In late October we were invited by Bernard Magrez to a luxurious lunch at Le Cinq, star restaurant at the Hôtel Georges V in Paris. We were there to celebrate several things. Bernard Magrez’ Château Fombrauge in Saint Emilion had just been given its new classification, Grand Cru Classé, and he had only a few weeks earlier bought a new chateau in Bordeaux (it is getting difficult to keep track of them all).
The chateau in question is Clos Haut Peyraguey in Sauternes, classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé 1855. And that brings us to the third thing worth celebrating. Bernard Magrez is now the only chateau owner in Bordeaux having four Grand Cru Classé chateaux in four different Bordeaux appellations. Something he seemed to be very proud of.The châteaux are
- Château Pape-Clement, Grand Cru Classé de Graves
- Château la Tour Carnet, Grand Cru Classé de Médoc 1855
- Château Fombrauge, Grand Cru Classé de Saint Emilion
- Clos Haut Peyraguey, Premier Grand Cru Classé de Sauternes 1855
All this was celebrated with a magnificent lunch prepared by chef Eric Beaumard. We were also treated to some pieces of music performed by violinist Mattthieu Arama, concertmaster of the Opera of Bordeaux, on Château Fombrauges own Stradivarius (bought by Magrez a year ago). My first encounter with a Stradivarius and very enjoyable it was.
More info: www.stradivarius-fombrauge.com and www.bernard-magrez.com.
