by Caspar Bowes

Chateau Ausone this misty morning. Note the vineyard roofBucking the trend, this morning dawned very foggy. The rocade - the ring road around Bordeaux - was slow, but cleared once I was across the Pont d'Aquitaine and I landed in St Emilion with time to spare.It's always going to be a good morning w…

The larval stages of the 2009 vintage at Chateau Smith-Haut-LafitteI have just wandered back from dinner at the Brasserie du Medoc in Blanquefort where one can obtain a gesiers-filled salad starter followed by confit de canard and chips for €20. It's just as well there's a 10 minute walk back f…

Chateau Gruaud-Larose, seen from Branaire-DucruAnother crisp morning, but this one after a semi-sleepless night and an unwilling awakening. Sleep left me at 01h45 an I struggled to get back under for the next three hours, eventually resorting to reading my book for a while. Whether this was the effe…

It's a bikini wearing, ice-cream eating cat that greets tasters at Ducru-Beaucaillou. That's all I can tell you.The day dawned bright, sunny and cold. There's was ice on my windscreen that took 5 minutes to clear before I could set off up the Medoc.First appointment was at Chateau Montrose. I was la…

It seems an age since I crawled aboard my flight home from Hong Kong. In reality, it's been just over a week, but a week in which I've been to London for a giant tasting at Lord's cricket ground and been furiously scribbling not one but two Rhone offerings, the second of which - relating to the unmi…