Blog

Click for more
June 2019

Krug X Pepper

Once a year, the Krug Champagne seeks a unique, extraordinary and versatile dish that will spark the curiosity and talent of chefs at Krug Ambassades around the world. Cordeillan-Bages is one of the 20 Ambassades selected in France.

From 29 to 31 January 2019, Julien Lefebvre was invited to Mexico with 11 international chefs to work on a chilli pairing. They discovered the city of Oaxaca and its markets as well as the picturesque village of Teotitlán, which inspired their recipes. The champagne house used the opportunity to also publish an illustrated book, spotlighting each Ambassade and the art of living around the emblematic Krug Grande Cuvée.

Below is a sneak preview of the recipe imagined by Julien Lefebvre, Basque Tacos, in recognition of our beautiful region.

Like an Axoa with sweet peppers and Espelette chilli, and a pepper piperade with wild herbs

Tacos

175 g yellow corn flour
1 tablespoon salt
10 cl warm water

Axoa

800 g cushion of veal
2 onions
200 g dry-cured ham with the fat
2 cloves of garlic
6 green Anglet sweet peppers
Espelette chilli, to taste (red and hot)
Salt and pepper

Piperade

1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 bunch of chervil
1 gem lettuce
10 cl olive oil

Prepare the Axoa

Cut the meat with a knife into small cubes of 1 cm maximum along each side. Peel and finely slice the onions. Cut the ham into very small cubes, placing the cubes of fat to one side.

Warm a thick frying pan over a medium heat and melt the ham fat, then add the onions and diced ham. Fry gently, then add the meat and the peeled and crushed garlic cloves. Brown for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

Remove the stalks and seeds from the green Anglet peppers, cut into thin strips, and add to the pan. Mix for a few minutes, then cover and steam for about 20 minutes.

Season only at the end of cooking, with salt and a pinch of Espelette chilli. Keep warm.

Prepare the tacos

Put the flour in a bowl and add some salt. Slowly pour in warm water while stirring. Work the dough with your hands until it is soft and no longer sticky. Cover and leave to stand for about 15 min.

Divide the dough into 8 identical portions. Roll each piece out into a pancake with a diameter of about 15 cm.

Preheat the pan, without adding any fat, and cook the tortillas for about 1 min at medium temperature. Flatten them as soon as they start to swell so that they cook evenly. They are ready when brown spots begin to appear.

Prepare the pepper piperade

Remove the stems and seeds from the various peppers. Dice them very finely and put them in a bowl. Coarsely chop the chervil and cut the gem lettuce very finely. Mix everything together and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Assemble

Place the tacos on a flat plate or rectangular wooden board. Place the piperade in the centre of the tacos, then add the veal Axoa on top. Fold the tacos and serve hot.

Click for more
November 2017

A celebration of contemporary art at Cordeillan-Bages

In 1989, Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Château Lynch-Bages and a contemporary art lover, was seeking a parallel to portray the finesse and elegance of his wine. When he discovered the works of Pierre Alechinsky, he asked him to depict this magnificent vintage.

And so "Lynch-Bages as seen by… Alechinsky" was born...

Since then, a succession of great artists has found inspiration in the diversity and subtlety of the wines of Lynch-Bages.

The passage of time has seen the creation of an outstanding collection of works of art: Jean Le Gac, Arroyo, Sandro Chia, Titus Carmel, Donald Lipski, Jiri Kolar, Tan Swie Hian, James Brown, Hervé Di Rosa, Günther Förg, Ryan Mendoza, Emilio Perez, Arnulf Rainer, Paul Rebeyrolle, and Antoni Tàpies…
Until Lynch-Bages launched its renovation project earlier this year, the whitewashed walls of the ancient vat-house provided the perfect backdrop for these exhibitions.

1989 was also a landmark year for Cordeillan-Bages, when they it became the only Relais & Châteaux in the Médoc. A veritable haven of peace incorporating gastronomy, wine and the world of culture: the core of the promotion of an “art de vivre” that the Cazes family wishes to share with visitors from all over the world..

A visit to Cordeillan-Bages offers the chance to admire works from exhibitions staged at Lynch-Bages in tandem with the Galerie Lelong in Paris.

