Week in pictures

Rémi Edange, assistant manager at Domaine de Chevalier, shows off the Pessac-Léognan property’s 2005 red and white wines at the Goedhuis Bordeaux Cru Classé tasting. Edange also poured 2009 Château Lespault Martillac, the first vintage since Domaine de Chevalier took over the management of this property.

Earlier in the week the team at db made like Jay-Z and cracked open a bottle of Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades” Brut NV Champagne.

For those sampling Bordeaux’s white wines, a team of oyster shuckers from Oyster Meister toured the Saatchi Gallery to inspire Goedhuis customers with the perfect food match.

After his third glass of Angélus at Hübert de Bouard’s cellar party during en primeur week, Richard Bampfield MW developed an irrational fondness for Bouard’s egg-shaped fermenter, much to the amusement of “The Wine Doctor” Chris Kissack.

db spotted this stone elephant outside Château Cos d’Estournel. Legend has it that the property adopted the elephant motif in the 1800s after an Indian maharaja gifted the then owner of Cos with a pair of elephants, which were brought over to Bordeaux and used in the region’s first polo match between Cos and the neighbouring Château Lafite.

We also found this colourful curio brightening up the tasting room at Grand Puy Lacoste.

Bruce Cakebread, president of Cakebread Cellars, illustrates the sub-regional differences in California’s Napa Valley at a tasting in London. 

db spotted this little mutt in the drawing room at the newly revamped Château Cheval Blanc. The pooch gained notoriety a few years back when he famously bit American wine critic Robert Parker during a tasting visit. Had he given the château a poor score the year before?

A group of British wine hacks scale the shiny new winery building at Cheval Blanc, which features breathable walls, concrete fermenters and breathtaking view of St Emilion and Pomerol on its flower-filled roof.

db was greeted by this glamourous duo during our flying visit to biodynamic property Château Pontet-Canet. We also spotted a pair of horses diligently ploughing the vineyard.