What's new?
"Wine Behind the Label, 2008". This authoratitive guide to the best producers in each wine growing region of the world is particularly kind in it's appreciation of our wines. Authors Philip Williamson and David Moore positively enthuse over our more recent vintages, both red and white.
Quality and the Environment. Over a period of 4 years, Château Masburel along with seven other pioneers in the Dordogne, has been pursusing a programme of certification in best practice concerning Quality and the Environment. We are proud to say that we gained qualification through "Qualenvi" in the Autumn of 2007 and received our certificate at a special presentation just before the end of the year. We can confidently say that the discipline demanded by this qualification puts us in the forefront of best vineyard practice in France.
Tasting visits galore. During our harvest we have received three groups of professionals who have targetted Château Masburel for a visit and tasting. First to come by were 5 Dutch journalists who were researching "Women producers in the Perigord". After a tasting and lunch they parted happy and replete. Next up was Paul Foster, the renowned Australian oenologue and wine writer, who brought a group of 12 antipodean enthusiasts to check out our reputation. The tasting was carried out during and after lunch and then we took the group out into the vines to understand where the difference is made. Finally we were honoured to receive 17 Dutch "Masters of Wine" who wanted to experience at first hand the wine that they had heard so much about in the Netherlands. Their reaction suggested that they were not disappointed! It is a real morale booster for the whole team at Masburel to get this kind of recognition.
Decanter magazine likes our Boléro. Decanter magazine has rated our Mon Ravel Boléro 2003 with 4 stars**** and one of the best wines in the South West region. Unfortunately, it is sold out! We only make a limited volume, and then only in outstanding years, but the 2005 is still available for sale.
The 'Bible' is out! The French wine 'bible' "Guide Hachette" 2008 has hit the shops and we are relieved to see our 2005 vintage rated with two stars (out of three). The 2005 vintage is the "Best Ever" for us and many other producers although we were surprised that other top Bergerac producers did not get their usual star ratings. We'll keep quiet about that!
Dutch appreciation. We are a little bit stunned at the ratings we have been given by "Perswijn" the authoratative Dutch wine journal. In their August/September special supplement on Bergerac wines, no fewer than five of our wines were rated four stars or more(out of five). In fact, our Chateau Masburel red 2000 gained 5 stars and the top mark for a Côtes de Bergerac. Four and a half stars were given to our Mon Ravel Boléro 2003, again the top mark for the appellation Montravel red. Also in the Côtes de Bergerac category, our Chateau Masburel red 2002 was an equal second at four and a half stars and the Lady Masburel red 2002 with four stars. Our top white wine, Chateau Masburel 2005 got four stars with only one other white wine rated higher.
And fame spreads! We have already had Dutch visitors at the Chateau in response to the Supplement. Let's hope it continues.
Director to the point. The English language magazine "Director" has produced a summer supplement on French property which features Chateau Masburel. Journalist Laura Henderson tells the story of the Donnan's purchase of Masburel and the renovation which followed.
Fine dining with Château Masburel. We have been delighted to have our wine listed recently in a number of the best restaurants in the Dordogne. First to list us was the "Tour des Vents" in Monbazillac and then we were approached by "Le Vieux Logis", a 'Relais et Chateau' rated hotel and restaurant at Tremolat. Recently, we are happy to say that the "Relais de Diligence", also in Monbazillac, will be starting with our wines this Autumn. We can personally recommend all three restaurants as great places to eat; excellent food and very good value.
Wherefore 'art' thou? Our art exhibition this year has a special significance; it features Château Masburel! Artistic duo Susanna Bailey and Roger Vlitos spent 2006 capturing the beauty of Chateau Masburel, Susanna with oil and acrylic on canvas, Roger with photographs printed on linen. The exhibition will run until October and is well worth a visit.
Jaguar XK Club drops in. Eight Jaguar XK Club members
with their iconic cars dropped in to Chateau Masburel on their return trip from
the Porto Historic Grand Prix. It was terrific to see everyone with their cars
lined up in the courtyard for the compulsory photo opportnity.
Huge thanks to Hugh. The 2007 edition of the Hugh Johnson pocket wine guide has Chateau Masburel rated as three stars ***. Of 1200 producers in our region, only 4 are rated with 3 stars, none better. This was news to us as it was a long standing customer at the Chateau who informed us. Nevertheless, we are just a little bit proud.
