Bordeaux's Great Chefs and Great WinesMay 31 - June 5, 1998
Click Here for our Cooking School Associates
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Hands-on cooking and wine and food pairing lessons in a casual family atmosphere, in the kitchens of great Châteaux and greater Chefs.
Demonstrations by Bordeaux's famous Chefs, as well as by culinary masters only known to the locals.
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Your host will be either Peter Smith or May-Britt Anntonnen, who combine their culinary skills and wine knowledge to make this a unique learning experience.
* * *All cooking sessions are optional, as you learn about the local region's food, wine and customs with relaxed informality.
Sunday, May 31
Pick up from the train station in Bordeaux, then drive to the Médoc to check into our accommodations at Château Beychevelle, known as the "Versailles" of the Médoc for it's magnificent gardens and buildings.
After you have settled in we will meet for aperitifs in the elegant "blue" lounge to go over the week's activities, which are a mix of cooking demonstrations and lessons with several winery visits interspersed.
The discussion follows us into the kitchen, where those so inclined gather around the huge kitchen table while your host finishes the preparation of the evening meal. Tonight's preparation and meal is very casual, despite the candle-lit atmosphere of the wood-paneled dining room.
We plan for a quiet, early night to allow you to get over your jet-lag and travel weariness.
Monday, June 1
After breakfast we gather in the kitchen to start the preparation of the evening's meal, with the Château's chef presiding and your host assisting with translation and technical tips. When our work is done we depart for a run up the Route des Vins to St. Estèphe. We lunch at the Peyrat, a local's favorite where you will taste some of the best potage and coq au vin in the region, shoulder to shoulder with local vineyard workers. After lunch we reward your efforts with a visit and tasting at St. Estephe's top producer, Château Montrose, with manager Bruno Lemoine. We also make time to visit the beautifully restored church in the center of the village. Returning to Château Beychevelle we allow for a little relaxation (a walk through the vineyards, perhaps) before meeting for final preparation of the evening meal.
Those who wish may join Peter in preparing the dough for the morning's breakfast bread before retiring.
Tuesday, June 2
Up early this morning to drive down to Arcins, close to Margaux. Here we meet with the well-known king of traditional Médocain cooking, Jean-Paul Barbier, of the Lion d'Or Restaurant. Monsieur Barbier will share with us the secrets of the day's recipes as he directs his cooks in his usual boisterous manner. As the pressure builds towards the lunch opening we retire to the bar for aperitifs before sitting down in the restaurant to enjoy the meal, probably in the company of several Château owners.
After lunch we drive ten minutes to the most elegant of the "First Growths" of Bordeaux, Château Margaux, to meet our charming and elegant friend Mme. Bizard. Here we'll also be able to see Margaux's cooperage where about a third of the Château's barrels are made. After the visit we may be lucky enough to catch Monsieur Nunez, the retired barrel-maker from Margaux, in his workshop just down the lane. A truly sweet old man, M. Nunez can sometimes be persuaded to part with one of the hand-crafted pieces he makes out of recuperated wine barrels. Driving back through the Médoc's vineyards we stop to look closer at how the vines are trained and managed and enjoy a stroll down to the river as we chat.
Dinner is 10 minutes from our accommodation, at Château Léoville Poyferré, preceded by a visit and tasting with the owner of the outstanding St. Julien estate, Monsieur Cuvelier.
If you have any spare energy, volunteers are still welcome on the midnight bakery shift!
Wednesday, June 3
Leave our accommodations in the Médoc early to drive into the Graves region, where we stop at another locals' "secret" restaurant. Here you'll learn how to prepare the finest "mi-cuit" fois gras you've ever tasted. We are joined here for lunch by our good friend Remi Edange, the winemaker at Domaine de Chevalier who gives us his opinions on matching the chef's creations to his own finest wines. After lunch we return with Remi to the Domaine, to tour the winery and taste the great reds and unbelievable white wine. Afterwards we take a drive through the beautiful rolling countryside and Châteaux of Sauternes (with a short tasting stop at Château Guiraud) arriving at Château d'Arbieu, the home of our great friends Count and Countess Philippe de Chenerilles. Here we enjoy a wonderful evening of conviviality as we enjoy a "simple" barbecued Magret de Canard by the poolside, preceded by that famous mi-cuit fois gras and it's classic counterpart, sumptuous Sauternes - barbecue French-style!
Thursday, June 4
We take our leave of Philippe and Isabelle this morning and stop in to see Claude Darroz, the top chef of the region and acclaimed with a Star from Michelin. Claude will demonstrate one of his favorite recipes, and let you get your hands in the pot if you wish, then we'll enjoy a delicious but light lunch in his restaurant. This afternoon we head north through the Entre deux Mers region to St. Emilion for a 3:30 visit to Château Canon La Gafellière. The owner, the Comte von Neipperg is one of St. Emilion's emerging great winemakers. By five o'clock we arrive at the Hostellerie de Plaisance, where we will spend the last two nights of our stay. After we have settled into our rooms we descend to the Michelin-Starred kitchen for a demonstration by Owner/Chef Monsieur Quilain, and dinner of course is in the elegant restaurant of our hotel, overlooking the rooftops of the village.
Friday, June 5
For those who wish there is a trip to the early morning market in Libourne, 10 minutes from St. Emilion. One of the Bordeaux region's most interesting and authentic public open markets is made all the more enjoyable by the company of Annie Goullée, the wife of our "Favorite" chef of all Bordeaux. We return to the village to meet up with her wonderful husband Francis in the basement kitchen of their tiny restaurant where we enjoy aperitifs together. Everyone is free for lunch today, with time allowed for sightseeing and shopping in the village before we return to Francis' kitchen for our final demonstration. Now Francis ends our culinary education for the week by showing us how to prepare the best "fresh" (i.e. uncooked) fois gras you're ever likely to taste. This is a short enough demo in Francis' cramped kitchen to allow time afterward for last minute shopping or a stroll around the village. For those interested however, there is the chance to visit another of St. Emilion's greatest winemakers, Pascal Delbeck. Pascal is manager of the superb Château Belair, where we taste, talk and also walk through the amazing limestone caves which are carved three layers deep under the vineyards. Our final dinner is naturally at the tiny restaurant of Francis Goullée. After one of Francis' meals you will be asking, along with many others, why he has not yet received a star from Michélin.
Saturday, June 6
We bid you farewell from the airport or train station for your connecting transportation to Paris or elsewhere.
This Itinerary is subject to change due to Château and Chef's schedules, and the requests of our guests. In general, however the visits will be as outlined here.