I arrived in Budapest on Thursday morning. Taking an international flight the week after a car crash is not a good idea.

Instead of seeing the sites, I crashed and rested. I finally walked tonthe Danube river to look over at the castle district but never made it there. Thursday nightie all met up and had a walk around tasting of Hungarian wines, found one producer I loved. And a standing dinner.

Friday we had a 12 wine tasting mock exam at the Hungarian trade office. I did great or horrible on the wines. I’ve got lots of studying to do! Wee had a workshop from Frank Roeder MW on the theory essay than a Q and A MW questions. Afterward we all jumped on a bus and a 2 hour 15 minute ride ater arrived at the Royal Toka Company for a tour, tasting and dinner. They have under ground tunnel cellars that one could daily get lost in and 3 brand new building facility. Dinner was lovely and again standing. Do they not believe in chairs in Hungary?

Final stop was checking in to the hotels. I really wanted to stay in the castle so raced off the bus at the frirst stop. After checking in most of us went downstairs for a drink and chatting. Than off to bed.

The access we had to Chateau owners, technical directors, vineyard managers, etc., was unexpected. And the willingness to answer most questions was delightful.

I will not be sharing this information here, since part of the trip is the understanding that this information was not meant to be shared publicly.

The best takeaway from the trip was a better understanding of Bordeaux–how it works, the difference between left and right bank, and the wines of Medoc. This is the first time I can say if I was given a wine from Medoc I might be able to guess the commune; I might get it wrong, but at least I’ll have some logic about it.

Next up was Chateau Fleur Carrdinale, a newer producer in St. Emilion that is making wonderful wines.

We had a had lunch outside the church in St. Emilion, walked through the city for a minute or two and then stopped in a local wine shop to just to look.

We ended our week of visits with Chateau Gracia, a true garage winery in the heart of St. Emilion that is making unbelievable wines.  

We headed back to Bordeaux so I could get an “I miss you gift” for my daughter.  And pick up the comic book about Robert Parker.  Now off to my final dinner and tomorrow I head home.

Wines today: 6, and dinner yet to come still!

We started with a lecture and tasting with Denis DUBOURDIEU an Oenology Professor at the Institut de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV) on complements of grape varieties and their sensory influences in the style of red, white and sweet great wines. Listening to him speak AND being able to ask questions (I asked a lot of questions) was amazing.

From there we headed to Château RIEUSSEC in Sauternes for a tasting and visit.  Then off to Château CLIMENS in Barsac with an educational tasting of Sauternes and Barsac. I now feel I understand the difference between Sauternes and Barsac.  The most interesting part was asking the Technical Director to explain why one bottle had gone bad.  

Since we were running a bit early we stopped at Chateau d’YQUEM for a quick photo opportunity.

The trip ended with a tour and gala dinner at Chateau d’ARCHE in Sauternes.

It’s sad to say good bye to everyone.  Many I’ll see next month at the course days in Budapest.  

Tomorrow myself and one other head back to St Emilion to visit three properties.  

Foie gras twice today and 26 wines.

We had lovely tours and tasting at each place. Had some interesting and thought-provoking conversations.

The highlight was Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac at the end of the day. What amazing wine, and it is all biodynamically grown!

18 wines today. Foie gras for lunch and dinner. While the food for dinner was ok, the service was terrible. What’s the deal with French service being this bad?

Tomorrow is the final day of the study tour, ending with a gala dinner, so the post for that will probably happen Friday morning.

Started with a tour and tasting at Château LYNCH-MOUSSAS in Pauillac.  Than we had a tasting of 3 different vintages of each of the five regions in Medoc.  This is the first time I can say I’m starting to understand the characteristics of the regions.  I’ll be the first to admit it’s financially a bit much to taste 5 different regions at one time at home.

Than a quick jaunt to Château DURFORT-VIVENS in Margaux for a tasting and lunch.

Château BEYCHEVELLE in Saint-Julien was our afternoon visit with a short lecture on terroir.  

And we ended the day with a tasting Château LYNCH-BAGES and dinner.  

Tonight we got back early to the hotel!  Before 11:30!  And we get an extra hour of sleep!  

While I’m very impressed with the wine, the access we have at the châteaux, Dewey Markham’s lectures on the bus, the food, and so many other things…  I’M REALLY TIRED!

33 wines today; tasted 2 different 2010s. Foie gras at lunch (is it bad I’m doing the foie gras counter?).  

Today I also got to try Chateaux Boyd-Cantenac.  I’ve always wanted to try Boyd-Cantenac, since I’m from the Boyd family.   And I found the wine quite lovely.

A few of the Americans got up and drove to St Emilion in the morning. We met up with Caroline Shinohara in town, than headed to Chateau Villardhy. Afterwards we went to Chateau Valandraud.    

After a lovely lunch of roast duck in Saint Emilion we raced back to Bordeaux to meet up with the group. 

Our first visit was Chateau Ducru Beaucillou in Saint Julien for a visit and tasting. Followed by Chateau Lafon Rochet in Saint Estephe for a tasting, tour and dinner.  Of course at dinner we had a blind tasting game. 

The walk away point for me today was the HUGE difference between the right and left bank. Chateau Villardhy has 6 barrels for making their wine.  Chateau Ducru Beaucillou has about 400. Talk about an enormous size difference! One location on the left bank was talking about how they don’t use any paint or anything with wood other than oak to minimize the any possible additional aromas, then one of the classified growths we walked in on the middle of painting walls.  As I said, the differences were astounding. 