The same week, we had a Belgian customer who said that he had found us through the Guide 'Larousse'. This was another discovery for us: two in the same week. Our reputation is spreading and we are only just discovering it!
White is right. The Château Masburel 2005 white wine is off to a flying start with two medals to it's name. The first to arrive was a Gold Medal from the Independent Wine Producers Association (Concours National des Vignerons Independent). Then we received a Silver medal from the prestigious "Concours Mondial de Bruxelles". At a recent professional wine fair in Paris a restauranteur was moved to proclaim that this wine was the best of all wines that he had tasted at the fair. Needless to say, we are delighted to have this kind of feedback!
Montreal in the Spring. Olivia decided that the launch of our Chateau Masburel 2002 white wine in Quebec needed a special promotion and she flew to Canada to personally conduct tastings and give radio interviews. Having been brought up in Canada as a child, this was a nostalgic trip for her and certainly one which gave our wine launch a welcome boost.
Mon Ravel Boléro, something to "Savour". Saveur magazine reviewed a wide range of Bergerac wines and chose our 2003 vintage 'Boléro' as one of the best. Boléro is our first wine bottled under the AOC Montravel red, one of the newest AOC's which has the strictest appellation rules in France.
Love "La Revue". La Revue du Vin de France has also given our new "Boléro" the thumbs up, rating it 16 points out of 20 and the best in the appellation. As it is only our first production of AOC Montravel red wine, we are relieved that we can produce such a high standard.
"Fair" time in Lille and Paris. The pre-Christmas season for buying wine saw us in Lille again this year for 5 days in November and for 6 days in Paris at the Salons for Independent Winemakers. We had super results and thanks go to all our loyal following of fans who came to see us.
First chance to get in on the 2005! A new "En-Primeur" subscription offer is now running with our German distributer C-und-D for the 2005 vintage red wines although they are still in barrel. The 2005 wines are the best we have ever made and this is the first chance to get in early with an order. In fact, so great has been the excitement around the 2005 vintage generally that we have had many requests from individual customers to place an order. If you would like to know more, drop an e-mail to olivia@chateau-masburel.com and let us know of your interest.
Watch out Quebec, here we come! We are delighted to report that the wine monopoly in Quebec, Canada has chosen to list our 2002 Chateau Masburel white wine. The first delivery is due for March 2007 and should be in the shops in April. This is a new market for us and we are very happy to have been selected for a listing.
Wine guide "Gault Millau" rates our Chateau Masburel 2004 white wine. The 2007 version of the Gault Millau wine guide has rated our Chateau Masburel white wine 16/20 describing it as rich, aromatic and lively. Phew!
Saveur magazine 'savours' our 2003 "Bolero". In 200s we produced our first red wine under the appellation Montravel. This is a new designated label at the top end of the Bergerac appellation range, a sort of Grand Cru if you will. We have called our wine Bolero and it really is a classical masterpiece. The highly respected French magazine "Saveur" sampled lots of Montravel red wines and selected ours for special mention, to our delight!
Wine writer of the year visits Chateau Masburel. Award winning UK wine writer, Andrew Jefford, chose to visit us in June for an upcoming article to appear in August 2006 in the Financial Times. Andrew will be subbing for Jancis Robinson whilst she is on holiday. We enjoyed the visit but will be on tenterhooks to see what he writes about the wines.
Paul Strang visits for a picture session. Paul is famous, amongst many other journalistic exploits, for his book on the Wines of South West France. For the revised edition due out next year, Paul visited the Chateau with his photographer to get some up-to-date snaps of the property.
Bergerac-Liverpool flights start. The new Ryanair flight between Liverpool and Bergerac started this Spring. To mark the occasion, three Liverpool journalists came to Masburel on their tour of the region to publicise the link. With a bit of luck we may see an uplift in visitors from North West England where Olivia was born. It is amazing that you can get a flight to Bergerac from Stanstead, Nottingham, Southampton, Bristol and Liverpool, all in the UK, but not from any city in France. Bizarre!
Classic Rally drops in. In May, Jim Gavin and a select band of Classic Car enthusiasts, dropped in to Masburel for a tour and tasting of our wines. The visit went very well and whilst they appreciated the Chateau, we drooled over the Jaguars, Ferraris and other fine cars.
