For years, various publishing consultants have urged me to put my photo on this page, insisting that it would help us better connect with our readers. While I respect their opinion, I just can’t fathom why readers would care what an editor looks like. That hasn’t changed, but I decided to share this image with you because I think that its story sums up so much of what I found to be extraordinary about the Bordeaux estates we report on in these pages. It was taken last June, when I was in the region researching our articles on new winery architecture (see page 34). Along with another journalist and a photographer, I had been invited to lunch with Mr. Philippe Castéjà, President of the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855. We met him at Château Batailley, a family property located in Pauillac. This lovely 18th-century chartreuse is the quintessential Bordeaux château; filled with antique furnishings, old books and family photos, it has a relaxed elegance that speaks to generations of gracious living and entertaining. Indeed, Bordeaux estates have warmly welcomed guests from around the world for centuries. Typically, many different bottles are served during the course of a meal: The idea is to taste rather than drink. In keeping with that tradition, Mr. Castéjà presented us with six different wines, each carefully selected ahead of time and served with just the proper decorum by the elderly butler. As is often the case when dining with winemakers, the various vintages were the focus of our attention and discussions; conversations occasionally took detours to other topics but inevitably returned to the glass—how the wine had aged, the weather the year it was made and so on. Two days after that memorable lunch, a gift-wrapped package showed up at my room. Unbeknownst to me, my host had asked the photographer for copies of the photos he had taken that day, then had one of them enlarged, framed and delivered to my door. It showed me signing the Batailley guestbook, and a note written on the matting offered it as a souvenir of my visit. Throughout the rest of my trip, this extreme thoughtfulness, this exquisite attention to detail and natural reflex to do the exceptional struck me as emblematic of what I was seeing in the region’s leading vineyards. These highly competitive winemakers must always surpass themselves; at their level, improvements are incremental—often the result of an excruciating attention to what might at first appear to be insignificant details. For them, it seems, going to extremes is simply what they do. We hope you will enjoy their stories, and that they will add to your enjoyment of Bordeaux’s great wines. Karen Taylor
Editor 2
F r a n c e • w i n t e r 2 0 0 9 -1 0
France magazine
Editor Karen Taylor
Senior Editor/Web Editor Melissa Omerberg
Associate Editor RACHEL BEAMER
Copy Editor lisa olson
Proofreader steve moyer
Art Director todd albertson
Production Manager Associate Art Director/Webmaster patrick nazer
Contributors MIchel faure, now
retired from L’Express, is pursuing a variety of journalistic ventures • TRACY KENDRICK is a freelance journalist who often writes about French culture • Sara romano covers French cultural topics for a number of publications • RENÉE SCHETTLER is a freelance writer with a special interest in food; she has worked as editor and writer at Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and The Washington Post • JULIA SAMMUT is a food writer and partner in TravelFood, a company offering custom culinary tours • Heather Stimmler-Hall is an author and a hotel and travel writer for Fodor’s, Hotelier International and easyJet inflight magazine • ELIZABETH THRUSH writes about culture, decorative arts and lifestyles.
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