Where is "Bordeaux"? Are there any romantic allusions?

Bordeaux, a port city in southwest France, has a population of 925,253 people (1999) and is the fourth largest city in France, after Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region and the capital of the Gironde department. It was the capital of the old French province of Guyenne and historically belonged to the Gascony region. Bordeaux is Europe's military, space and aviation research and manufacturing center. It is also the core of France's strategic nuclear bomb research and physical experiments. It has many high-end technology institutions such as the Atomic Energy Research Center and the Megajoule Laser Project. The Bordeaux region is rich in tourism resources and has many beautiful and well-preserved medieval castles. Bordeaux is therefore also known as the world's wine center. Every two years, the Bordeaux Wine Association holds the grand international wine exhibition-Vinexpo.

The memory of Bordeaux begins with a poem, a poem about hydrophobia: "Damn water bearer, the charming god fills my barrel / Do you want to ask He starts a fight? / Get out of my way...restraint, you bad guy... / I'll run to the ends of the earth as soon as I see the bucket / If you don't want to make me angry / Just don't give me too much water / Just enough I just wash the cups." "The Curse of an Alcoholic", is it really true that people who drink water will not like drinking, and people who drink water also hate drinking water? If we want to talk about the macro memory of Bordeaux, it feels like the city only has wine, and water is only discovered like a conveniently lost object every day when we return to the hotel and turn on the faucet. During the 5-day trip to Bordeaux, wine was the only drink. But there is obviously no shortage of water in Bordeaux. The famous "Mirror of Bordeaux" in the town square has water coming out every 15 minutes. It turns from blisters to water and slowly submerges up to people's ankles. On the other side of the "mirror" is the wide Garonne River, which opens into a bell mouth from the long Gironde Bay connected to the Atlantic Ocean, reflecting the fertile figure of the entire city. This is indeed a rich city about wine. With Bordeaux as the center, it forms a semicircle radiating towards the Atlantic Ocean. The 128,800 hectares of land are dotted with large and small wine estates and unspeakable wine legends. The story of each winery is an indispensable chapter on the Bordeaux wine map. Each is different, but wonderful in its own way. We visited Bordeaux when winter was approaching. Compared with the tall trees that couldn’t wait to lose all their leaves, the golden grape leaves hanging on the branches spread a golden carpet over the endless Bordeaux land, which was the best welcome for us. Ceremony? We also didn’t smell the fresh grape aroma in the slightly cooler air, because the 2008 Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon were sleeping in the underground of Bordeaux in liquid form, while the Beaujolais Nouveau Already on the market in Paris, they are only greedy for time. Under the care of the wine cellar manager (Caviste), they perform their respective duties and slowly mature according to the course of time. This is obviously not the ideal Bordeaux travel season. The sparse people in the entire countryside make it difficult to imagine how lively and busy the previous two months were—“March to October is the best time to travel to Bordeaux. Visit wineries when the grapes are ripe. You must make a reservation in advance." The staff who received us was so sure. But all the surprises happen after opening the doors of each castle and manor, those spaces full of history, those bottling sites, those artistic conditions, and of course, the all-you-can-drink wine Dégustation . The first drink that every winery owner welcomes us is never water, but wine. It is their own special skill and a proud greeting gift. This is the case for every family. So France, with a population of 62 million, drinks 3.8 billion bottles of wine a year. Water seems to have never been a necessity in their lives, but wine is. The modern management of Lynch Bages When Jean-Michel Cazes, the owner of the Lynch Bages winery, spread out all the photos he took in Beijing during the Olympics in front of us, the look on his face was still visible. It showed his inner pride for the long trip that had just ended. He is a typical Frenchman who knows how to enjoy life. He spends more than half of the year on the road. The Hong Kong transliteration of Lynch Bages is "Ling Cibo" because it is the same as the famous Cantonese opera actor Liang Cibo, so Jean Michel I said that he has extraordinary and special feelings for China. Jean-Michel was originally a corporate executive working for IBM. The biggest gain he gained from his travels around the world was that when he was running the winery inherited from his ancestors, he put in a lot of effort. Modern way of thinking, for example, he is devoted to cross-border cooperation in the fields of art and wine. Since 1989, he has entrusted Paris galleries to identify artists from around the world to create art in wineries, support artists’ exhibitions in Paris galleries, and There is a six-month solo exhibition every year at Lynch Bages Winery. As the only reward, the artist must permanently leave a work for Lynch Bages, which is often used as an element of Lynch Bages' print advertising.

