Best of Bordeaux Grands Crus Wines - 5* Hotel (Tour code: 11978)

Upon arrival at Bordeaux Airport or Train Station, you will be transferred to your hotel and check-in. 

Enjoy some free time to discover the lively city of Bordeaux. Bordeaux is classified as "City of Art and History" and has been inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List as "An outstanding urban and architectural ensemble". It is home to one of Europe's largest 18th-century architectural urban areas. It also stands out as one of the first French cities to have entered an era of urbanism and metropolitan big scale projects, with the team Gabriel father and son, architects for King Louis XV, under the supervision of two Governors, first Nicolas-François Dupré de Saint-Maur then the Marquis de Tourny.

The rest of the day is at leisure.

Overnight stay in Bordeaux at Hotel Yndo.

Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux

After breakfast, travel to the left bank wine region. You'll discover delicious red wines with Cabernet Sauvignon blends in the heart of this celebrated Bordeaux wine region. 

Your guide will pick you up at the hotel at 09:30am to start your full-day Médoc region wine tasting tour.

As you reach the Médoc vineyards, your guide will take you to 2 or 3 carefully selected wine estates that are ranked as Grand Cru, classified growth Château, or Crus Bourgeois Estates. As you leave, reach the famous Castle Road along many of the Grands Crus Classés wineries.

At each winery, you will be introduced to the history and winemaking facilities of the domains. You will also have the opportunity to understand the winemaking process. Then, your tour of the Médoc region will continue with commented wine tastings in each winery. You’ll then get the chance to sample delicious Cabernet Sauvignon wines on this full-day Bordeaux excursion.

Learn how to judge wine with all the senses, using your eyes, nose, tongue, and memory. These licensed guides are not only wine connoisseurs, they’re also authorities in the local area, ready to share a wealth of information about the stunning Bordeaux region.

Médoc wines produce wonderfully perfumed yet very intense French wines. Margaux wines have a distinctive fragrant taste, attributed to the high gravel content of the soil in these vineyards. The soil’s excellent drainage means the plants need to root down further to find moisture, make them particularly strong, and bring up the deeper earth's flavours. The Haut-Médoc appellation is vast, with almost 400 different wine producers operating there, the different wineries produce wine that has a wide variety of textures and flavours. If time permits, your guide will try and organise a photo stop at Château Margaux. Saint-Julien wines are tannic, powerful and are usually coined as being quite a masculine type of wine while the wines produced in Pauillac are generally rich, full-bodied and stern.

As well as producing some of the world’s most exquisite wines, the Médoc region also boasts over 60 miles of sandy beaches and is dotted with stunning castles. The Castle Route, running from the vibrant city of Bordeaux to the tip of the Médoc peninsula, is packed with breathtaking vistas and secluded fairytale classified growth Châteaux. Unlike Saint-Émilion wines that are mainly composed of Merlot grapes, the Médoc wines are known for their high quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon in the final blending. The most famous region includes Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, and Saint-Estèphe. Gentle hills, sand dunes, deep lagoons, and sweeping Atlantic coastal views highlight a trip to another part of the Médoc region. 

Flanking the town of Pauillac, some of France’s most acclaimed vineyards cover the eastern side of the Médoc peninsula. This area is home to many fabulous castles, including Château Margaux, Château Latour and Château Mouton Rothschild. Another highlight of the region is the Gironde estuary. Formed from the convergence of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, it is home to a monument that is known as the ‘Versailles’ of lighthouses.

Overnight stay in Bordeaux at Hotel Yndo.

Vineyards at Bordeaux

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up at 09:30 am at your hotel to discover the magic of the right bank wine region of Bordeaux.

Discover the wine region of Libournais, that encompasses much of what is referred to as the "Right Bank". Named after its historical capital, the expression "Right Bank" typically refers to wines from the Pomerol and Saint-Émilion areas of the Libournais. Several villages around the region share the Saint Émilion name, such as Montagne-Saint-Émilion and St-Georges-Saint-Émilion that are named the satellite appellations.

This full-day tour consists of the visit & wine tasting in 2 very carefully selected wineries of the right bank as well as the discovery of the Enchanting Medieval Village of Saint-Émilion. Conducted by a professional English-speaking driver guide, your tour will at first lead you to the right bank of the River Garonne where the Saint-Émilion wine region is located.

