Today, we headed out to Planète Bordeaux, which we had seen in a pamphlet at the office du tourisme in Bordeaux. Planète Bordeaux is a building that many wineries of the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) have pooled their money together to educate on, promote and sell Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur AOC wines. Planète Bordeaux has won many best of awards including Best Of International Wine Tourism so we figured we would check it out. We took the tram to the other side of the river and hopped on a regional bus to get out to Planète Bordeaux.
The tour had different rooms arranged in a descending circle that told you about different phases in the wine production.
The first room talked about what happens in the vineyard at different times of the year...
...as well as the soil, climate, etc. that makes up the famous "terroir" as the French call it.
The next room had a film on the land and countryside. For sound you got to put on these retro 70's style headphones that you might be able to see in this picture above. I liked them and wish I had a pair for home.
The vinification process of reds, ditto of above.
The next room had the stainless steel tanks and a film on the process of turning grape juice to wine. Tank on the left, film in the upper right.
The final room downstairs had information on tasting, corking and barrel making.
The olfactory part of tasting.
The different scents you can smell in wine on the nose.
...as well as the soil, climate, etc. that makes up the famous "terroir" as the French call it.
The next room had a film on the land and countryside. For sound you got to put on these retro 70's style headphones that you might be able to see in this picture above. I liked them and wish I had a pair for home.
The next room revolved around the wine making process and what goes on at the chateau.
The vinification process of whites. I took pictures so that I could reference it for the winemaking terms in French.
The vinification process of whites. I took pictures so that I could reference it for the winemaking terms in French.
The vinification process of reds, ditto of above.
The next room had the stainless steel tanks and a film on the process of turning grape juice to wine. Tank on the left, film in the upper right.
The final room downstairs had information on tasting, corking and barrel making.
The olfactory part of tasting.
The different scents you can smell in wine on the nose.
Testing the nose. These tubes were filled with scented crystals and you had to try and guess what they were. You could move the white tab to the right of Katie's hand to find the answer and see if you were right.
After finishing the tour, we were able to taste a few wines and then could check out the cellar (see above) if you wanted to take any home with you. This is what I want my cellar to look like someday!
After finishing the tour, we were able to taste a few wines and then could check out the cellar (see above) if you wanted to take any home with you. This is what I want my cellar to look like someday!
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