You generally can't go wrong with the wine "caves" in St. Emilion. They are honest sellers who…read moreoffer beautiful wine at fantastic prices. But you will not find a friendlier, more engaging, and more knowledgeable wine expert than Monsieur Thierry Dubois. His cave is not simply a shop, it is a place to learn about and experience all that fine wine has to offer. If all you want is an excellent recommendation, a good selection, and fair prices, that can easily be had here. The shop is unassuming but very well-appointed, comfortable, and well-stocked. Thierry offers fantastic tastings, and also, if you are lucky, he may serve you some of his delicious Basque tapas with it. This is a man who loves wine, and loves what he does, and it is a true pleasure to be welcomed into that environment, share some wine, and deepen one's knowledge. Perhaps the wisest thing he said to my wife and I, who enjoyed ourselves so much that we never even made it past his shop on our last visit, was this: "yes, there is a lot of competition, but ultimately, the competition is with oneself, and the goal is to not lose your soul in the process." Perhaps the most amusing thing he said about wine was "you need to aerate this because it is an old wine, and old wines are lazy!" I mean, how could you _not_ want to buy a bottle from a chap like that? Whether you are a neophyte or a connoisseur, the Cave de la Grande Fontaine is not to be missed on any visit to St. Emilion. And it's easy to find--just look for the big inflatable wine bottle (this is Thierry's way of not taking himself and his wine too terribly seriously, so don't be put off). Pull up a stool, hold your glass up to the light, take a deep sniff, and prepare yourself for wine nirvana.
