O N T H E
S C E N E
Making a splash
There’s a quiet revolution happening in Bordeaux’s wine bars,
but is it changing the way the locals drink for good?
WORDS
NOLA D'ENIS
IFYOUFINDYOURSELF
in Bordeaux on a Thursday evening, there’s
only one place to go. Chez Pompon, off Place des Quinconces, is
a bustling bar and brasserie where cool, young Bordalais descend
for after-work drinks.
So far, so normal, you might think. But what sets this
scene apart is that, rather than the usual cocktails,
everyone there can be found drinking wine. Indeed,
even in a city famous for its bottled produce, this
kind of
vin-
sumption is quite unusual. Traditionally,
French wine drinking was confined to meal times,
the one good bottle reserved for Sunday lunch,
and wine bars were for pre-dinner or pre-cinema
consumption. However, thanks to Chez Pompon
(
4
Cours de Verdun, tel: 05 56 79 13 13
)
and a
growing number of venues like it, a young, cool
crowd – not the usual buffs – are discovering
the joys of an evening spent in the company of a
fine vintage.
“
People don’t drink vodka or beer anymore
when they go out, they just drink wine”, says
Emmanuel Cadei, co-owner of
Le Wine Bar (
19
Rue des Bahutiers;
tel: 05 56 48 56 99
).
But why the sudden shift? New technology seems to have
played a role. Most bars have high-tech Enomatic dispensers
(
known as "
machine à vin"
)
for DIY tastings. Buy a prepaid card,
insert it into the machine and choose your size of sample (there are
options of 30, 60 or 120mls).
As Marianne Durand, a young Bordelaise out
with a group of her friends at BU (
25
rue du Pas St
Georges; tel: 05 56 52 87 48; baravin-bu.fr
)
explains:
“
You can try different wines and control how
much you're drinking and what you pay, because
of the machines.”
But it's not just about flash new inventions.
Marie-Pierre Chaverou, a saleswoman from Lillet,
the famous Bordeaux aperitif, says this shift is down
to the economic crisis, as a bottle of good claret now
costs half of the price of a traditional aperitif.
A new breed of wine makers are also making a splash.
One such producer is Jean-Luc Thunevin, who says that
wine – for centuries a highly traditional product – has become
more democratic. "Wine should be fun and not necessarily made
by someone who’s inherited a chateau,” he says, explaining that
the new wave of young producers even use social media to
publicise wine events.
It's a fittingly 21st century makeover for society's oldest
–
and most delicious – lubricant. Cheers.
A bottle of
good claret now costs
less than half of the
price of a traditional
aperitif
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