The sixth edition of Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux will take place on 7 and 8 February 2013 in the wine bars and restaurants of the region’s capital city. An opportunity for Bordeaux residents to meet Blaye winegrowers and enjoy their favourite wines.

Combining pleasure, enjoyment and getting to know Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines: that’s what the sixth edition of Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux has to offer. To find out more about Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines, just pop in to your usual Bordeaux wine bar or restaurant on Thursday 7 or Friday 8 February 2013. No need to travel, the Blaye winegrowers come to you, to the places you visit every day. Fifty or so Bordeaux bars and restaurants, chosen because their spirit matches that of Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines, are taking part in the operation.

“The restaurant I’m working with offers simple and copious food in a warm and friendly atmosphere, and that suits my wines. It’s only open for lunch and those who eat there, most of them people who work in the neighbourhood, are interested in my wines”, says Patricia Geai-Beunard from Château Pouyau de Boisset at Berson. She’ll be at the Roi Carotte restaurant in Bordeaux at lunch-time on Friday, 8 February. “It’s the second time I’ve worked with the proprietor”, says Patricia, who makes organic wines. “He’s really interested in my wines, and those of Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux in general.” As part of the Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux operation, she has set up stall at the entrance of the restaurant, which enables her to promote her wines to diners as they come and go. She can tell them about the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, offer them a tasting and suggest a wine to go with their food.

Eric Vezain, from Château Canteloup at Fours, is an old hand. He’s taken part in the operation at Le Bouchon des Chatrons, a traditional restaurant, every year since it started and keeps coming back with undiminished enthusiasm. Over the two days, the restaurant proposes his Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines to its clients. “People like to put a face to a wine, and it’s an opportunity to talk with them. Customers appreciate that, they’re quite keen. Some are real enthusiasts, they go to the various restaurants taking part in the operation to taste the different Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux wines they’re serving,” he adds.

From Bordeaux wine bars to the estate

As well as being an opportunity to talk with wine-drinkers in a warm and friendly atmosphere, Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux helps to enhance relations between them and the winegrowers, and sometimes to create a lasting link. “The customers don’t know who we are, they ask questions about the wines they’re drinking. Occasions like these are an opportunity to give them answers. And that way, we also encourage Bordeaux residents to come and see us in Blaye”, says Patricia Geai-Beunard from Château Pouyau de Boisset. Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux is a great opportunity for this small 10-hectare (25-acre) estate to raise its profile. “People who live in Bordeaux find out that we exist, it’s a great showcase for us. Thanks to the latest editions of Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux, customers have already been to visit the property and now come back regularly to buy wine. We welcome them with open arms,” she smiles.

In a nutshell, everyone gets something out of the Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux operation: wine-drinkers who discover enjoyable, unassuming wines, restaurateurs who like wine and can create a buzz in their establishment around the discovery of an appellation, and winegrowers who love their terroir and can talk about their wines better than anyone else: an unmissable moment of pleasure, creativity and good humour in the middle of winter.

Link to the Blaye au Comptoir Bordeaux website: www.blaye-au-comptoir.com

Watch the video of Blaye au Comptoir Paris