#riverfestival

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the opening day of the Bordeaux Wine Festival in my home city of Liverpool. This is the second year that the event has run as part of Liverpool’s River Festival, and it marks the start of the festivities. 

For those unfamiliar, let me give you a quick run down of the Festival. It’s brought to us by Paul Askew of the Art School (are you sensing a theme developing with this blog yet?), and is a celebration of Bordeaux’s wine regions and wine making culture. Pair that with some beautiful food and a floating french band and you have yourself a winning combo. 

The Festival operates something like your traditional beer fest, entry fee buys you a commemorative tasting glass, and a total of eight appellations. After that, you’re on your own! Across the site there were representatives from several Bordeaux vineyards that covered reds, whites, rosés and sweets. Attendees have the opportunity to taste wines and chat to the growers to their hearts content. This is one of the things I really love about this event, you can really take the chance to talk to the guys who are making the wines and actually get more of a grip on what you’re drinking in context. Each session also includes time in the Wine School pod - read, TWO additional glasses presented by the growers along with background into how to taste and how these particular wines came to be.

All of this is tied together with possibly the fanciest truck food I’ve ever had - a next level cheese on toast and an incredible confit duck leg with fennel sausages. 

Did you think I was finished? We were also treated to a cooking demo and taster from Chef Paul Askew himself. In our case, a gorgeous spicy prawn dish complimented with a glass of Bordeaux Claret. Ding. Dong. 

By far the glass of the day for me was an unexpected addition from the Sweet Bordeaux stand. I cannot tell you how beautiful it was, a gorgeous, golden glass of Sauternes that tasted of apricots and pineapples and honey. I could have happily polished off the bottle and more. When I finally track it down, this chateau will go to the top of my places to visit and I’ll be taking an empty suitcase. 

The Bordeaux Wine Festival will be running at Liverpool’s waterfront every other year, make sure you’re there in 2021. Even if you think you’re not into wine, this is the perfect opportunity to sample a wide range of style, you’ll definitely find something you’ll love.

Salut!