Portes Ouvertes at the Fronsac wineries

ben and i spent the day visiting the Open Doors festival for many of the wineries in the Fronsac appellation in the Bordeaux region. we really enjoyed driving around in the country side and seeing all the beautiful colors of fall in the vineyards. we finished the day at a celebration dinner put on by a local small community which included 5 courses, table contests, and a magic show. we sat at a table with 3 local winemakers and were able to chat with them using our fabulous franglish (french/english).

gazebo in the vines. we had read about this estate in The Wine Bible and we definetly enjoyed their wines! the lady even said if we stayed around till the harvest and were interested in working it, to give her a call!

the cats are so friendly here!!!

wine comes out of that faucet into the hose and pumps back over the top of the tank to "punch down the cap" of skins and seeds to give the wine its color during the primary fermantation.

we got to drink some very early stage wine!

i actually got to be the magician's assistant for one of his tricks!! we sure fooled everyone :)