Rated by Trip Advisor as the Number One destination in the world for Wine Travel.
The region has three vineyards ranked numbers one, two and three respectively in the world. Bordeaux produces more than 700 million bottles of wine a year out of some 15 000 properties. 80% of this wine is red and known as ‘Bordeaux Blend’.
Leslie Kellen is a South African living and operating a Guest House in the region. Well known in the South African wine industry, Les lectures on wines and conducts wine tastings at these exclusive vineyards. With Leslie’s knowledge of wine and the region, Falcon Africa Safaris now offers wine travel for both the Incentive / Conference markets plus the Leisure market, to this exciting region.
Famous not only for its exquisite wines, Bordeaux is an area that has much to offer everyone. Whether you want to spend you time tasting the wine of the region, or visiting the medieval towns nearby, the Bordeaux region has it all!
For the Incentive / Conference market, we can offer themed programmes that are personalised to your group needs, and offer activities and functions around the theme. Some of the themes include:
Wine
Gastronomy
Arts and Crafts
Sport
to name but a few.
For both the Incentive and Leisure market, there are a variety of activities to partake in, apart from the wine sampling. Some activities include:
Cooking lessons with top French chefs
Mountain biking
Rally trails
Golf
Murder Mystery evenings
Relaxation at spas and beauty clinics
There are also a number of day trips that you can do, which include:
Visiting the town of Cognac. The name Cognac is of course known the world over for the brandy produced in the region, and it is that that attracts many of the visitors. But Cognac the town is also worthy of your attention in between your tasting sessions. Cognac 'old town' - the medieval part of the town - has a plethora of narrow cobbled streets, hemmed in by attractive houses from the 15th to 18th centuries, and a multitude of brandy maturing warehouses.
St Emilion – a medieval town steeped in history and culture. Saint Emilion is considered to be one of the ten most beautiful villages in France and is classified as part of the UNESCO world heritage. The fortified village of Saint-Emilion is built in the shape of an amphitheatre nestled in a lime-stoned combed. When walking through the narrow streets of Saint Emilion you will discover its architectural wonders and cultural heritage. You will feel the atmosphere of the middles ages, combining the profane and the religious.
The Regions
Bordeaux City and its Négociants
The heart of the City
Any visitor to the Bordeaux region today should make their first stop the centre of town. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007 - the largest urban area worldwide to have received the honour - the city of Bordeaux has transformed into one of Europe's most vibrant centres, and the wine industry, that has felt disconnected from its heart for too long, is busy reclaiming it. Cases of claret may no longer be shipped from the quays downtown, but once-resistant négociant houses are opening up to the public; wine bars are finally taking their rightful place in a city that for years kept wine just at the restaurant table; and châteaux on the outskirts of the urban sprawl are getting connected through the new tramway. The waterfront is now lined with jogging paths, parks, water features and plenty of cafés and restaurants. And buying wine can often be easier and better value in central Bordeaux than in the more tourist-focused areas such as Saint Emilion, so consider saving your purchases for your days in town.
Northern Médoc
The wines of Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint Estèphe
If Bordeaux was the Masai Mara, the stretch of road that winds through the northern Médoc is where the big game hunters would prowl. Of the ‘Big Five’ First Growths, three of them - Latour, Lafite and Mouton - are up here, and their reflected star quality adds a glossy sheen to each château you pass.
Starting perhaps at Château Beychevelle in Saint Julien and finishing with Château Montrose in Saint Estèphe, everywhere you look here there are big name châteaux revered by wine lovers the world over; that truly look the part with their fairy-tale turrets and row upon row of low, well trimmed vines. Not only that, but you can physically see the terroir – beautiful gravelly soil that looks bone dry even if you’re driving through a rain storm. It might take a while to get here from downtown Bordeaux, but no true wine lover comes to Bordeaux without at least a half day pilgrimage up to the home of stately, long-lived, world-class Cabernet Sauvignon.
Southern Médoc
Margaux, Listrac and Moulis
Michel Rolland, Bordeaux's celebrity wine consultant who flies between over 100 estates in more than 12 countries, said recently, "There are two names in wine that are known the world over: Saint Emilion and Margaux". He's right – they are the leading appellations of the two sides of the river - Right and Left Banks respectively. Not necessarily the ones making the best wine of course (would that be Pauillac and Pomerol?), but certainly the names that are pulling in the tourists.
Entre-Deux-Mers, Bourg and Blaye
Between the rivers and the Côtes
Spend some time in Entre-Deux-Mers and the Côtes, and you’ll discover that Bordeaux has its charmingly rustic vignerons every bit as much as, say, Provence does. This is where some of Bordeaux’s most under-appreciated wines are hidden among some of its most gorgeous countryside. A large geographical area, full of contrasting landscapes that can be explored by car, cycle, foot, canoe, or even horseback. Bourg and Blaye are often overlooked as they are not as easy to reach as other areas, but both are worth taking time to investigate.
Saint Emilion and area
Saint Emilion, its satellites and Côtes de Castillon and Francs
Set amid an attractive rolling landscape, Saint Emilion is Bordeaux’s dolce vita – and because the grape is dominantly Merlot, the wines are easier to approach before their tenth birthday. The mediaeval village of Saint Emilion, together with its surrounding vineyards, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, beating the city of Bordeaux to the title by eight years. Getting out into the Saint Emilion satellites, Castillon and Saint Foy la Grande rewards with steep, dramatic hillsides, sweeping views and plenty of dynamic young winemakers who can’t afford to buy land in affluent Saint Emilion.