Pierre Alechinsky:

In 2001, Lynch-Bages hosted the first Alechinsky exhibition titled "Mémoire volatile".
In 2014, Lynch-Bages offered its visitors a selection of important works by the artist 
Pierre Alechinsky was born in Brussels in 1927. Whimsical and non-conformist, Alechinsky’s work is characterised by a freedom of inspiration and writing. His pictures are populated by strange beasts, creatures that are half-fantasy-half-naïve, or the odd plant. Gazing at his work, we discover to our delight that painting sometimes is a thing of magic…

 

Chicago (lithographie) - 1991

Mémoire volatile - 1990

 

Antoni Tàpies :

“If I can’t change the world, at least I want to change the way people look at it” said the Catalan painter Antoni Tàpies… In 2002, Lynch-Bages had the great honor to present "Poetic of Things" an exhibition featuring his artworks with unconventional materials such as marble dust, ground chalk, sand and earth. 

 

Vernis et collage - 1988

La cloche tibétaine (lithographie) - 1991

 

Jean Le Gac :

En 2003, Château Lynch-Bages welcomes a series of large format paintings of the artist on the occasion of an exhibition titled "Délassements & Génies" .

Jean Le Gac was born in 1936 in Alès in the Gard region of France. His recurrent theme - the tribulations of a painter - unfolds between fiction and confession, between painting and literature, at the junction of so-called minor genres. In this way, he renews the principle of illustration, the novelistic verve and images of serial novels. 

 

Les grandes vacances ou le prisonnier - 1992

Le peintre nocturne - 1988-1990

 

Emilio Perez :

In 2012, Lynch-Bages had the great pleasure of welcoming the dynamic compositions of abstract artist Emilio Perez in the cellars. A beautiful series of artworks influenced by the rythm of music and the movement of the ocean. An artwork full of energy that can be seen at the restaurant of Cordeillan-Bages.

 

Nowhere you've been - 2011

 

Click for more
18 september 2017

An Encounter with Chef Sommelier, Arnaud Le Saux.

Chef Sommelier, Arnaux Le Saux

A native of Nantes, Arnaud Le Saux fell in love with wine while attending hotel management school.

« I did not know much about wine, I took an extra course on the topic, visited wineries, met producers, and never looked back ».

Since 2013, he is the head sommelier at Cordeillan-Bages. He designs the wine list for visitors who wish to discover the Bordeaux wine region.

With a wine-list of over 1,500 references, he offers Bordeaux Grands Crus, as well as a very fine collection of wines from elsewhere.

« I adapt to guests’ tastes, and always hold a selection of wines that I especially recommend. »

According to this wine lover, « a good wine is one that you want to savour again once you have finished your glass and a great wine produces a special emotion, and leaves a lasting impression ».

Attentive, always ready to explain wine in simple terms, and to talk to winemakers who he meets on a regular basis, Arnaud le Saux also creates food and wine matching in harmony with the Chef Julien Lefebvre: « A good food and wine match is based on balance. The wine must not alter the taste of the dish and the dish must not overpower the wine ».

Thanks to his expertise, the restaurant was selected finalist in the 2017 Tour des Cartes competition for the “Luxury Hotels and Michelin-starred Restaurants” category.

Click for more
July 2017

A NEW MENU AND A SECRET TO SHARE

 

Fillet of sea bass à la bordelaise with poivrade artichoke

In keeping with the beautiful weather, I wanted to create a menu highlighting emotion and the carefree joys of sharing fine summer food.
The menu makes the most of magnificent ingredients: melon from the nearby Charentes region, field tomatoes, Mediterranean red mullet, king prawns from Saint Vivien in the Médoc,  aged tomahawk steaks and, of course, the star of July: black truffles from Australia.
This is not to forget my famous sea bass with bordelaise sauce and poivrade artichoke that I suggest now preparing. Let's cook!

Fillet of sea bass à la bordelaise with poivrade artichoke

Ingredients: serves 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes

1 sea bass
15 g fish bones
10 g butter
1 litre red wine
5 g aromatic ingredients
4 Prince de Bretagne artichokes
50 g butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation for the bordelaise sauce:
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Material: a pan, a sauce ladle, and a conical strainer

Trim the aromatic ingredients (carrot, shallot, celery), drain the fishbones and cut them into small pieces.  Gently brown the bones in a pan with the aromatic ingredients for about 15 minutes. Add the red Bordeaux wine and cook for 20 minutes. Put through a conical strainer then add more wine, reduce to the desired consistency, and whisk in the butter. Set aside.

