Bordeaux: Chateau De Pressac Tour.

With so many vineyards in the Bordeaux region, and then taking into account which division within the region you want to go to (St. Emilion, Medoc or Graves), trying to decide where to go can be overwhelming.

When I did my wine tour in Cape Town last month, I was able to get through six vineyards in one day. But this is because I was traveling solo. And my guide was efficient in knowing which were the fun ones to go to. With the wine education class in the morning in Bordeaux, we had time for two vineyard stops in the afternoon.

Our first was to the Chateau de Pressac.

This was our educator and guide, Stefane. He is originally from Bordeaux, but has lived in many places. He was an awesome. In front of him lies the Chateau de Pressac.  It is incredibly old.

I can't recall exactly how old off of the top of my head. But the chateau was purchased in the 1990s (I believe) by a gentlemen who owned grocery stores in France.  He and his family live on the vineyard, which produces a red blend of wines... Mostly Merlot; but also blended with Cabernet Franc, Malbec...  And something else I can't recall.

The art in the courtyard felt very Native American to me. It reminded me of Arizona, though I was all the way in France.

The grapes were harvested in the Fall, around late October. Typically, they are harvested earlier than that. But there was a lot of rain and not much sunshine last year. So the grapes sat a little longer.

The owner also has gone into the barrel production business. Barrels typically are used for three years, then are done away with. So the owner is smart in looking to this new business line.

After touring the property, we sat down to taste two bottles.

Both were good. One was from 2008, and the other from 2009. I preferred the one form 2009. That was, we were told, a "sunnier year" for the harvest.

After this, we toured a small village before moving onto our next vineyard.