Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Meal, rugby and classification

Friday evening, interview for a new internet site selling wine created by a group of young and passionate people. We promptly invited them for dinner in our house as well as a friend of ours, who owns a property in Pomerol, Joëlle. We made her change her plans and instead of going to her place, as originally planned, we asked her to join us for dinner. All in all, we were 11 for dinner which Murielle prepared in 2 hours!

Well, people who know us already know that Murielle cooks very well, and especially with ease and quickly, and always with pleasure. So, we had a fun meal, joyous, good served with a few wines, for work: Bel Air Ouÿ 2000, Virginie de Valandraud 2001, Valandraud 1999, a Egly-Ouriet Champagne, a Malbec produced by J.N Boidron (Bonbec), a very good Montviel 2000 (the Pomerol from our friend), and to please this group of young people, 2 wines older than them: Château Rouget 1962, OK for its age and a good Balestard La Tonelle 1959; a Amontillado from Spain, served with the chocolate desert to surprise everyone (and it worked).

Saturday evening, we were invited by one of our banks (Société Générale) to a meal at the Chamber of Commerce of Bordeaux. 300 people attended this quality meal. Afterwards, we all went by bus escorted by the motorcycles from the police to the Chaban-Delmas stadium to attend, with 33500 other spectators, the match Australia-Canada, for the Rugby World Cup, which Australia won easily. It was the first time I attended a game and I was astonished to see so many people so in tune with the players on the field, and all of this in a friendly atmosphere, without any aggressiveness. Bravo for rugby!

Murielle and I ran into a good number of colleagues including important ones. This is proof that this sport has a real local values.
Sunday, we had lunch with my parents in-law and drank a delicious Calandray 2004. In the evening, we had dinner at Haut-Carles with a few friends and pulled the big guns: Puligny-Montrachet Prieurs 2001, Pavie 1999 (delicious, refined), Haut-Carles 1999, Lynch Bages 1998 (delicious), Rauzan Segla 1998, Lafleur 1989 (very very good), Léoville Las Cases 1989 and an old Port, 1981 from Croft (I believe).

The Sud-Ouest published a whole page by a local critic on the last Saint Emilion classification and its cancellation. I didn’t think much of it. In my opinion, Sud-Ouest should have asked these questions to a personality outside the Bordeaux microcosm. I am part of the group that thinks that this classification was not so bad ( even though I wasn’t selected) and I am surprised that the ones who are contesting the results and the rules didn’t contest them before registering. Bizarre, as they didn’t even have to pay to participate… It is a bit silly to contest when the decision is not going our way, especially when you get a bad note, but I know many people who only approve the publi-reports, and in wine like in other places, there won’t be a lack of supporters for the oppressed… Still I believe that it would be hard to prove why the bad note was not deserved and I think that nothing stops you from presenting again in 10 years: We’re not talking about the 1855 classification! (check out the comments made by François Mauss on the site of the Grand Jury European)

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