bordeaux

Say "Bordeaux" and you'll scare away many everyday wine drinkers who associate it with $2,000 bottles of Lafite. But not all wine from the region is expensive, precious, or rare; in fact, much of it is impressively affordable (as Bordeaux is the largest wine-producing region in France) and not half bad.

The key, I've discovered, is finding quality Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Superior AOC offerings, basic-level wines that still embody the character of the region. I found a recent steal, 2009 Chateau Le Touzinard Bordeaux, on sale at Whole Foods for a paltry $10, as part of a promotion they'd launched offering an early taste of the 2009 vintage. It's one of their outstanding selections that comes from a "petit château," a small, family-owned property.

The shocker about this wine was the fact that it was smooth, medium-bodied, and structured, yet still easy to drink on its own. I attribute that to its incredibly fruity nose, which evoked images of ripe, jammy plums, tart cherries, and cigar box spice, and its pleasant level of acidity. It's a great everyday wine for food, or without. What's your favorite Bordeaux wine?

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Robin passes the sledge hammer to Lily so she can have her go at breaking down the house walls on the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother. Layering a turquoise Ron Herman cardigan over a Bordeaux taupe tiered top, she looks contemporary and cute, finishing things off with dark denim jeans and tan tall boots. Shop her exact top, add some gold jewelry, and you'll have Lily's look in no time.

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Photos courtesy of CBS

When I first received this bottle of Bordeaux in the mail, its Bad Boy name and whimsical label, which features a black sheep and an arrow labeled "garage," meant little to me. But after doing some research, I discovered the whole thing makes quite a bit of sense.

The inky red wine, which is 95 percent Merlot and 5 percent Cabernet Franc, hails from the famous French region of Bordeaux, which is known for its style of highly tannic, collectible wines. But this bottle is different: It's the venture of Jean-Luc Thunevin, a leader in what's known as the garage wine movement, an effort that's focused on developing bolder, fruitier Bordeaux wines that can be enjoyed right away.

Wine critic Robert Parker deemed Bordeaux's black sheep, Thunevin, a "bad boy," which explains how the wine's name came to be. It may be a silly name, but the wine is satiny, with earthy plum notes, and the subtlest hint of smoke. And, at $17.50, it's priced rather affordably. Are you familiar with this wine and Bordeaux's garage wine movement?

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Côté Maison reader Serge purchased a dilapidated retirement home in the Bordeaux region of France after leaving a duplex in Paris. The exterior had already been partially restored but the house still needed a lot of work. Two years and thousands of euros later, he and his wife had redone the roofing, floors, bathrooms, bedrooms, electricity, tiles, garden, pool, and even planted 360 saplings! They also converted an old barn into a photo studio, a small house into a guest room, and a garage and shed into spare apartments.

As you can see, the room above was a scary sight that needed a lot of work, but it did have beautiful, rustic ceiling beams. So, they transformed the space into a calm, shabby chic living room that I'd kill to own. See it when you read more