Semi-thematic creations bring extraordinary meaning to Lynch Bages and often become the distinctive feature on Lynch Bages wine labels. Lynch Bages is more than just a simple wine business for Jean-Michel, because his ancestors’ property covers most of the village of Bages. Jean-Michel uses his own estate as the core to develop diversified tourism projects, such as opening a bakery Shops, cafes, boutiques, and even a restaurant hosted by two-Michelin-starred chef Thierry Marx. In the Bordeaux countryside surrounded by vineyards, Lynch Bages' diverse projects have become a rare place for local consumption. Of course, Jean-Michel's free style corporate philosophy has not affected the main business of wine production. The professional spirit is still brought into full play here. Otherwise, his winery would not be able to be a fifth-level winery. The winery was promoted to a second-tier winery more than 20 years ago. The Legend of Medoc is also based on the wine industry to expand tourism, but the legendary Medoc Women’s Alliance (Les Médocaines) is another situation. Speaking of Médoc, the most unmissable historical story is of course the “1855 Classification” that established the Bordeaux wine hierarchy. During the Paris International Exhibition, the wine industries in Champagne and Burgundy invited their counterparts in Bordeaux to demonstrate the status of French wines. Bordeaux wine merchants who had not planned to participate did not want the other two regions to stand out, so they prepared to send their best wines. Go to a local winery. When evaluating the question of "who is the best?", wine marketing middlemen proposed ranking based on the market share at that time (because the market comes from demand, and demand is based on quality), so in the past 40 years, in Among the wines with registered prices on the market, 60 wineries were identified and divided into 5 levels according to convention. Unexpectedly, this ranking of wineries based on commercial performance was actually from Medoc. Although there have been many wineries since then, Revisions were requested, but because it was difficult to satisfy all parties, there have been few changes in more than 100 years. Of course, the 1855 classification is only used as an important reference until now, but the reputation of Medoc, located on the left bank of Gironde, as the top red wine producing area in the Bordeaux region is indeed worthy of its name. Chateau Margaux, Latour, Lafite Rothschild, and Mouton Rothschild are all produced here. The plain areas without highlands and slopes have a mild climate from the Atlantic Ocean, warm currents brought by the Gulf Stream leading to the sea, and the impact layer of rivers such as the Gironde and Dordogne, which bring abundant fertilization to the growth of Médoc Cabernet Sauvignon. environment. In addition to the gathering of top wineries, the legend of the Medoc is also a female winery alliance composed of four female owners spanning three decades. It is also a hot topic in recent years and is known as the "Four Women of the Medoc". Because of the special phenomenon of "women and wine", he has become a celebrity pursued by many media. In 2005, four female winery owners formed an alliance and launched a winery tour route. Tourists can take a very convenient winery tour according to their arrangements. For each of them owns a large family business, the concept of tourism alliance seems to be more meaningful to them, but it seems to bring more convenience to tourists coming to Bordeaux and bring some adjustments to their own lives. For example, they will have A base for events, art exhibitions and parties are often held. The person who received us was Armelle Falcy Cruse, the owner of Chateau du Taillan. Although she was the third eldest child in the family, she had never thought of managing the family winery by herself. After her parents died, she Among the children in the family, she had experience working in a wine company, but none of her other siblings were interested, so Armelle and her husband inherited this career that their parents had high hopes for. Antoine's Family This kind of family-style management is a deep tradition in Bordeaux. Many small wineries are like this, while large wineries that follow the family-style route generally have a considerable background. At Chateau Le Grand Verdus, a winery with an aristocratic background, we met the Antoine family of four generations. When Antoine, the owner of Chateau Le Grand Verdus, came out of the 400-year-old castle to greet us, the wild geese flew over the autumn sky, forming an unforgettable picture with the bright colors of maple leaves. Antoine said with French humor that those geese were sent by him to greet us. Working for many years in such a deserted place requires such humor to spice up life, so when we see their family, they always maintain a happy smile. Of course, this active lifestyle should also be related to the noble blood in their bones.

