Image of 1980 Bordeaux, France from images Stud Ouest

Many, many years ago, when I was just 23 years old, I went on a backpacking trip with a friend to Europe. We ended up staying close to eight months and had so many wonderful experiences, both together and apart. One of the times we split up for a while was when I wanted to go to France, and he, I believe, wanted to travel with some girl he had met.

I spent about three weeks in France, speaking my high school French and sampling wines, even though I was not a wine drinker at that time. I just knew that France was the kind of place where you drank wine.

I was eventually drawn to Bordeaux. I knew nothing about Bordeaux except the name and that it was famous for wine. I stayed there for a couple of days.

I remember wandering through the rather large city of Bordeaux looking for, well, something. Looking for a giant bottle of wine? For grape vines everywhere? I really didn't know. I was completely unprepared to actually order some wine because there was such a plethora of choices (By the time I got to the Burgundy region, however, I did find a way to taste many of the wines....more on that in a later blog).

I'm sure I saw some well manicured grounds and probably a couple of cathedrals but I didn't know where to look to find the wine.

Where I should have been looking was not in the bustling city of Bordeaux, but in the land around the city. What I have since found out (in the last few weeks, actually) is that there are two, distinct areas of Bordeaux. On the left side (called the Left Bank) of the Gironde River the vineyards grow mostly Cabernet Sauvignon - and arguably the best Cab Sauv there is. On the Right Bank of the Gironde River, Merlot is grown. There can definitely be a little mixing of Merlot into Cab Sauv and vice versa and there are a few other wines grown there but those are the main grapes of Bordeaux.

On the map, you may notice lots of names of places like Medoc, Haut Medoc, Saint Estephe and Margaux on the Left Bank, for example. Those are some of the top areas of Bordeaux wine. Those are such good growing areas that they are given their own Appellation - their own official wine making region. For example, wine from Medoc is "Appellation Medoc Controlee" because it is better quality wine that is just from Bordeaux ("Appellation Bordeaux Controlee"), for example. There are even higher levels (Premiere Cru, Grand Cru) but those are wines that I'm not sure I can afford.

Anyways, 30 odd years after I came up empty with a proper wine, I finally had a Bordeaux wine to try, thanks to that Dundrave wine merchant!

The Chateau de Callac ($32) was the wine I bought last weekend in Dundrave in West Vancouver. This wine is from Graves region and is the regions is named that because of the gravel soil. Interestingly, terrible soil is the best for growing wonderful wine grapes. Graves is its own appellation ("Appellation Graves Controlee") so you know it's got to be a good quality wine.

Following the wine merchant's instructions, I decanted the wine 30 minutes before having it with a nice, rare, rib eye steak.

When I poured my first glass, I looked at the colour which seemed fairly ruby purply although there looked like some garnet on the edges of the wine. I had asked the merchant to suggest a wine that I could drink know so I was worried that this was too young.

When I nosed the wine, I smelled blackberry, black cherry and possibly a bit of vanilla. When I tasted it I tasted tannins - but not overpowering at all - and a little bit of white pepper (which, apparently, indicates a young wine). As I drank a few more sips, I tasted a wonderful roundness or smoothness which told me that this wine was a good wine to drink.

Overall, I really liked this wine. It had a complexity that kept me swishing and slurping throughout the meal. The tannins were just the right amount and there was a richness that paired the wine perfectly with the steak. I would definitely buy this wine again.