Oenologists Michel Rolland (left) and Alain Raynaud, during the tasting of Burdi W, the first Bordeaux wine with cannabis.

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Raphael de Pablo

  • Legally, we cannot speak of wine, but of a flavored wine-based drink, because the product has been transformed with the addition of cannabidiol.

  • But nothing differs from making a classic wine, its production having even been supervised by the director of a great Bordeaux chateau.

  • The famous oenologist Michel Rolland took part in the tasting game, and validated the Burdi W, which he drank "with pleasure".

A double relaxing effect guaranteed, provided you consume in moderation, of course.

Burdi W, which claims to be the first French cannabis wine, was launched on the market on Monday, via a marketing campaign on the KissKissBankBank platform.

Some 500 bottles are on sale, and more are expected to be produced very quickly.

Burdi W, the first Bordeaux wine with cannabis - Burdi W

But what exactly is cannabis wine?

First, it should be noted that legally, we cannot speak of wine, but of a flavored wine-based drink.

Like grapefruit rosé, what?

There are several reasons for this, the most important being that the wine is transformed, since it is added cannabidiol, or CBD, a molecule found in hemp.

Unlike THC, this molecule is authorized in France because it does not cause a psychotropic effect but has relaxing properties.

Organic hemp field

"However, Burdi W is made from 100% Petit Verdot [a grape variety that is usually found in less than 10% of the compositions of certain Grands Crus Classés du Médoc], and has been produced like a classic wine", maintains the Bordelais Raphaël de Pablo, at the origin of the project, and who also operates La Ferme Médicale, an organic hemp field in Gironde.

Its cultivation is intended for the production of well-being cannabis, and was of course used for the development of Burdi W. The design of the wine was also supervised by the director of "a famous Bordeaux castle", initiator of the project. also with Raphaël de Pablo, and who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being.

The oenologist-doctor Alain Raynaud, who validated the product, and the famous Bordeaux oenologist Michel Rolland took part in the tasting game last Saturday.

"It's a first experience, I have never tasted this kind of product," explains the latter in a video.

It's not quite wine, in fact it's marked on it, but what I like is that it looks like what I know, what I have tasted for forty years.

It is a drink that I drink with pleasure.

"

Guaranteed without side effects

Creating a cannabis wine is serious business that requires careful dosing to find the right balance.

It took more than three months to develop the Burdi W. “It's very complicated, because cannabis is high in terpenes, you have to find the right combination,” explains Raphaël de Pablo.

He ensures that the cannabidiol / wine mixture provides "a real interest in terms of taste", "surprising".

"We obtain very fruity notes, with a hint of blackcurrant [which is quite classic with the Petit Verdot grape], and above all we really feel this relaxing effect after tasting ..." A 33 cl drink made from CBD contains average 20 mg of cannabidiol, "there is 250 mg per bottle, assuming it is drunk by three or four people."

"The tasting is guaranteed without side effects," since there is no THC ", the molecule of cannabis that" gets high ".

The pre-marketing of cannabis wine got off to a strong start, with around 100 bottles already sold.

They sell for 34.90 euros (or 180 euros for the case of six).

“What we want with this new product is to revitalize the Bordeaux wine market by rejuvenating it, and to reach a new audience to interest them in the market for CBD-based products”, insists Raphaël de Pablo.

Already cannabis wine from the time of the Gauls?

While this is a first in France, cannabis wine is nothing new.

There are already some in California, Spain ... "It was Californian wine that gave me the idea to make it in France", says Raphaël de Pablo.

Published in 2018, an article on archaeological excavations finally convinced the Bordelais to embark on this adventure: it explained that traces of cannabis found in a burial, suggest that the Gauls were already drinking a hemp wine ... Hallucinating, no ?

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