Preparation of the purple artichokes:
Cooking time: 6 minutes

Material: a chopping board, a paring knife, and a pot.

Cut down the top of the artichokes by a third and wash them under running water. Cut off the stem and tie the artichokes so that the heart stays whole during cooking. Blanche the artichokes for 5 minutes in boiling salted water.   Cool them down, drain them, remove the small central leaves and the inedible choke (or fuzzy centre), and set aside.

Preparation of the fillet of sea bass:
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Material: a chopping board and a knife

Scale the fish and remove the fillets, cut them into 120 g portions, and cook in grape seed oil at 46°C. Set aside and keep hot.

Finishing and presentation:

Arrange the artichokes in a deep serving dish, then add the sea bass and the bordelaise sauce. Serve.

Click for more
July 2017

There’s no better time to visit!

 

Cordeillan-Bages

The recent two-hour LGV Express train launch from Paris opens myriad opportunities to come discover the Medoc and its only Relais & Châteaux, Cordeillan-Bages.

Just North of Bordeaux, between the Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, in the heart of the Pauillac vineyards, this peaceful family estate was repurposed as a charming hotel to welcome lovers of fine wine, great cuisine and preserved countryside. 

New room interiors decorated by Milan-based designer Anne-Monique Bonadéi and a new young executive chef Julien Lefebvre in charge of the renowned gastronomic restaurant. Cordeillan-Bages is a destination of its own, on the renewal.

In celebration of the LGV Oceane, Cordeillan-Bages introduces an irresistible offer to discover Julien Lefebvre’s cuisine and interpretations of the local terroir, laze by the outdoor pool and stroll through the gourmet village of Bages.

Discover the Oceane offer

Click for more
23 January 2017

Château Cordeillan-Bages takes part in finest wine list competition

Cyrille Raymond, Philippe Faure-Brac, Rodolphe Wartel, Céline de Labrousse, Arnaud Le Saux

Château Cordeillan-Bage took part in the gala night held at the Maison Blanche restaurant on Avenue Montaigne in Paris to celebrate finalists of the"Tour des Cartes" - the first national competition for the best wine lists in France, organised by "Terre de Vins" magazines.

10,000 wine lists from all over France, 100 selected and 6 catégories

The aim of the first edition of the "Terre de vins" competition was to showcase and celebrate the French cuisine, which was declared World Intangible Heritage by UNESCO in 2010. For this unique event, thousands of wine lists from all over France were collected and examined by the panel of experts, according to 6 categories: wine bars, traditional restaurants, brasseries-bistros, fine-dining restaurants, starred and palace fine-dining restaurants, and restaurants that are part of a chain or group.

A panel presided over by Gérard Basset, Best Sommelier in the World, 2010.

Presided over by Gérard Basset, Best Sommelier in the World, 2010, the panel of experts scrutinised over 10,000 wine lists according to well-defined criteria (representativeness, originality, readability, user friendliness, value for money). Out of these, only 100 made it to the next round before being judged and divided into the 6 competition categories.

"From the Pyrenees to the Alsace and from the Lozère to Paris, our journalists have completed a veritable Tour de France to unearth the best of the wine lists that are worth a detour: those that you'll go out of your way for, those that will help you discover the best appellations and winegrowers, those that will delight you without breaking the bank", continues the Terre de vins article.

A modern restaurant in a 17th century chartreuse surrounded by vineyards.

The Château Cordeillan-Bages team is proud to have featured among the 18 finalists in the starred and palace fine-dining restaurants category.
Following two succeeding chefs, each garnered two-stars onsite, who forged the spirit of our home, we're delighted to welcome in February a new Executive Chef to endure the tradition and express his own vision of an inventive dialogue between haute cuisine and great wines.

Our sincere congratulations to Arnaud Le Saux, Head Sommelier at Château Cordeillan-Bages.

