Bucket list experience:
Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A must-see for wine lovers from around the world, Bordeaux’s fabled wine estates are fascinating to explore.
There’s plenty to discover (and taste): the region is divided into 57 appellations, with over 8,500 wineries (or châteaux) producing some 800 million bottles a year.
Some 89 percent of these are red wines, including the legendary, stratospherically priced Grands Crus or ‘First Growths’ of the Médoc, Graves and Saint-Emilion. Meanwhile, the sweet, golden Sauternes rules the whites.
Close to Bordeaux, the flat, gravelly Medoc area produces the greatest red wines in the world: half of its sales are prestigious Grands Crus Classes, sold under appellations such as Pessac-Leognan, Margaux, Pauillac and Haut-Medoc.
The Saint-Emilion area’s wines – a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon – have their own classification system and are grown in the prettiest Bordeaux area – the lovely town of Saint- Emilion itself.
Sauternes, whose namesake wine is the classic pairing to foie gras, is made from Semillon grapes, which develop their famous botrytis cinerea, or ‘noble rot’, in the autumn mist.
This area is home to the legendary Chateau d’Yquem wine, Bordeaux’s only white Premier Grand Superieur; the best vintages of which are aged for over a century.
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Destination Guide >Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Medoc’s most exotic chateau – inspired by the Sultan’s palace in Zanzibar – makes superb wines in its high-tech gravity-flow cellar. Tours are available by appointment; there’s also an option for a gastronomic lunch.
Best for ages: 18+ | Free
Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A welcoming estate in the Sauternais, where you can learn all about noble rot and its complex, sweet white wines.
Best for ages: 18+ | £17
Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe winery that has been making wine since 1599, with tours, tastings and rooms to stay in.
Best for ages: 18+ | Free
Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
This beautiful Grand Cru chateau in Margaux, one of Bordeaux’s most prestigious areas, has tastings, meals and even helicopter tours.
Best for ages: 18+ | Free
Unlike some French wine regions, Bordeaux’s chateaux are generally not open without a reservation. Organised tours will obviously organise access and logistics.
You can visit independently – some cellars charge for tours and tastings, others are free – and of course there are lots of wine tour operators to choose between.
The Bordeaux tourist office has a designated department to help independent travellers book chateau visits and transport for a small fee (email viti.vini@bordeaux-tourisme.com) with tastings paid for onsite. Taste all you like – you don’t have to worry about driving home.
Bordeaux’s world-famous Grands Crus are expensive, so you want to be sure you’re buying a wine you really like. Before you go to the wine region, visit the high-tech Max Bordeaux wine gallery, where you can sample a sip from 48 of the finest bottles – each of which has been allowed to breathe to perfection.
Also, download the free ‘Smart Bordeaux’ iPhone app providing detailed information on every Bordeaux label and grower. You can scan bottles in shops for instant info.
If you want to stay in the region, try the sublime Le Relais de Franc Mayne, an intimate boutique hotel on a famous Saint-Emilion wine estate, 40 minutes from Bordeaux. Stays include free wine tastings and tours of the chateau’s ancient quarry cellars.
Go to Bordeaux any time from April, when the vines sprout their first leaves. September is harvest time, which can be fun but very busy, while October’s autumn colours are magical. Most Bordeaux chateaux are open to visitors all year round, usually Monday-Friday, during working hours. Check directly with the chateau to confirm opening times.
Recommended itineraries by our writers that include this experience
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Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first
Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A striking industrial-chic hotel overlooking Bordeaux (but 9km outside) with a Michelin-star restaurant and cooking school. A rural idyll in France’s biggest wine region.
Official star rating:
Saint-Emilion, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
An intimate, luxury boutique hotel on a famous Saint-Emilion wine estate, 40 minutes from Bordeaux. Stays include free wine tastings and tour of the Chateau’s ancient quarry cellars.
Official star rating:
Martillac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A rarefied, rustic-chic retreat with two gastronomic restaurants and a world-class vinotherapie spa, in a beautiful vineyard setting 20 minutes from Bordeaux.
Official star rating:
Pauillac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Surrounded by world-famous vineyards an hour from Bordeaux, this lswish 17th-century manor house in Medoc is a dream for food and wine connoisseurs.
Official star rating:
Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A vintage wine and culture destination with delicious tastings, grand architecture, gourmet restaurants and a glorious coastline.
Round-ups that include this experience
Multiple countries
The world’s greatest wine regions – where you can sip the world’s greatest wines at source, and tour the vineyards to learn how they’re made.
