Chateau Geneau

This morning I was out very early battling through the dense fog that often forms in the region at this time of year and relying on the Tom Tom to aim towards the tiny village of Virsac.

Virsac is situated on the right bank of the Dordogne just before it joins the Garonne to form the Gironde. The fog was so thick the whole way only the GPS could tell me I was driving though St.Emilion, Pomerol, Lalande de Pomerol, Fronsac, Canon-Fronsac and finally into Bourg and Blaye country!

I was here to transport some wine (130 000 litres actually!) from the outstanding Chateau Geneau. The property sits on a limestone ridge with vineyards also on sandy clay below and is owned by the Motut family, the vineyard, cellar and sales are all managed by family. I finally arrived at the Chateau after almost bumping into my own wine tanker lost in the fog to be greeted by the very hospitable but lively Monsieur Motut hopping about trying to please everyone. His youngest son David soon arrived to help get things organised and Monsieur Motut (and his wild handlebar moustache) soon settled down.

Later David explained to me just how passionate the family and his father are about their wines and it is certainly evident on tasting the wine. Monsieur Motut kept saying was so happy about the wine being finally recognised and being sent to the UK that he wanted every detail to be perfect. This is a relatively small estate in Bordeaux terms and when Jean-Marc and I had a chance tasting of the young 2009 wine we blocked the whole production immediately!

When the fog at last lifted I could at last see the Chateau home, the wonderful restoration of the very old cellars and begin to get an idea of the surrounding vineyards.




I was transporting the wine back up river to the bottling plant in Rauzan close to the Chai so that the blend and bottling is made under the best and most efficient conditions possible, but with each transport being only 26000litres it was going to be long day!

The blend was finished late last night and bottling is to be in 10 days time and it is going to be another quality for price Bordeaux in the range - and believe me you get a lot of wine for your money!