As a descendant of Claude Deschamps, the most famous architect in the Napoleonic era, Chateau Le Grand Verdus owned by Antoine was also the private residence of Claude Deschamps. It has a history of 430 years and is now rated as a French historical and cultural heritage. So no buildings are allowed within its 360-degree view. As a result, Antoine's family has the most enviable broad view of Bordeaux. The green spaces and woods surrounding the castle, as well as the two horses leisurely basking in the sun on the grass, are all reminiscent of the aristocratic life in ancient times, but this Everything is the real life of Antoine's family in the 21st century. His sixty-year-old father, Philippe, has handed over all the wine business to Antoine. Taking care of roses in the garden has become his best pastime to live in his old age. Antoine fully manages the Chateau Le Grand Verdus winery. I have a very capable helper, my 28-year-old son Thomas. Thomas, who originally studied marketing, is responsible for the wine sales of the winery, and Yunnan is the next market he will arrive in. Thomas, 28, already has two children. It seems that this French aristocratic family is as full of vitality as the fine wines of Bordeaux. A long life and a complete itinerary in Bordeaux is like traveling along a long lifeline. The grapes with dead leaves that are about to be buried in the soil will become green again in the coming year. The old trees that are ten feet in the ground are increasingly cherished. We follow this The moving phenomenon of life can be traced back to the Abbaye La Sauve Majeure, where Bordeaux first planted grapes, or the medieval church of Saint-Emillion. It is said that Bordeaux became such an important wine-producing area thanks to the early monks here. Although the monks could not drink alcohol, the cultivation of grapes was introduced from them, thus providing the origin of life for Bordeaux wine. The almost ruined ruins of Rasov Monastery are located on a slope. Standing on the top of the burned main building, you can see the scattered scenery of late autumn vineyards on the slope at a glance. Standing on the Saint-Egyptian Monastery, which is already a world cultural heritage, On the top of Mirren Cathedral, on the plain terrain, the ancient medieval town is like the stamen of St. Emilion, and the surrounding vineyards turn into unfolding yellow leaves. Because winemaking, as the core industry, has not changed over the years, the sense of history has also allowed this land to carefully preserve its consistent flavor of life and pure and clean spirit. This reminds me of the underground wine cellar of the Smith Haut Lafitte winery run by the former French ski champion Daniel Cathiard. There is an ancient church one foot square. I am grateful that history has brought every wine The unique life of the chateau. In St. Emilion, we visited Pressac Winery. Surrounded by layers of terraced vineyards, in addition to the outstanding scenery, the most special place of the winery is of course that it was the site where the Anglo-French War ended. The place where the armistice agreement was signed. If history has given Bordeaux many unique features, then the mental state of everyone who lives here and works with grapes has given Bordeaux its most moving connotation. The passion for wine and the beautiful management of life itself bring people the warmest impression of Bordeaux. Just like the wine cellar of Daniel Cartier's Smith Haut Lafitte winery, he designed it as a completely transparent underground space with soft and bright lights and just the right jazz music. Daniel, who loves photography, gave us his signature The photo album is full of his joyful shutter sounds about grapes and wine. This is not the Bordeaux we take for granted, but it is a Bordeaux with more vitality. The enjoyment of fine wine is no longer as simple as it was in ancient times. When it is closely related to all aspects of modern life, it becomes something we love more and more in our cups. Daniel should be well aware of this.