The feminine touch at Chateau des Vigiers. Each year, our local Golf and Country Club, Chateau des Vigiers, holds a dinner to feature the wines of female winemakers in the region. Olivia was invited in March to present one of her wines which the chef match perfectly with the cheese course. Two other female winemakers completed the line up for what was a very elegant and splendid night.
Encore un "Coup de Coeur"! We waited a long time to get our first Coup de Coeur and then along comes another one, this time from the prestigious Guide 'Gault Millau'. The 2006 Guide voted the three wines presented by Chateau Masburel the Coup de Coeur award for the 2002 vintage. The wines were the Chateau Masburel white and red as well as the Lady Masburel red. We were tickled pink but rather nervous as to whether we can keep up the good show!
Guide Hachette fetes the "Lady". The 2006 Guide Hachette, France's wine bible, has awarded the Lady Masburel 2003 two stars (out of three). This is only the second time we have been so rated because normally our wines are too young when they are tasted blind. But the 2003 is a particularly expressive vintage (remember the hot summer?) and showed up well in the blind tasting.
Fairs fair. March was the month for wine fairs, with Belgium and Germany on the agenda. The fair in Brussels was intimate and that in Dusseldorf enormous, both equally interesting. It was a good opportunity to catch up with past friends and to make some new contacts.
German wine press focuses on Bergerac. The German wine magazine "Weinwirtschaft" released a special dossier on Bergerac in December which listed the wines that they appreciated the most. Three Masburel wines made it into the final publication; the Chateau Masburel white 2002, the Chateau Masburel red 2002 and the Mady Masburel red 2003, the only Chateau to have three wines chosen.
Forums launched No it's not a new cruise liner, the forums are a way of sharing your experiences with Chateau Masburel wines with us and your fellow wine enthusiasts. You can access them here.
Watch out for L'Express. The French magazine L'Express is doing a feature for the June 6th edition that includes comments from Olivia about the current situation in our region. We are not sure what the article will say but the photographer was here for a long time!
Vinexpo- a professional opportunity! Every two years, the wine world descends on Bordeaux for the professional wine 'fest', Vinexpo. Chateau Masburel will be there on Stand LM 40, Hall 2, with other 'vignerons independents'. We will be featuring our 2002 vintage which has won a number of Gold medals and a coveted 'Coup de Coeur' from the prestigious French magazine La Revue du Vins de France. If you are in the trade, come and have a taste!
Homes Away From Home. This extremely glossy 'coffee table' publication featured Chateau Masburel in a four page section in April. Laura Henderson wrote the article which featured, for the first time, more about the internal renovation and decor of the Chateau, the tasting room and art gallery. Read text See pictures
The Mail returns! Soon after we bought Chateau Masburel, the Daily Mail in the UK published a very flattering article about the purchase and renovation of our 260 year old property. In April, Lauren Booth, who writes for the Weekend Mail property section, visited Chateau Masburel and wrote another piece which was equally complimentary. If it has the same effect as last time, we can expect lots of visitors this year.
Our very first Coup de Coeur. The new editor of La Revue du Vins de France, Bernard Burtschy, recently tasted a broad range of Cotes de Bergerac red wines and came out with a clear winner. The Chateau Masburel 2002 stood out from the pack and stands alone with 7.5/10 rating and our first, treasured, Coup de Coeur. Read review
It is an exciting moment when the experts select a wine they love and it has your name on it. Needless to say, a bottle of bubbly was cracked open for the whole team to celebrate this accolade. Almost as good was the Lady Masburel red rating at 7/10 and a match for the best of the rest in the tasting.
A 'sporty' tasting in Sussex. Julie and Philip Porter of the Jaguar XK Club invited Chateau Masburel to present their wines at a recent luncheon in Sussex this April. Neil led the tasting and was almost overwhelmed by the logistics of serving eight wines to nearly 100 hungry Jaguar owners keen to enjoy a traditional Sunday pub lunch. All went well however and the tasting may lead to Chateau Masburel being chosen to provide the XK Club wines in the future.
Getting in a Tangle!. Our old friends John and Jean Trigwell of Tanglewood Wines in England invited us to feature Chateau Masburel wines at their latest tasting in April. Olivia led the tasting for 37 enthusiastic and experienced connoisseurs and enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
A "Normandy landing" for Chateau Masburel. We seized a super opportunity to present our wines at an open weekend organised by a relatively new wine merchant, and customer of ours, in Normandy, Tradivins. The shop has wonderful ambiance and many existing Masburel fans came by to grill us on how the wines are made and to taste the latest vintage.
