Making wine in France and in Australia is very different!

I can't help myself. I can see why the French and Australian wines are so different. A visit to a winery here in the village of St Emilion in Bordeaux helped me understand.

Lovely Merlot, a lot bigger bunches than I have at home:

Pre ferment carbonic maceration and fermentation with wild yeast. Using a water jacket to heat the must to about 30 degC for fermentation

 Re-mix the pressings back in to add strength. They simply send off 20% of their ferment to industrial users - distiller medical alcohol etc - because it doesn't make the grade for them.

They only re-use 20% of their aging barrels and send the rest out too. He talks about "tannin support" and "acid support" which is a very nice way to think  of it.

In St Emilion the limestone was heavily extracted in mediaeval times which left a big hole that could serve as a cellar. And this winery uses it beautifully.

When we tasted their 2009 it was every bit as nice as you'd expect. It's rare that I taste a wine and consider it's worth the price they're asking, but this $180 per bottle wine was worth it. Strangely enough they only prced their 2008 at about $80. They really consider the quality of their wine.