Collecting the en primeur from Bordeaux

Clifford Mould used this as a tenuous excuse for a five day gastro tour!

When the patient lady from the negociants Dourthe Freres rang to ask if I was ever going to come and collect the two cases of Chateau La  Garde 1995 I had bought back in 1996, I thought the time was ripe for a trip to Bordeaux. Of course you don't have to collect the wine in person, but it seemed like a good excuse to see if my recent disappointments  with restaurants in France were justified. Earlier in the year we had experienced indifferent food in both Collioure and Prades, near Perpignan. In May we had some of the worst meals ever, in the pretty little river side town of Caudebec on the Seine. Even a  smartish looking fish restaurant on the promenade at Le Treport turned out to be an ordinary, tourist-trap of a place.

This time I was determined to make no mistakes, so I looked up the web site of Small Luxury Hotels of the World,  and picked out three interesting looking places that claimed to combine luxuriously appointed rooms, both public and private, with stylish cuisine. If you can catch a very early ferry or train across the channel, it is just about possible to reach Bordeaux in one leg, but we decided to break the journey in the Loire Valley at Montbazon just to the South of Tours. Only 20 minutes from the A10 autoroute is the lovely Chateau d'Artigny, built in the grand Loire style by the legendary parfumier Francois Coty.  The public rooms are very grand indeed, but the dining room, although opulent, is on a comfortable scale that's not too overwhelming. The views across the river are stunning. Our dinner there was truly memorable, a dining experience I shall always treasure. Chef Francis Maignaut manages to combine classic restraint with subtle spicing and a modern edge that is really attractive. Highlights of the meal were the foie gras, quennelles of pike, and local chicken whose flavour took me back to childhood. Click here for more details of the mouth watering menus at Chateau d'Artigny. 

After breakfast we were back on the road towards Bordeaux. From Montbazon, we stayed on the fast N10 as far as Poitiers to save a few Euros' worth of motorway tolls. We happened to stop at the wayside Aire de Lozay just before Jn34 South of Poitiers. It has a beautifully landscaped garden of sculptures, facsimiles of carvings from the famous Romanesque churches of thebSaintonge district. The commentaries in English are clear and informative; indeed, the whole project is imaginatively civilised - I wonder if it would last un-vandalised for more than a week in a motorway service area in England?

Somehow we hit Bordeaux a little unexpectedly, and missed the turning off the A10 onto the northern sector of the ring road which is called the Rocade. We were headed for Margaux, but the famous wine villages are not signposted at all from the motorway. Take the Rocade in the direction of Merignac, signed for the airport, and come off at the exit for Blanquefort. Once through Blanquefort on the D2, the magic begins to unfold, and the great names of the Margaux Crus are signposted in all directions.

We were headed for the Relais de Margaux, which is the best known hotel in the area with a formidable reputation for good food as well as for all the luxuries of a recently upgraded hotel. It was built on the site of a small chateau, next door to Chateau Margaux itself, but closer to the river. I was surprised to see open pastures all round the property, until it was explained that its river bank location meant that the old vineyards were prone to flooding and thus the wines were inferior. Extensive addition to the property means that the rooms are modern with luxurious bathrooms. Unfortunately we happened to choose one of only two nights in the post New Year low season when the chef had a short break, so we were unable to try his cooking. However, I did sit down with the manager who took me through the menu. Details of the cuisine and menus at Le Relais de Marguax are available only a click away! The management kindly booked us in for dinner at the Restaurant St Julien, just up the road past the grand pile of Chateau Beychevelle. This hostellerie is a favourite with the local chatelains and wine makers, who bring their own bottles, free of corkage. The following evening, we were to regret trying this trick, as we found a swingeing 25Euro charge had been added to our bill!

The breakfast dining room at the Relais de Margaux is bright and airy and the buffet was substantial (wonderful scrambled eggs cooked to order. We were thus well set up for a morning visit and tasting at the twin Margaux Grands Crus properties of Chateau Giscours and Chateau du Terte. After a snack lunch, we headed off South of Bordeaux to  Martillac in Pessac-Leognan and to our next Hotel, the Sources de Caudalie. 

This new hotel is the achievement of the remarkably enterprising Cathiard family, who acquired the Grand Cru property Smith-Haut-Lafitte in 1990. Apart from pouring carefully targetted investment into the wine business, they have built a luxury hotel from scratch which appears to have been there since time immemorial, as imaginative use has been made of reclaimed materials. We stayed in one of a collection of recreated traditional Graves farm buildings that cluster round a lake where swans were paddling about on the ice. There are two restaurants, the fine dining room was closed, but there was a warm welcome for us in the more informal barn - "La Table du Lavoir",with its great open chimney and roaring fire of vine prunings.  Here there is a simple but well prepared selection of rustic dishes at 30 Euros for three courses, but watch out: the house wine of Smith-Haut-Lafitte comes in at a hefty 12.50 Euros a glass.  In the afternoon I had a tour of  Smith-Haut-Lafitte, and I tasted both the red and white wines. The standard here is absolutely top drawer - the Cathiards have made a huge impact, of this there can be no doubt. Click for a detailed review of Les Sources de Caudalie and Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte

 After another good breakfast we were  on the road by 8am with no fixed abode to go to that night. We made good progress and could have reached Calais comfortably if it hadn't been for quite foggy conditions almost as far as Paris. But we had planned for last night, and at 4pm we left the A1 just after the Compiegne exit, taking the N17 North. In about half an hour we reached a little town called Roye, which announced itself as une ville de gastronomie. That'll do, we said, and pulled over at the Hotel Central with its restaurant Le  Florentin. Here at last was the great bargain that all my friends rave about, but always seems to elude me. Okay, so we had to walk up three flights of stairs to our quiet back room with two double beds and a WC and shower en suite. We were able to put the car in the hotel garage, and the charge for the room was 40 Euros. Chef Patron Francis Devaux and his wife run a charming restaurant that was clearly popular with the locals. We had an outstanding meal including excellent wine and brandies. The total bill for dinner, drinks, room and breakfast came to 75Euros a head. M. and Mme Devaux, you've restored my faith in French hospitality! Read all about it here.

It was dwon hill all the way to Calais, where we had plenty of time to browse (and buy) at Perardel, East Enders and the new Majestic operated wine warehouse. We were sad to find Le Channel was closed for annual holidays, but La Sole Mueniere next door seems to be going from strength to strength. Their oysters were plump and fresh, and the melange of fresh grilled fish brought our gastronomic tour to a satisfying conclusion.

Clifford Mould January 2003

Factfile:

Chateau D'Artigny
37250 Montbazon, France
Tel: +33 0 2 47 34 30 30
Fax +33 0 2 47 34 30 39
http://www.artigny.com

Relais de Margaux
Chemin de l'Ile Vincent, Margaux 33460 France
Tel: +33 0 5 57 88 38 30
Fax +33 0 5 57 88 31 73
http://www.relais-margaux.fr

Les Sources de Caudalie
Chemin de Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Martillac, Bordeaux 33650 France
Tel:  +33 0 5 57 83 83 83
Fax: +33 0 5 57 83 83 84
http://www.sources-caudalie.com

Restaurant Le Saint-Julien
2 Rue des Acacias, Place St Julien
33250 Beychevelle
Tel:  +33 0 5 56 59 63 87
Fax: +33 0 5 56 59 63 89

Hotel Central and Restaurant Le Florentin
36 Rue d'Amiens, Roye, Somme France
tel: +33 0 3 22 87 11 05