Thanks to @Randall McFarlane for advice on Henri and huge thanks to @Jonathan Grunzweig for everything he did for me. Legend.
After doing a few weeks in Europe for work I managed to tack a few days at the end of it for a quick trip to Bordeaux. I have always been a fan of the St Emilion wines and although I was originally going to book a Left Side tour a good friend of mine said if you were going to do St Emilion he could organise something via a good friend of his who owns Ch. Reignac. Talk about under promising and over delivering, he came back with a full tour and tasting of Reignac with Marion as our host, then she would take me to St Emilion for lunch and in the afternoon they had also organised a private tour and tasting of the iconic Cheval Blanc and their new facility.
I had, due to the numerous recommendations hired Henri from Bordeaux Wine Tours to take me around. So he slotted in these two visits into our full day tour. Henri is a wealth of knowledge of the region, answering all my questions and providing me information as we drove around. Very approachable guy who makes you feel at ease, we had a late model Mercedes mini-bus/van, full leather, fantastic aircon system (was about 33C and 70% humidity all day), cooler with cold water, maps etc, etc.
Upon arriving at Reignac, Marion met us with a warm greeting and started the tour of the vat rooms, explaining the history of the Chateau, what they do/why they do it, then down to the barrel rooms and went through the basics of what they did there, aging, racking etc, etc. A quick walk to the vineyards and the different grapes and how to tell which from which by the leaves. Then out to the Greenhouse which was designed by some bloke called Gustav Eiffel, who is more well known for that other thing he created 
, it was quite surreal seeing something like that, almost like seeing a doodling of Picasso’s, maybe he had to make ends meet and did smaller jobs when required? They had separate beds with different plants that reflected the flavours of their wines. (plants and flowers with notes of lemon, pineapple, chocolate, mint etc, etc) had been carefully selected so people could discover the various aromas in the wines.
Then we made our way to the very unique tasting room which used to be a Pidgeonary (think Chateau Latour label). A very cool steel platform descends to the tasting ‘bar’ with all the bottles on it. We went through a trio of reds and one white which is a ‘newer’ wine (this was very good, really nice richness on the palate balanced out with good acid and lemon characteristics. A SavBlanc/Sem/SavGris blend which I thought would be right at home on the left bank. The reds are very smart, there is an easier drinking styled one (raspberry, blackcurrant, red licorice), a more robust, complex blend (black licorice, blackcurrant, silky yet grippy tannins), this is the main Chateau Grand Vin and a merlot only flagship wine. (only a baby, there is a real depth of fruit here, dark fruits, chocolate, pepper, blackberries and big tannins). We then retired to the main chateau for a cool drink and freshen up. It was decided that Marion would accompany us for the rest of the day, I didn’t want to impose on her day but she insisted that it would be like a ‘holiday’ for her to show me around in conjunction with Henri. So now I had two very knowledgeable guides showing me everything, anecdotes of owners, technical stuff, history, geology, vineyard management, and since everyone knows everyone here being a smaller appellation, a bit of gossip as well
Arriving at the main town of St Emilion we had a brief walk through the cobblestoned streets on our way to lunch, Marion had organised the 2 starred Michelin La Table de Plaisance but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays when I was there… so we ended up going with L’Envers du Décor which was a nice bistro styled restaurant. I asked Henri to choose a nice upcoming Chateau that is punching above its weight and he chose a 2012 Chateau Milens, then not 5 Minutes later he is raising the bottle to a gent that walked in for lunch, and he said that is the owner of Ch. Milens…(of course it is, what are the chances he came over and said hello and thanked us for trying his wine). Lunch was pretty good, a nice refreshing zucchini soup with a poached egg and duck breast for mains. (you can see in the photo below the soil profile with the limestone and the roots finding their way through it)
We then did a bit more walking in St Emilon and then a bit more site seeing before heading back to the car. Then it was a drive past all the famous Chateaus, vineyards, it is quite surreal seeing all the sign posts riddled with all the names (Figeac, Trotanoy, Angelus, Certan, Canon…etc, etc).
Next stop was a small Chateau called Chateau Petit-Village in Pomerol, one that I’d seen in Australia and had actually thought it was a ‘home brand’ wine of the supermarket chains due to its vague name. So that was a bit awkward at first after I’d mentioned it. Doh. They gave us a really good tour around the facility, their two wines were both really made well, although in Australia at $215 a bottle (they sell it for 70Euro) it is a hard hill to get over. It was interesting to see all the different theories of vinification that each Chateau has, right down to the shape of the tanks, materials used in them, blending, fermentation etc, etc.
After some more driving around, we headed for Cheval Blanc. As we approached the driveway there was two concreate posts with a chain across it, and I am thinking oh no they are closed, a quick talk in the intercom and the chain lowers in the ground (very cool).
Cheval Blanc have spent huge amounts of money on their new cellars/vat rooms. If you look at the maps each plot basically has its own tank and it is all highly computerised and controlled, totally spotless, they are still installing smaller stainless steel tanks for doing smaller blends and tests. This is gobsmacking in its scale, I felt like I was in Willy Wonka’s factory. When you walk into the barrel room through the glass doors, you can almost hear the strains of Fanfare for the Common Man as you gaze upon hundreds and hundreds of barrels of Cheval Blanc. Interesting fact: The 2017 vintage due to the frost damage has a Cabernet component that is the highest ever for the Grand Vin. We then did a quick tour of the vineyards where I got to gaze upon the vines from 1921 before we headed back to the tasting room for a look at the 2011 Cheval Blanc, which I believe is the first vintage produced by the new vat/tank system. There is a raw power to the wine, hugely deep and penetrating and pure, not overblown or anything, impeccable balance, opulent elegance was how I described it, it is just so clean and pure and focused. We then did a tour of the Chateau where they were setting up for a dinner. (I didn’t envy them as it was very hot inside). A fantastic experience.
We then dropped Marion off after planning next years visit where she assured it would be much better now she had more notice.
A great day made even greater by two wonderful hosts who showed me around for the day. If anyone is in the region for a day or two be sure to contact Henri and of course check out Chateau Reignac on the way to St Emilion.