Another first, this time at Rennes, for a new salon organised by the French Association of Independent Vineyards (Les Vignerons Independent). It is only the 5th year that Rennes has held this fair so we will see how it goes for our first time.
Last chance to buy in Waitrose. The Lady Masburel has been a super success in Waitrose and all stock is now out of bond and in the stores. So hurry, as they say, while stocks last!
It's 2005 and time to go selling again. We visited Strasbourg in February, and this time we did get a place at the Fair for Independent winemakers. We had a terrific sales result too, with results up by a third on last year. The 2001 vintages of white and red sold well and we actually ran out of the 2002 top wines as we had not expected them to be so popular.
La Revue du Vin de France magazine puts Lady Masburel red wine top! France's biggest wine magazine reviewed all the wines presented at the Paris Wine Fair and rated the Lady Masburel 2002 with four and a half stars****(*), almost a perfect score! It was also the best rated wine from the whole South West France region. Not bad for our second wine!!!
Belgium's Vino Magazine features Bergerac and Chateau Masburel. Belgian wine journalist Bernard Sirot completes a tour of Bergerac and picks Chateau Masburel as "one of the most beautiful properties in the region" where " an astonishing British humour reigns!" He liked the wine too!!! Read article in French.
Michel Bettane ( France's top wine critic) raves about Chateau Masburel 2002 white wine, again! This time, Michel is writing in the French January edition of Cigare Magazine. He says the wine is one of the most original and one of the most accomplished in Bergerac. " It's notes of ripe sauvignon, ample bouquet and generous texture are what one would love to find more often in the more prestigious Bordeaux wines". He goes on to say of the red wine " richly aromatic and well structured, the 2002 Lady red is superb and 'blossoming'! A wonderfully pleasurable wine for €10, who can ask for more in Europe?" Indeed!!! Read article in French
Our wine in Waitrose. Chateau Masburel is proud to announce that our red wine "Chateau de Lady Masburel 2001" is now available in the UK in all Waitrose stores. Waitrose is the most prestigious supermarket wine retailer in the UK and recently won the Supermarket Wine Retailer of the Year 2004 award from the Wine International magazine. We are very keen to see how well our wine sells so if you read this report, and live in the UK, why not check out the shelves in your local Waitrose store and take some wine home with you?
Fair's fair! It's November so it must be wine fair time. This year we went to Lyon for the first time and loved it. We were not very busy as we had no previous customer base but our friends Philippe and Marie-Anne, (who brilliantly translates this web diary into French) arranged for their friends and family in Lyon to visit our stand. Then we were in Lille and had a massive success with visitors from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and England to complement our enthusiastic French fans. With no chance to recover, we were then in Paris, which set a new record for sales. Our wine has had such good press coverage that we had lots of new visitors. Our Lady Masburel 2002 has a Gold Medal from the Association of Independent Winemakers, (whose fairs we have been visiting), as well as an almost 5 star rating from the Revue du Vin de France, so it sold very well. But the nice surprise was how popular our white wine is now. We never seem to take enough and so were sold out too early! Still it is better than bringing it home again!
The Press goes "bonkers" over Chateau Masburel! August, September and October have been three months of extensive coverage in the press in France, Belgium, Germany and the UK. In France, the Bettane et Desseauve Guide 2005 has again given one of our wines a 9/10 and this time it is the Chateau Masburel white 2002. To quote the guide "this type of wine, produced in New Zealand, would sell for 4 or 5 times the price"! Read rating.
The September issue of Decanter magazine selected the Lady Masburel 2001 red as particularly good value for money and one of the best wines to be presented at the Fine French Wine Encounter in London in May. At the International Wine Challenge in the UK the Chateau Masburel red 2001 gained a Seal of Approval. The magazine Wine International also rated the Chateau Masburel white 2001 91/100 points in the 'First Taste' selection, saying " This high class, barrel-fermented Bordeaux style white, has a wealth of smokey pear, apple and citrus fruit behind the oak that will emerge in time, plus a rich creamy finish."
In Germany, the September edition of Der Feinschmecker carries a six page article on Bergerac which features Chateau Masburel amongst the best producers in the region. If you read German and have a fast internet connection, try the "In the Press" section to see the article.
