I posed a question last month about spitting vs. drinking at Bordeaux estates, and thought that I would report on my experience for people who may be visiting for the first time.
We were at eight châteaux, including two first growths, two super-seconds, and two super-fifths. While the spittoons were there nowhere did spitting seem compulsory – at one property the person leading the tour drank when we were tasting the wines. On the other hand, the pours were generous and the vintages young – in one case a bottle of the 2013 had been prepared – so that no one would want to drink all the wine. The advice I got to practice spitting was good, not so much for social but for practical reasons.
One footnote. I had the idea that an unspoken dress code was still preserved at these properties. My brother-in-law and I wore sport coats, but the only other person we encountered wearing one was a fellow American. Other visitors looked as if they might have come straight from the beach, and no one seemed to care.
Thanks again to posters who helped me know what to expect.
David Kubiak