{"id":2378,"date":"2018-11-01T15:35:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T15:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venividiedi.net\/?p=2378"},"modified":"2018-11-01T15:35:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T15:35:25","slug":"the-bordeaux-wine-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.venividiedi.net\/?p=2378","title":{"rendered":"The Bordeaux Wine Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came upon this amazing wine tour by pure luck and determination as I spent countless hours scouring the interwebs on French chateau experience coupled with wine tours. There is a LOT. But with absolute confidence, none will measure up to this experience — Ronald Rens’ humor and expertise, the beauty of Chateau Coulon de Laurensac, and the Grand Cru wines!!!<\/p>\n

DAY 1 – Wine and Cheese Dinner<\/p>\n

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We signed up for the Grand Cru Harvest Tour. Ours hosts, Ronald and Margaret Rens. Both have Master of Science degrees and they are both\u00a0Wine Masters, certified by the Dutch Wine Academy. We were joined by 3 more couples from Las Vegas and a couple from California.<\/p>\n

We were at the third floor of the chateau. There’s no elevator but that is something we were thankful later on because we needed all the exercise we could get with all the food and wine were partaking!<\/p>\n

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Of course, we were given champagne to welcome us.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u2026with gorgeous flower arrangement with a personal note.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The whole thing began at 4:30 with group introduction, then we proceeded to Ronald’s cellar, where he explained the complex ( and controversial) system of classifying wines in the region. Ronald is an excellent speaker. Everyone who has met me knows that I have the attention span of a gnat. The combination of well-placed humor and personal anecdotes captivated me! The fact that his cellar is spectacular ( and cold ), yet I stayed in one place and listened to him is testament that he knows a lot about keeping his audience’ attention.<\/p>\n

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WIne and Cheese dinner!\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was so much fun. We started with identifying white from red wine (served in black glasses). Sounds so easy but I actually guessed wrong\u2026 Then we blind tasted merlot from \u00a0cabernet sauvignon (which I also got wrong).<\/p>\n

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charcuterie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u2026and wonderful cheese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here are the wines we had on Day 1:<\/p>\n