A touch of nostalgia has also come our way with a 5 page feature on Chateau Masburel in the August edition of the UK magazine "Leicester and Rutland Life". We lived for 15 years in Leicestershire and Rutland where our daughter Tanya grew up. We still have many friends in the area and so it was a privilege to get such positive coverage from such a prestigious 'glossy'. If you have the patience, try this link to read the article.
In Belgium, the Gastronomy and Wine magazine "Ambiance" also has a six page article on Bergerac and again Chateau Masburel is rated among the top six producers in the region. The top white wine 2001 and top red wine 2002 are described as "to die for", "rich and complex, vinified with great respect for the primary fruit, absolutely brilliant". Read more
Jazz Picnic almost a washout despite being sold out! With 275 reservations for our open air picnic, what we did not need was a day of coolness and intermittent drizzle. But we got it and the event changed from outdoors to indoors pretty quickly. The winery, the barrel store and the bottle store were thrown open as temporary dining rooms and nobody got wet. The band became strolling minstrels and did their best to entertain the 150 or so brave souls who showed the stiffest upper lip and stayed until the end. The firework display was spectacular which rounded off what turned out to be a very good evening.
The annual Jazz Picnic almost a sell-out. This years social "Glyndebourne in the Dordogne" event, The Masburel Jazz Picnic, is almost fully booked. Fans and friends are invited each year to eat, drink and be merry and this year promises to be better than ever. We have a new band and all we need now is fine weather for the 20th August.
A flock of visitors descends on Masburel! The Daily Telegraph article in June has been the best publicity we have ever had. We have enjoyed a significant increase in the number of visitors and I have to compliment the quality of readership because everyone has been a real wine fan. We have been busy no-stop with tours and tastings and the wine is selling like 'hot cakes'.
Top pastel artist, Peter Thomas, comes to Masburel.
The latest exhibition
of paintings at Chateau Masburel features master pastellist Peter Thomas.
Originally from Rutland in England, Peter has lived in France for over 20
years and in 2002 was elected 'Master Pastellist' by the French society of
Pastellists. His paintings have been exhibited in Europe and in America and
six of his paintings are exhibited in the Salon de Beaux Arts in the Grand
Palais in Paris. At the private view, Peter and his choral group of twenty
five singers entertained the opening night crowd with some stunning harmonies.
View of the River Dordogne
Bordeaux 'Fete le Vin'. In July, Bordeaux held it's annual Wine Fete with 250,000 visitors trying the wines and enjoying the musical entertainment. Chateau Masburel was present at the fete, at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry who provided a stand for the winners of the 'Best of Tourism Vini-viticole' . It was a great privilege to again be in the company of Bordeaux's elite.
Daily Telegraph features Chateau Masburel. The weekend edition of the Daily Telegraph on June 12th featured Chateau Masburel in the Food and Drinks section. The article by Chris Losh, Editor at Large for 'Wine International' in the UK, gave a sympathetic view of the trials and tribulation that have been evident during the first seven years of our 'vinous' adventure. The title "Dream wines and sleepless nights" is a good summary! Read Article
Medals abound for the 2002 vintage! Our wines have won a raft of awards in competition again this year. The Chateau Masburel red gained a Gold medal in Macon and the Chateau Masburel white won a Bronze. The Lady Masburel red won a silver medal at the Concours de Blaye et Bourg, a Gold medal from the Independent Winemakers Society ( Les Vignerons Independents) and a Gold medal at the Concours de Bordeaux, Vins d’Aquitaine.
Fairs Fair!!! The recent months have all been about wine fairs. First came Vinisud in the South of France and then Strasbourg in the north. A flying visit to Duesseldorf in Germany was followed by three days in Brussels in Belgium. These were 'professional' fairs where we made some useful new contacts. A quick visit to the UK for the London Wine and Spirits trade fair in May was followed by a longer trip to Chicago for Vinexpo America. Travelling can be fun but it is nice to be back at the vineyard!
Gault et Millau Spring 2004 award. The respected French magazine, Gault et Millau, has awarded the Chateau Masburel 2001 red wine Four Stars**** in their spring tasting published in April. "Robe pourpre, nette et profonde, une expression fine de l'aristocratie "bordelaise" they say!
Chateau Masburel a "fast improver". Tom Stevenson, in his award winning book "Wine Report 2004", rates Chateau Masburel as one of the fastest improving vineyards in South west France. Tom is author of "The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia" and his latest book contains a wealth of insiders information which is bang up to date.