View the competition's big winners…

Click for more
14 April 2017

Cordeillan-Bages unveils its "Premium" rooms

Cordeillan-Bages, chambre premium

Cordeillan-Bages unveils its "Premium" garden-rooms at the heart of the vineyard

In 2017, the hotel of Cordeillan-Bages, located near Bordeaux in Pauillac (Medoc), introduces new « Premium » rooms in its chartreuse. Revisited by Idoine architectural firm and Milan-based interior designer Anne-Monique Bonadéi, the rooms offer a soothing atmosphere of contemporary elegance.

Natural light and open space

The rooms overlooking pine and verbena gardens at the heart of the vineyard in Pauillac, capture a more spacious and bright living area (32m2).

The on-demand switchable privacy glass separates the room from the bathroom with heated floors, built of Moleanos stone. An Italian-style shower faces the window without vis-à-vis. The architect uses the round iconic mirror, designed by Jacques Adnet circa 1950, and Danish lighting fixtures by Frandsen, to style the space.

chambre premium, Cordeillan-Bages

 

Inspired by the elegance of materials

Linen, leather, wood, blond stone and marble bring to the Premium rooms a comfortable atmosphere with modern and pure lines.

Tailor-made cabinetry in oak, with leather handles, extends over an entire length of one wall, whilst Italian fabrics by Dedar refine the headboard of the king-sized bed and the windows opening unto the garden.

A maison with an epicurean spirit

The decor of the rooms blends with the interiors of this Relais & Châteaux, home to an unusual collection of contemporary artworks by renowned artists – Pierre Alechinsky, Emilio Perez, Gérard Titus-Carmel, TAN Swie Hian or Antoni Tapiès – to name a few.

Its open terrace over the vineyard punctuates the home with an absolute charm.



Premium rooms at Château Cordeillan-Bages start from €349.

Select your dates here

Click for more
January 2016

"Global Best of Wine Tourism 2016": Lynch-Bages & Cie carries off the prize!

The network of Great Wine Capitals, united Thursday November 12th, at the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, announced Lynch-Bages&Cie, the Grand Prize Winner from France, at their Global Best of Wine Tourism Awards 2016. 

Founded in 1999, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an alliance of eight internationally renowned wine regions – Bordeaux, France; Cape Town/Cape Winelands, South Africa; Mainz/Rheinhessen, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Bilbao/Rioja, Spain; San Francisco/Napa Valley, USA and Valparaiso/Casablanca Valley, Chile.

A unique Bordeaux experience
The Cazes family has created a number of unique experiences under the name of Lynch-Bages & Cie which combine wine, history, culture and the French art of living. Among the unforgettable must-see features : Château Lynch-Bages and its historic vat-house, the Relais & Châteaux hotel Cordeillan-Bages and its 2 Michelin star restaurant, the cookery school, the picturesque village of Bages, the "personal winemaking" experience at VINIV. Excellence, authenticity, charm, elegance, hedonism and simplicity are part of the “voyage”. An array of unusual and tailor-made activities are also offered to visitors all year long: arrival by helicopter, classic-car rallies…
On November 12, Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum was the scene of the 2016 international  ‘Best Of Wine Tourism’ awards ceremony sponsored by the Great Wine Capitals Global Network.  The ceremony took place during the gala dinner that marked the end of the Network’s annual general meeting. The international award winners are chosen from among the ‘Best Of’ winners from each Great Wine Capital.  This year, there were 386 nominees and 50 local award winners. On the evening, each of the eight member regions was awarded with regional and global awards. Within the Bordeaux region there were a number of regional winners, including Chateau CarbonnieuxChateau de ReignacDomaine de Grange NeuveChateau de la Dauphine and Chateau Coutet.

Read more about the Great Wine Capitals Global network on www.greatwinecapitals.com

 

Click for more
January 2016

New presentation plates in the gastronomic restaurant

“Veraison”, marks the transition from grape growth to grape ripening when a flood of colour washes through the vineyard, painting the berries purple and gold.
As Jean-Charles Cazes had the idea to celebrate this special stage in the vine cycle, it only seemed natural to him to call on Italian interior designer Anne-Monique Bonadei to illustrate “veraison” on the new gastronomic restaurant plates.

Created in collaboration with Anne Monique Bonadei and the storied Limoges porcelain maker Bernardaud, our new plates represent the veraison process through a series of 3 illustrations.

Available by 2 in a gift set
320€ + shipping