Bordeaux - Food & the Love of Music

Vineyards & Music.

A Press trip invitation to spend a few days in La Cité du Vin. How we suffer for our work!

Photo © Rob Jones

AMM - A Briton who was a Francophile with a passion for chamber music & good times had a big house on the outskirts of Bordeaux. Every year he invited musicians, friends & guests to stay, eat, drink & enjoy live music in the evening.

Robert was doing a piece for a website & I for a magazine. Interviews, photos, chatting to folk & discovering what this enterprise was all about.

Our temporary home was lovely, cosy & right opposite a vineyard. Our host was convivial & welcoming. 

RJ - An amazing place. So tranquil. Nooks and crannies everywhere. Like living in a medieval castle. And I think I especially liked the conviviality about it. You stepped out of your room and found someone interesting and eager to talk!

AMM - Drinks in the garden with fellow guests before dinner, local wine, (plenty provided on the plate & in the glass) & a performance. Everything under the same roof.

Concert.

AMM - Robert & me go in last & choose seats at the back of the room to let the paying visitors get the top front spots (oh, we were also nearest to where the interval refreshments were to be served).

RJ - I think the back of the room thing is the ‘Dog on the sofa attitude’ we have. Should we be here? If they find us, they’ll knock us off with sticks. Imposter Syndrome. Interval refreshments doesn’t do it justice. A full scale gourmet meal, mid concert. I seem to recall having an intense conservation with a lady in German. Heaven knows if I made any sense. She nodded a lot.

AMM - A warm evening in a dark loft post-dinner + comfy sofas + cushions + a refreshed glass + tunes played by a quartet = a little napette.

RJ - Loved the sofas. Made it all feel so civilised. All concerts should be performed to people on sofas. Hate hard concert hall seats. Especially at outdoor festivals. I wasn’t built to sit still.

Next day, we got treated to a private tour at Château Guadet.

AMM - Extraordinary historical stories about the Château & how they make their wine. The visit there was rounded off with a gift of a special bottle of St-Emilion for us both. Mine was opened to greet the New Year with friends that same year.

RJ - Surrounded by so much wine. And not a corkscrew in sight! I couldn’t bear opening mine for just the longest time. It seemed wrong. But I did. Obvs.

AMM - Breakfast at our Bordeaux home each morning was a feast. We were all in the kitchen; guests, musicians, the chef & it was a big, solid table of hungry folk in need of feeding. I remember eating the best bread, salty butter, local bold cheeses, duck rillettes, pastries & coffee.

Then we had a stroll through the nearby vineyard before heading towards the nearest village for more coffee & a pre-lunch aperitif.

RJ - I always remember moments. Picking ripe figs off a tree overhanging the lane nearby. Walking along a row of vines hung with bunches of fresh purple grapes, within days of harvest. A chance lunch in a tiny cafe on the main drag of the local village. Simple but so tasty. French bread (or just bread if you live in France.) Looking down from an upstairs room at people gathering in the courtyard for a pre concert aperitif. And random conversation about nothing in particular, and everything in general.

Hoorah for Press Trips.

AMM/RJ