Port Médoc is on the west side of the Gironde and on the Bordeaux peninsular right in the heart of the Medoc wine region. It took a gruelling hour of sailing to traverse the river which hardly warranted lifting the fenders, standards are again in freefall!
This area is undoubtably a major wine region with power houses such as Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild to name a few. Having consumed a glass or two in our time a wine tour was always going to happen; our criteria was (as there were none within a cycle from the marina) –
- Close to a railway station
- An English guide
- A tasting room, obvs !
Arriving at Pauillac station the remnants of an ancient wine making industry were everywhere, so much of it quiet and abandoned. Due to mechanisation of harvesting grapes and production, employment in this area has been decimated leaving behind a very tired city.
Château Pédesclaux was our choice, it was just a short cycle out of town. We arrived to find the main building, tasting room and the processing area were completely devoid of all human life and quite obviously closed. But then Tio appeared from behind a beautiful, manicured hedge.
We were the only guests that day and Tio put on a tour on just for us. How privileged we were to have this place to ourselves; Tio’s enthusiasm was infectious. The vineyard has been transported from ‘the old ways’ of mass production by the Lorenzetti family to a carefully controlled gravity fed system which is constantly sympathetic towards the product. Throughout its entire life, from vine to bottle, the wine never passes through any form of pump to ensure it is never bruised. This fact was new to us too. Without question, this passion, dedication and incredibly futuristic system means the final product does not come cheap.
As with all good tours we ended up in the tasting room. After sharing the various wines with us he left us alone with a couple of open bottles “Enjoy” he said “I’ve got a few emails to send” … All to soon it was over, and we rolled back downhill to the railway station for our trip home clutching our purchase of the day being a single bottle, unsure for what special occasion it would be right to consume.
Before leaving the Gironde, we did have a crack at Mortagne which would have been our furthest place south ever reached. The entrance is tricky, so we did all the sums with the forecast and tides and on arrival promptly ran aground. We went back out to the Gironde and had another crack at it 30 minutes later and ran aground again having made no headway further into the entrance. We were now supposedly at high water. Due to the strong on shore wind and the risk of being pushed further on shore, which was all a bit scary, we abandoned the idea and revved the engine to push back upriver to Medoc.
The journey back was quiet as we both knew we’d nearly lost LJ. Equally it was a tough, painful trip – it had only taken us an hour to arrive but took four hours to return.
So, whilst our furthest place south may well be the entrance to Mortange, we can’t really claim it. For now, we’re claiming Port Medoc.
17th to 22nd July 2024
Trip Mileage 34 miles
Mileage Completed 2303 miles