Bordeaux Wine Country

When we left the Loire Valley in central France, we drove along beautiful French highways, past field after field of mustard, stopping at a really nice highway rest stop,

until we reached our next destination: the city of Bordeaux. I must confess, the main reason for staying in Bordeaux was not to see the city, but rather to use it as a base for exploring the wineries in the countryside surrounding it. Still, the little bit of time we spent walking around the area in which our apartment was located made me wish we had more time to spend there. 

We stayed near the Basilique Saint-Michel (Basilica of St. Michael), a neighborhood that is probably much more quiet when there isn't so much renovation and construction going on! It was difficult to drive around there, but walking was nice. While we were out looking for a place to eat dinner, we visited the beautiful, old Gothic cathedral.

The separate tower stands about 375 feet tall, and in 1881, a cemetery and catacombs from Roman times were discovered under the tower, along with several naturally mummified bodies. 

However, like I said, our intention was not to get to know Bordeaux. My goal was a more personal one: to find the winery that bears my maiden name of Nadeau. 

Years ago, I bought several bottles of a wine I found at Costco (of all places) – a good Bordeaux from a winery called Château Haut Nadeau. According to the label, the winery is located near the small village of Targon, outside of Bordeaux. I vowed to check it out one day, and this seemed like as good a time as any.

Our GPS directed us to the small town, but could not help us locate the winery. As we pulled into the tiny town square, we noticed a tourist information office. We parked in front and went inside to ask a young woman, who spoke very little English, if she knew where the winery was. She didn't, but she looked it up on her computer, which didn't help much. I was about to give up the whole idea, when she suggested we all go next door to the baker and ask him if he knew where it was. Of course, the baker spoke even less English, and didn't know off hand where we should look, so he called out to an older gentleman across the square, who walked over to join us. The baker and the older man talked back and forth a bit, waving their hands and arms, and then a light seemed to go on in the baker's head. He quickly drew a simple map for us and pointed us in the opposite direction we had come into town. We thanked them all, and proceeded to drive down a country road, then turned left onto a dirt road where a sign pointed to Château Haut Nadeau!

When we got there, there didn't seem to be anyone around. The tasting room was locked and there was a phone number on the door, but we figured calling wouldn't be of much help, since neither of us speaks more than a few words of French. We walked around the property, shooting pictures, so we could at least say we had been there.

As we were about to leave, a man drove up in a pickup truck and asked (in French, of course!) if we needed help. Sam tried to explain that my family name is Nadeau, and the man asked, "Taste?" Well, we understood that and said, "Yes!" 

He unlocked the tasting room, welcomed us in, and motioned to wait while he cleaned some glasses and brought out three bottles of wine. Long story short, we weren't really able to learn anything about the winery, or our host, except for his name: Patrick Audouit. We asked if we could have a case shipped home to the US, but he told us that was not possible, so we bought one bottle to carry home in one of our checked bags. Some day, I would really like to return with Sam's cousin Paul, who lives in Paris and is fluent in French. With his help, perhaps we can learn more about the winery that bears my family's name!

Patrick Audouit – Vintner at Château Haut Nadeau

I have a few more photos from this part of our trip, and if you would like to see them, go to my Flickr page.