To make its grand vin, or best wine, a top Bordeaux chteau will blend together only its very finest lots of wine, usually from the most vineyard plots and the oldest vines. What happens to all the other lots? In many cases, the chteau makes a second wine, which will have its own brand name and its own distinct label. (Its important to note here that a second wine is not the same as a Second Growth.) Usually made by the same winemaker in essentially the same manner as the grand vin, the second wine will be less expensive, although alas, not inexpensive (several cost more than $100 a bottle). Still, for many savvy wine drinkers, buying second wines is a smart strategy.
Often, the label on a second wine does not reveal the chteau it came from, but the name may be close enough to tell. Lastly, theres one case wherein a mass market wine might seem like a second wine but isnt. Mouton Cadet is decidedly not the second wine of Chteau Mouton Rothschild, but rather, a very
Le Carillon de LAnglus (Chteau Anglus)Carruades de Lafite (Chteau Lafite Rothschild)Le Clarence de (Chteau Croix de Beaucaillou (Chteau de (Chteau Forts de Latour (Chteau Latour)Les Pagodes de Cos (Chteau Cos dEstournel)Pavillon Rouge du Chteau Margaux (Chteau Margaux)Le Petit Cheval (Chteau Cheval Blanc)Reserve de la Comtesse (Chteau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande)Le Petit Lion de Las Cases (Chteau Cases)
And what region in the US has the most Michelin stars? In 2021, six San Francisco Bay Area restaurants were awarded 3 stars, Michelins highest honor. The honorees are: Atelier Crenn, Benu, Quince, The French Laundry, Single Thread, and Manresa. There are only 13 restaurants throughout the U.S. (the six previously mentioned, plus
five in New York, one in Chicago, and one in Virginia). Additionally, only six restaurants in the U.S. made the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list. Benu and Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and Single Thread in Healdsburg ranked 28th, 48th and 37th, respectively.Thanks to Winespeed for the information.If you have never been to Bordeaux, I strongly it.