Your morning will include the visit and tasting in a winery that produces wines that perfectly reflect their ‘terroir’ – a very important notion for French wines as it is the local soils and climate that truly define the main aromas and flavors that are to be found. But not only! The winemaker also contributes largely to the quality of the wines that is why our tours combine both prestigious names to lesser-known ones in which the visits are usually taken care of by a family member or the winemaker himself.

Then, uncover the magic of Saint-Émilion. The village is all the more charming because it is so different from all the other French medieval villages. Emilian, a Benedictine monk, was born in Brittany in the 8th century, to a modest family. The count who ruled the province chose him to be his financial steward, which turned out to be an unfortunate distinction in his life: jealous rivals accused him of thievery to discredit him in the eyes of his master and confidant. After some turmoil, his path eventually led him to a forest were captivated by the serenity of the area, he dug out a cave and dedicated his life to God. The hermit had performed so many miracles and done so much good around him that his name was given to the place where he had lived (after he died in 767), which became known as Saint-Émilion.

Follow your guide on a walking tour and an unusual place not to be missed: The Underground Monolithic Church. 125 ft. long, 66 ft wide, and 36 ft. high, all you can see from the exterior are a few windows on the one facade and the steeple, topped with a Gothic arrow 174 ft high. Benedictine monks were the inspiration for this church carved out of solid rock which is Europe’s largest Monolithic Cathedral! The tour will also include some information about the world-renowned wines of Saint-Émilion through the history of the Jurade. 

After your walking tour, enjoy some free time for lunch (own expenses).

Proceed with a visit & wine tasting session in a second winery. At opposite ends from your morning visit and located in a different appellation, this will be the perfect opportunity for you to understand how two wineries that are located in the same wine region can produce such very different wines. Colour, aromas, tannins, flavours are just some of the notions that will be evoked but undoubtedly the commented tasting will constitute the highlight of this afternoon tour!

Return to Bordeaux at 05:30 pm.

Overnight stay in Bordeaux at Hotel Yndo.

Medieval City of Saint-Émilion

After breakfast, pick up at 9.30 at the hotel for a full-day wine experience in a lesser-known Bordeaux wine region: Graves.

Bordered on the north by the Garonne River, it contains the sub-regions of Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes, and Barsac. It is known for its intensely gravelly soil. In the Middle Ages, the wines that were first exported to England were produced in this area. Château Pape Clément, founded at the turn of the 14th century by the future Pope Clement V, was the first named Châteaux in all of Bordeaux. In 1663, Samuel Pepys’ mention of Château Haut-Brion was the first recorded mention of French Claret in London.

Leave Bordeaux and be introduced to the Pessac-Léognan wine region. Discover this appellation where some of the most magnificent Bordeaux Reds & Whites are produced. After a visit to a carefully selected winery, participate in a commented tasting that will introduce you to the typical aromas and flavours that are usually found in Pessac-Léognan wines. Traditionally, the red wines crafted in this area are mainly composed of Cabernet Sauvignon as the main grape variety and then blended with Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc.

Then, stop at a restaurant near the vineyards to enjoy lunch with local and fresh products of the region of Bordeaux.

After lunch, head towards the Sauternes wine-producing region. Sauternes is a sub-region of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as the Premier Cru Supérieur classified Château d’Yquem. Wines produced in the region of Barsac, such as Premiers Crus Château Climens and Château Coutet are allowed to be labeled either with the commune name or with Sauternes. The intense sweetness of these wines is the result of the grapes being affected by Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that is commonly known as noble rot. In the autumn, the Ciron River produces a mist that descends upon the area and persists until after dawn. These conditions are conducive to the growth of the fungus which desiccates the grape and concentrates the sugars inside. 

The three main grapes of this area are Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle. Production costs for this area’s botrytized wines are comparatively high. The evaporation and fungus produce low yields, five to six times less than in other Bordeaux regions. The grapes are normally harvested individually from the bunch with pickers going through the vineyards several times between September and November to ensure that the grapes are picked at their optimal points. The wine is then fermented in small oak barrels, further adding to the cost.

Follow your guide as you tour one of the first Grand Crus of the Sauternes wine region. After a brief introduction of the historical past of the winery and a visit to the technical installations, the most interesting part of the tour will no doubt reside in the explanation of how this wine is being made, far from the techniques seen in the Médoc  or Saint-Émilion! Finally, a commented tasting will reveal all the subtleties of aromas and flavours that are to be found in this very refined wine.

Overnight stay in Bordeaux at Hotel Yndo.

Bordeaux Wine Region

After breakfast, private transfer to the Airport or the Train station in Bordeaux.

Picturesque View of Bordeaux