The Bordeaux Marathon
September 9th 2008, by GQ
We hosted a small team from Gordon Ramsay’s this weekend as they took part in the Médoc marathon on saturday. ‘Taking part’ is an apt expression because it’s more of a stage show or a carnival than a serious race. A glimpse of the 8000 competitors from all over the world, mostly in fancy dress and running through the vineyards of some of the most prestigious estates in the world, is certainly worth a detour.
Stuart Gillies, the chef from Boxwood Café in London, organised the trip as a birthday present for his boss, Chris Hutcheson. Chris is the father of Gordon’s wife Tana, and he runs the Ramsay empire while his son-in-law does his stuff in front of the cameras or in the kitchen.
A weekend wine tour of Bordeaux
June 10th 2008, by GQ
We’ve just spent a great weekend with some friends from Norfolk who rented our farmhouse. Dinner at the château on friday evening - local Agneau de Pauillac served with, er, Pauillac - was followed by two leisurely days on the Right and the Left Banks of Bordeaux.
On Saturday, Otto Rettenmaier showed us around his chai (winery) and his vineyard at Chåteau La Tour Figeac, right next door to Cheval Blanc in St-Emilion on the border with Pomerol. La Tour Figeac is one of the many up-and-coming estates in Saint Emilion making terrific wine at a fair price, and Otto is a very genial host. After a light lunch in the old town, and an opportunity in a restaurant to sniff what a ‘corked’ wine smells like, we drove around some top spots - Pavie, Ausone and so on - and then trod some of the hallowed ground around the plateau of Pomerol. The most eye-opening part is the 100-fold current price difference of wines from the 2005 vintage, between one vineyard and its next door neighbour - Pétrus and Gazin in Pomerol, with almost as much of a gap between Ausone 2005 and Belair 2005 on the hillside above St-Emilion.