{"id":38136,"date":"2023-08-18T11:04:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T10:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/linvention-dun-pionnier\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T10:45:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T09:45:57","slug":"a-pionners-invention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.estournel.com\/en\/home\/cos-chronicle\/a-pionners-invention\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pioneer\u2019s Invention"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”custom-intro”]<\/p>\n

H<\/span>e was passionate about India, of course, and his chateau was nothing if not exotic. But there was yet another bold choice that earned Louis-Gaspard d\u2019Estournel the nickname \u00ab Maharajah of Saint-Est\u00e8phe \u00bb, and that was his Retour des Indes<\/em> wine!<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”38139″ img_size=”600X410″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”India and the search for new horizons” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:19|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”pink-color”][vc_column_text]Nonconformist and determined to glorify the terroir<\/em> of Cos d\u2019Estournel, Louis-Gaspard saw every new market, especially India, as an exciting opportunity. The wines of the estate were bottled and sealed with glass stoppers before being shipped to Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay as early as the 1830s, according to written sources, and likely even earlier.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Journeys shape more than youth” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:19|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”pink-color”][vc_column_text]After a long journey, some of the wines of Cos d\u2019Estournel were shipped back to France from India. When the bottles were opened, it was clear the wines had gained in elegance and richness, quite simply improved by sailing from Bordeaux to India and then back again.
\nIndeed a stunning example of serendipity!<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”40″ accent_color=”#a30b34″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u00ab The movement of the waves improves the wine and rapidly delivers a bouquet that could only otherwise be produced by time.\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Madame de La Roche, Journal of a Journey through France, 1787, written by the author of Rosalie\u2019s Letters.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”40″ accent_color=”#a30b34″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

As the wines repeatedly crossed the Equator and were exposed to extended travel, temperature changes, salt water, and particularly the rocking motion of the ships, they took on a \u00ab superiority […] both in terms of elegance and the development of aromas and persistence, for the wines of Cos d\u2019Estournel shipped back from India in bottles sealed with glass stoppers, \u00bb according to the 1843 Congress of French Winemakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Birth of a legend” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:19|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”pink-color”][vc_column_text]So Louis-Gaspard d\u2019Estournel decided to sell these Retour des Indes<\/em> wines, shipping extra bottles alongside those for his clients in India that would then be returned to Bordeaux every year. The great sovereigns and major figures of the time were quick to delight in Retour des Indes<\/em>, and the wine would be served at the tables of the Queen of England, the Emperor of all the Russias, and Baron de Rothschild. Louis-Gaspard had launched a new trend, and other estates emulated his approach, offering a growing number of wines labeled Retour des Indes<\/em>.
\nEven the expression came to be commonly used!<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”38142″ img_size=”600X410″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=”A dedicated expression” font_container=”tag:h5|font_size:19|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”pink-color”][vc_column_text]The wine became so fashionable that a new expression became common parlance, and \u00ab Retour des Indes \u00bb was used to describe an item or event of great quality. An example can be found in Le Monde Illustr\u00e9 from 1863:<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”70″ accent_color=”#a30b34″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u00ab How do you find my outfit, Monsieur? <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Retour de l\u2019Inde, Madame!\u00a0 \u00bb<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”custom” el_width=”70″ accent_color=”#a30b34″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column][vc_column_text]The growing popularity of steamships\u2014with their reduced travel times and smoother sailing\u2014would eventually seal the fate of Retour des Indes<\/em>, marking the end of an adventure and the birth of a legend!<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When he first began shipping his wines back home from India, did Louis-Gaspard d\u2019Estournel have any inkling that he was shaping one of the great legends of the vineyards of Bordeaux?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":37292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-de-bord","category-article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t