roughly 10€, 15€ for a main dish, 7€ for deserts and appetizers. Wine bottles start at 5€. 

And where is the Piano with all of this? Well twice a month a band comes in to play: jazz bands, piano players etc! Reserve before!  

To sum: very unique place in the heart of Caen. Large choice of wines starting at 5€ a bottle. Very good homemade food perfect to pair with the wines. Good advice. Great place for appetizers, lunch and dinner. Twice a month bands come to play. With all of this why wouldn’t you step inside the Piano?

Location: 11 rue de Courtonne 14 000 Caen

Concept: wine bar, wine shop, restaurant

Budget: 30€

Opening Hours: 

Tuesday to Saturday: 12pm to 3pm and 8pm to 11pm

Telephone number: 02 31 44 85 22

Special services: wine by the glass, tapas, concerts, wine shop

Web site: www.lepianoavin.com