Bordeaux 2015 Primeurs: Cos d’Estournel & Montrose
After Château Calon-Ségur my next appointment was at Château Montrose. Being five minutes early, I parked up just around the corner from the château in order to make a telephone call. At this point a guy pulled up in a battered old Citroen BX, one which looked as though its notoriously fickle gas suspension was terminally ill. Having come to a halt, he and wound down his window, the mechanism creaking and grinding as he did so.
Immediately I thought the face looked familiar, although in the moment I couldn’t place it. Thinking back, several weeks later, I can’t help wondering if it was Dominique Techer of Château Gombaude-Guillot, in Pomerol, although I doubt it very much. After all, what would he be doing driving around St Estèphe in the middle of primeurs?
At the time, however, identifying the individual was the furthest task from my mind. Inwardly I groaned, because as soon as he turned towards me to speak I realised he was lost, and looking for directions. Challenge number one would be understanding his French, although it wasn’t that important, because I was sure to not know where he was going anyway. Challenge number two would be explaining I was a useless foreigner, as unfamiliar with the terrain here as he was.
“Je cherche Château Montrose”, he asked.
“Première à droite, puis première à gauche”, I replied.
If only Miss Cotton, who looked on with despair as I generally failed in all things French for three years, could see me now.