It has been a long day. Foie Gras at only one meal. 21 wines today.

The funny thing about the trip is we are at the Adagio hotel which is a residence hotel, so we have a kitchen in our rooms plus a sitting area.  Yet we are never in the actual rooms. Gone on the bus first thing in the morning till late at night. 

It’s after 1 am my time and we just got back to our hotel.  Got to be on the bus at 7:30 am tomorrow.   It’s going to be a busy week!

Note for the future: always have at leave 3 hours minimum between connecting flights in the US to international at JFK and two hours from landing in Paris to another flight.  I made all my flights, but people with closer turn times didn’t.

During my vast down time I’ve been reading Wine Myths and Reality.  Got a good dent in the book; still have a way to go, but working at it.

Air France inflight entertainment rocks. All the movies are on demand.  Had fun watching the new Harry Potter movie, King’s Speech and Megamind.

Didn’t sleep on the international flight; need to find a way to sleep on planes again.  This is annoying.

And my new Bose noise canceling headphones are well worth it!  I guess at some point I will have to actually spend money on a pair for Mike.   Next time I need to leave the case in my backpack. 

After a quick lunch and a good nap, I went for a walk around Bordeaux.  Cute town, not as pretty as Vienna, but still things to see and do.

Tonight I met up with some other MW students for dinner at La Tupina.  It’s a traditional Bordueax bistro. (Mike stop reading now.)  This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.  The lamb was to die for, the roasted chicken and pork were very good.  The roasted mini potatoes with foie gras in them were to die for.  And french fries cooked in duck fat over an open fire place!  *sigh*

The wines where two different white Bordeaux, one was 50% Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris. And the red was not from Bordeaux.

Our server’s name was Remy, which just made the experience even more fun! (I’ve watched Ratoutille a few too many times.)

Just to start the counters.
Meals with foie gras: 1
Number of different wines tasted: 4

I think I can call today a success!  Tomorrow, St. Emilion in the morning then I start the MW student tour in the afternoon/early evening.

Fair warning–I expect to be getting back to my room very late starting tomorrow night.  Posts might not go up until the following morning.

It has been a hard days night, for a WEEK!  And I have been working like a dog, I really feel like I just did a decathlon.  I’ve learned so much, realized I have lots more to learn.  And tomorrow I go home.  

Enough with the Beatles.  Today has been AMAZING!!!!!

First thing we did this morning was all check out and head back to Vienna.  We went to Palais Coburg for a tasting of Riesling and Gruner Veltliner from other areas in Austria we didn’t visit.  The speakers were good and the line up of wines was overall very good.  There was one flight that either people loved or hated.

We ended we a tasting of old wine.  We got a 1976 Pommard, Burgundy, 1982 Barolo, 1982 Pauillac, Bordeaux and 1982 Groth, Napa Cabernet.  The Burgundy was a bit tired, the Barolo and Bordeaux were beautiful and the Groth showed well.  But four old vintages!  Nice way to end the program.

After most of the people left to catch flights rest of us went on a long tour of the cellars at Palais Coburg.  They have 6 or 8 different cellars.  Each more beautiful than the next.

A group of us than headed to the city center.  I ran to my hotel to drop off my bags, than met up with the group for beer and sandwiches (yes, beer, it was time for a change). 

The second group headed to the airport, so I headed back to the hotel to crash.  I needed to rest up before the opera tonight!  

A quick dinner of Wiener Schnitzel than off to the opera.  The Vienna State Opera presented Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”.  It was a religious experience.  Loved it!  The staging was modern, the orchestra and voices perfect, and the opera house just puts the entire experience over the top.

This has really been a great week.  I’m a bit misty eyed thinking about how great of a week it was and how good I feel about everything.  Remember, my idea of a successful week was not being in the fetal position crying every night and I never got close to that.

Now for more random thoughts:
Best quote — “We have a lovely veggie fish for you tonight.” Said to the Indian lady from a server this week.  I don’t think rural Austrians understand what vegetarian means.

Best strudel — Cabbage and bacon!  Yes, this beat the apple strudel.

Number of Bollinger magnums we drank — 6, yes folks, last night before dinner our group drank 6 Bollinger magnums.  Than polished off over 60 bottles of wine. 

We were all asked to bring a bottle of wine for the Gala dinner last night.  I had wine from Sweden, South Africa, China, Romania, US, Japan, Czech, and all the traditional wine producing places.  

Days since I’ve turned on a TV or looked at the news — 9

Now to attempt to get all my crap to fit in my bags and not go over the weight limit since I have an extra carry on I have to bring home.  We were each given a set of 12 Riedel Overture glasses.  Great gift!  Getting them home in one piece will be the challenge.

Survived my second 12 wine MW stye tasting this morning. After feedback, which ran an hour over for my group, I ran to lunch and inhaled food and ran back to the wine academy for a two hour practice theory exam. *sigh*. Plus side, exams are all done now.  

I’m actually one of the first done on the theory exam, this is not a surprise. I’ve always been one of the first out of an exam, even since grade school. 

Next up, coffee break, 30 minute of Q and A. Start packing than gala dinner!  For the gala dinner everyone has brought at least one bottle of wine.  So we have wine from Sweden, Brazil, Virginia, California, Oregon, etc.  This will be a fun late night!

Tomorrow we head to Vienna for a half day program with some old wine tasting.  Than we are done! And I attempt to stay awake for The Magic Flute at the Vienna State Opera and fly home Monday morning. 

In case you haven’t noticed by now, I can not post about the wines or questions since they will be the same for other groups that have yet to meet.