Chateau Dassault

The runners from our group, were all exhausted and must be ready to hit the bed, but we still have one more Chateau to go: Chateau Dassault in Saint-Emilion. We arrived there like maybe 6 pm? The sky had darken already and too bad I didn't bring my tripod with me.

Lawrence Brun, the owner of the Chateau welcomed us warmly, and she likes to kiss cheeks. I have never been kissed on the cheek before by a total stranger, err but OK lol. She is so warm, and I really like her. But like other French, I found her jokes are a bit sarcastic hahahaha. Anyway, she showed us around the winery. Later I realized that she is really brave. After she was given command after the Chateau, she immediately renovated the place. From adding brick wall into the oak barrel chamber, which is a bit ridiculous for the other wine expert at that day, to harvesting the grape to the latest possible date, for a extreme ripeness, from the grape skin to the seed.

We later ate dinner with Lawrence and also her husband, Francois, who is also very warm and chat with me along the dinner. I love him, better than Lawrence, 'cos he shared his experience in cooking, and also his twin daughters, even took special interest in the marathon costume. And he is a funny man, he joked a lot. BTW they also have this huge but cute dog, I didn't remember its breed. Its name is George or Josh or something. Maybe I didn't hear it clearly because of their French accent.

The dinner that evening was again, marvelous. Everything was perfect. We had this grilled pork intestine, which is very crispy, but need to be boil first then grill it, as Francois explained. Then this grilled poultry steak with creamy mashed potato. The poultry was so tender and juicy. After we finished the main course, we were served chamomile cheese and bread, which was so tasty! I love cheese so much, and that was the first cheese I ate while I was in France. That night we drank 4 kinds of wines. I forgot the first two, as two of them weren't from Dassault, but Lawrence herself opened a 1997 and for the special occasion, she opened again a 1982 one. That was the oldest one and maybe the most expensive one I have ever drunk in my life. Even older than me LOL.

As the night turned in, we said goodbye to Lawrence and Francois hospitality, and also to George or whatever its name, and Pierre drove us to Bordeaux.