"Time Out" to indulge your love of food and wine at Chateau Masburel! In January 2004 we held our first cooking course at Chateau Masburel. It was organised by Marcel Wils of La Foncaudiere who hosts the event and provides guest accommodation at his charming "village" near Bergerac. His friends Albert and Marjanne, who own the restaurant Le Tailleyrand in nearby Chalais, Charente , provided the culinary expertise and students prepared a three course meal at Chateau Masburel, each dish complimenting the flavours and aromas of the different wines. Simon Cropper, editor of Time Out guides, attended this first event which will be reported in the Spring edition of the Time Out guide to France. It was terrific fun and hopefully will be an added attraction to visit Chateau Masburel in the winter.
Pre-Christmas sales rebound. After a calm start to 2003 in sales terms, the second half of the year was busy and the Wine Fairs in Lille and Paris were back to their usual hectic best. We sold out of stock on the stand at both fairs and this gives us confidence that 2004 will emerge from the post 9/11, Sars and Iraq war blues.
Guide "Bettanne et Dessauve" 2004 revisited. We should have spotted it before but we have only just realised the significance of the rating we have from the 2004 guide. Bettane and Dessauve are arguably the most influential tasters of French wine and they have listed Chateau Masburel amongst the top 100 chateaux in the whole of south west France, including the 1855 classed growths. Perhaps more interesting is the ranking of the 2001 millesime which shows Chateau Masburel up there with Cheval Blanc, Petrus, Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion with 9/10! See ranking
A wonderful night in Bilbao. It was a real privilege to be rubbing shoulders with the worlds best wine tourism
people in the magnificent Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. Chateau
Masburel did not win a global prize but the dinner and the Rioja
wines made the evening a very special event for us, as relative
newcomers to the wine world.
Chateau Masburel wins 'Prix d'Aquitaine' in competition for
wine tourism. At a presentation ceremony at the Chamber of Commerce in
Bordeaux, the jury of the International competition 'Best of Tourism Vitivinicole' awarded Chateau Masburel the Prix d'Aquitaine for it's efforts in
2003 to promote wine tourism in the Aquitaine region. As a winner representing
France, Chateau Masburel will now go forward in October to the Global finals in
Bilbao where stiff competition from California, Australia, Italy, South Africa,
Spain and Chile can be expected.
Olivia Donnan (left of picture) with other award winners.
"Stone, Vine and Sun" win 'Wine list of the year'
award. Our newest UK importer has won the 2003 International
Wine Challenge 'Wine List of the Year'. Congratulations go to Simon Taylor,
Andrew Shaw, John Taylor and Nici Bateman with our thanks for the terrific
launch of the 2001 vintage of Château Masburel wines in the UK.
Read more at their website www.stonevine.co.uk
The 2003 Jazz picnic is an even bigger success. Around 250 people enjoyed this years jazz picnic in the courtyard, with dancing and fireworks on a perfect balmy summers evening.
The 2004 wine guide by "Bettane & Dessauve" flatters our wines. The rating of 9/10 for the 2001 Château Masburel red is high appreciation indeed but the whites are also described as "aromatic, giving pleasure to all". Read article
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French "bible" Guide Hachette 2004 features three Chateau Masburel wines. The Lady Masburel red 2001 was cited for it's rich tannins and ripe fruit aromas. The Château Masburel 2001 red was cited for it's concentration and it's balance, with great aging potential. The 2001 Château Masburel white was cited for it's original and exotic aromas of Muscat, white pepper, litchis, peaches and toast. The rich flavour is further complemented by apricots and spices.
Vinexpo a sweltering experience! The 40°C heat at Vinexpo this year meant less than ideal tasting conditions. We even kept our red wines in a cold box! Lots of action from Central Europe and Russia, the Far East and China but fewer visitors from the USA and Great Britain
The Daily Mail rates Château Masburel a Dordogne visit highlight. In the summer 2003 travel feature on the Dordogne region, journalist Matthew Sturgis selected Château Masburel as a fine place to buy wine. His article includes some mouth watering Perigord recipes and a guide to our local Ste Foy la Grande market. Read article
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Tanglewood Wine Tours visit Masburel. A group of 24 wine lovers on a Tanglewood tour of South West France visited Château Masburel and, in spite of the weather which was unseasonably wet, enjoyed a Perigord lunch and a comprehensive tasting. If the number of cases sold is an indication of vinous enjoyment, they left contented!
