If you google “restaurants in Bordeaux” this would be one of the firsts to show up. For good reason. “La Tupina” means cauldron or pot in Basque. Being the emblem of the restaurant, it sits imposingly in the fireplace. It boasts of regional cuisine — all the way from 1985 when no one used the term “farm to table”, the amazing people of La Tupina have been practicing it.
These were the appetizers that Dave and me had.
Soft boiled egg with caviarFoie gras terrine — if you’re not having foie gras, are you even in France???
These were our amazing entrees.
Beef Filet – can anybody guess whose entree this is?Fries cooked in goose fat! This was my favorite. Absolutely delicious !!! Whoever thought of deep frying carbs in animal fat deserves the Nobel Prize for World Peace. This dish is nirvana. Roasted Octopus with Shellfish and Seasonal Vegetables
And because this wine (and food) tour promised the best gastronomic experience, there’s got to be dessert.
Red Berries Sorbet with Vieux Garcon HamCanele and Ice Cream – if I haven’t discussed my new love for this little pastry, I am actually looking up flights just so I can go back to Bordeaux and have more of this.
Lest we forget, this is a WINE Tour, we have the BOOZE!
I came upon this amazing wine tour by pure luck and determination as I spent countless hours scouring the interwebs on French chateau experience coupled with wine tours. There is a LOT. But with absolute confidence, none will measure up to this experience — Ronald Rens’ humor and expertise, the beauty of Chateau Coulon de Laurensac, and the Grand Cru wines!!!
DAY 1 – Wine and Cheese Dinner
We signed up for the Grand Cru Harvest Tour. Ours hosts, Ronald and Margaret Rens. Both have Master of Science degrees and they are both Wine Masters, certified by the Dutch Wine Academy. We were joined by 3 more couples from Las Vegas and a couple from California.
We were at the third floor of the chateau. There’s no elevator but that is something we were thankful later on because we needed all the exercise we could get with all the food and wine were partaking!
Of course, we were given champagne to welcome us.…with gorgeous flower arrangement with a personal note.
The whole thing began at 4:30 with group introduction, then we proceeded to Ronald’s cellar, where he explained the complex ( and controversial) system of classifying wines in the region. Ronald is an excellent speaker. Everyone who has met me knows that I have the attention span of a gnat. The combination of well-placed humor and personal anecdotes captivated me! The fact that his cellar is spectacular ( and cold ), yet I stayed in one place and listened to him is testament that he knows a lot about keeping his audience’ attention.
WIne and Cheese dinner!
This was so much fun. We started with identifying white from red wine (served in black glasses). Sounds so easy but I actually guessed wrong… Then we blind tasted merlot from cabernet sauvignon (which I also got wrong).
charcuterie…and wonderful cheese
Here are the wines we had on Day 1:
Jean Louis Ballarin Brut, AOC Crémant de Bordeaux
Château Magdaleine 2005, 1e Grand Cru Classé, AOC Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Château Cantemerle 2005, 5e Grand Cru Classé, AOC Haut Medoc
Château Soutard 2000, Grand Cru Classé, AOC Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau Lagoa-Barton 2000, 3e Grand Cru Classé, AOC Saint Julien
Chateau Cos d’Estournel 1986, 2e Grand Cru Classé, AOC Saint Estèphe
Alvear Pedro Xeminez 1927, Dulce Viejo, Denominacion de Origen
