Chateaux Soutard et Saint Emilion

On wednesdays we have no games to play so instead we went with the tourist trip that the EGC organizers arranged for us. We payed €30 each and got on a bus that took us to Saint Emilion and the vineyard Chateuax Soutard. We had a guided tour and got filled with both information and wine. We looked at the plants in the fields and tasted the almost ripe grapes. They are very tasty and a little bit sour because they are not ripe yet. Then we got to see the huge barrels where the grapes get fermented and the more normal sized where the wine age and get its complex flavour. Last we got to try three different kinds of wine. The first one none seemed to like. The wine was sour and bitter and is supposed to fit well with fat food. The second wine was a bit boring but maybe mu mouth was shocked by the first wine. The last wine was quite good and also the most expensive. But you are supposed to save it for ten years before it is worth drinking so we tasted one from 2002. I think the first wine was the most interesting. The wines cost €13, €29 and €32.

After the vineyard we went to see Saint Emilion which is a very cute old town. We bought the town speciality almond macorons filled with chocolate paste. Very tasty! Even better was the canelés! But I guess you can buy those everywhere in France, and I will.

 Our guide is explaining that there are only women working on the vineyard.

 Everybody are tasting the grapes and looking at the leaves to see what kind of wine they make here.

 The huge barrels used for fermentation.

 This is how it looks like when you are sitting inside an empty barrel tinted by red grape juice.

 Here they let the wine age to taste well.

 Inside this secret chamber they keep the really old wines.

 We get told how to taste wine in a professional way.

I took some extra grapes on my way out. 

One of the many macaron factories.

 One of the many wine shops.

 The small town have many steep alleys.

 Inside one of the macaron factories.

 Another steep alley.

 Yet another steep alley. Getting boored?

 Many cute corners to find.

 People was panting hard after climbing the steep and narrow roads.

 At the top I found this baby vineyard. There are 800 in the region around the town.

 The view from the top.

 Porte de la Cadène

 I was very tempted to buy myself a merlot plant to take home. But I am not sure the Swedish customs would approve.

On the road at the top I found this little crab friend. There is no ocean in sight so I guess he escaped from a restaurant and to become someone's food. I guess he will not survive much longer poor fellow.