Art of art's sake. The summer art exhibition at Château Masburel features Gisele Filleur and her dramatically colourful views of the Dordogne
'Stone, Vine and Sun' to the rescue. The fast rising star of the UK mail order wine trade has decided to list Château Masburel wines. Aimed exclusively at retail customers, this new distribution opportunity will suit our many fans in the UK. Starting with the successful 2001 vintage, Stone, Vine and Sun will be listing Château Masburel white and red and Lady Masburel white and red, the first time the "Lady" has been available in retail in the UK. Stone, Vine and Sun can be contacted via sales@stonevine.co.uk
Decanter magazine rates Château Masburel red 2001 with three stars*** The July 2003 edition of the influential English wine magazine Decanter, rates the 2001 vintage Château Masburel with three stars. They say: "Sweet, piled high with wood and ripe black fruits. Perfumed and elegant, it also has freshness" N/A in UK!!! (but see above) A telephone call from Canada as a result of the article may lead to Château Masburel availability in Quebec. Watch this space!
It's Gold and Gold again, Again !!! Our 2001 Chateau Masburel red wine is something special. As you will read below, it has already won Gold medals in Paris and Brussels. We opened the mail this morning to discover that it has also won Gold in Macon, the second most influential competition in France. But not only that, our Chateau Masburel white 2001 has also won a Gold medal, so it's Gold and Gold again, again! You can check on results at www.leparcmacon.com/concours
Fast train to Bergerac! The latest spring TGV magazine, for all you fast-track readers, features an article on the influence foreigners are having on the quality of wine in the Bergerac region. Olivia and Chateau Masburel are featured as leading the way and setting the pace for the 'slow coaches' to follow. Read article
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BUZZ off ! Our special arrangement with Buzz, the low cost airline, to ship wine to the UK has bitten the dust, along with the airline. Ryan air has bought Buzz and immediately closed down the cargo department. But the good news is that Ryanair will continue to fly into Bergerac, making visits to the vineyard both cheap and convenient. Consult the website for best offers www.ryanair.com
It's Gold and Gold again!!! This is a tense time of year for us vignerons, like the Oscars and Miss World happening together. The 'Concours Agricole de Paris' and the 'Concours Mondial de Bruxelles' are the two top competitions when winemakers put their efforts to the test. First news came from Paris, and it's a Gold Medal for the Chateau Masburel Red 2001. The tension mounts as we await the results from the Brussels jury. A letter arrives inviting us to consult the organisers website for the news. Scrolling down the Gold Medal winners, there it is again, Gold for the Chateau Masburel Red 2001. This is the third time we have won double gold but the thrill is always the same. And surprisingly, Chateau Masburel was the only Bergerac chateau to win a gold medal in Brussels for a wine of any colour. We must be doing something right!!! I suppose we will have to release the wine now.
Paris fair at Porte de Champerret a quiet success. With war-zone images of Iraq filling every TV screen, the mood in Paris this spring was subdued. Fortunately for us, our regular customers kept us busy, replenishing depleted stocks in their cellars.
Prowein in Germany quieter than usual. With war in the middle east and a poor economy at home, the German market is quiet but we had a great time with our C & D customers tasting a vertical of 5 vintages of our Chateau Masburel red. Lots of good discussions and some gourmet meals made the event worthwhile!
Und jetzt kommen wir persoenlich nach Deutschland! Our next big event is Prowein in Duesseldorf from March 23rd to 25th. We are giving a tasting of all our latest vintages and hopefully customers of our local Koeln importers C und D (www.c-und-d.de) will come by to sample their favourite wines.
Strasbourg, the "Ace" in Alsace! Despite the dire state of economic news and the threat of imminent war in Iraq, people still need to drink wine with dinner, thank goodness. Our sales were up by a quarter at our first wine fair of 2003, thanks to lots of loyal customers returning within the Alsace, as well as from southern Germany just across the border. Our 2000 vintage white wine was particularly popular.
2003 starts with a bang! Through a friend of a friend we have been contacted by a wine company in North Carolina USA with the prospect of importing our wine there. More news " when the eagle has landed".
CD-ROM of Château Masburel
In 2002 a CD-ROM was made of Château Masburel. It is 10 minutes long and features Olivia explaining
some of her philosophy behind the success of Chateau Masburel.
For a copy, just send us an e-mail: olivia@chateau-masburel.com