Pessac-Léognan
A smart Bordeaux suburb
Pessac Léognan is today the site of some of the most innovative and exciting winemaking in Bordeaux. Plenty of outside investment and young winemakers all contribute to a real feeling of dynamism. Even the appellation itself is young – it was only created in 1987, when a group of owners decided there needed to be some way of marking out the northern section of Graves, where an unusually high number of big name châteaux are located. This is one of the most rewarding areas to explore – the historical centre of Bordeaux wines, it’s not overly touristy, very easily reached from the centre of town, and has plenty of historical monuments and interesting villages.
Southern Graves and Sauternes
Home of the great sweet whites - dry whites and reds too
These two regions are south of the city with a history that stretches back much further than the Médoc – vines from almost 2,000 years ago grew around here, and today there are still plenty of Gallo-Roman remains to explore. Graves owes its rather gruesome sounding name to big gravel stones which store the heat of the sun and help ripen the grapes. Sauternes seems surprisingly little visited. In 1855, it was the only place other than the Médoc and Haut-Brion to be recognised in the ranking of Grand Cru Classés. Even today, it’s the only other part of the Bordeaux region that is stacked with so many stately châteaux obviously built with serious money.
Pomerol and Fronsac
East of Libourne
The village of Pomerol itself is almost masochistically low-key, not even a High Street and boulangerie strung together to call it a town. It’s the Howard Hughes of the wine world: wealthy beyond measure, but reclusive and slightly weird. Despite the big names, many of whom sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle, the properties themselves are mainly small and badly signposted compared to the large estates of the Médoc or even Saint Emilion.
Examples of wine producers
Château Malartic Lagraviere. The reputation of this château is rising fast, and although most visits are limited to professionals, they are open to some keen wine tourists, and we recommend giving them a call. The wine cellars are impeccably clean and very sleek, having been designed by Bordeaux architect Bernard Mazières (who has also turned his hand to Yquem and Mouton Rothschild). A pulley system operates a gadget called a ‘douil’ that moves the grapes from the harvest table to the vats by gravity. The cellar is octagonal in design and has 26 small-sized stainless steel and wooden vats that vinify each plot separately.
Château Doisy-Daëne. You can’t be serious about Bordeaux white wine, whether sweet or dry, without visiting somewhere owned by Denis Dubourdieu, the eminent professor at the Insitute of Oenology and general white wine guru in Bordeaux. He also owns Cantegril in Barsac, Reynon in Beguey and Clos Floridene in the Graves, but this is perhaps the best known estate, now jointly run with his son Fabrice. Besides the excellent Barsac, the château also produces two slightly unusual wines – a 100% Semillon called L’Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne, and a dry white wine called Le Grand Vin Sec de Doisy-Daëne, reportedly the first dry white to be made in Sauternes.
Château Bauduc. The white wine here is fast gaining a reputation that means it sells out while the grapes are still on the vine. The Quinneys moved here from England six years ago, and now produce the house wine for the well known restaurants of both Gordon Ramsey and Rick Stein in England – as of 2009, Gordon Ramsay has his signature on all labels. Bauduc is also one of the very few estates that sells direct to the UK from its website, as well as from its cellars, and keeps stocks of wine in the UK for next day delivery. They have a lovely farmhouse for rent in the grounds of the main château, with its own pool.
Château Clos de Clocher. A small and fast-rising property on the main plateau of Pomerol, close to the village church (hence the name, which refers to the church bells that you can hear nearby). Owned by Jean Baptiste Bourotte of Audy Négociants in Libourne, there is a small photography exhibition at the property due to open summer 2009, and a meticulously clean cellar and vat room. The vineyards cover 4.3ha, in two small parcels, with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Michel Rolland is the oenologist here.
Château de Pressac. The location of this château is pretty much perfect; to the east of Saint Emilion, at the highest point of the village of St-Etienne de Lisse, on a limestone plateau and surrounded by steep terraced hillsides. It was at this spot that on 20 July 1453, the English surrendered after the Battle of Castillon. The château won a silver Best of Wine Tourism award for its parks and gardens in 2006, and a gold award for its architecture in 2007. Owned by Jean Francois Quenin, who has succeeded Hubert de Bouard as president of the Vins de Saint Emilion, this is a very interesting visit for those interested in the process of improving wine estates. Since Quenin’s purchase of the 42-hectare property, he has cut new terraces into the hillside, replanted the vines and introduced new grape varieties with Malbec and Carmenère. TOP
Some of our Accommodation
Situated in the Gironde just 29 km from Bordeaux, the prestigious 4-star hotel, Le Relais Margaux**** in the heart of the Medoc winelands, offers unique facilities and service. Le Relais Margaux Hotel is situated between the estuary and the sea, which alone evokes the bouquet of the most prestigious wines in the world. Originally the château of one of the premier wine-producing families of France, Relais de Margaux blends a prestigious past with all the modern facilities of a top class hotel. 100 unique, spacious and quiet rooms, alternately designed according to "Bordeaux" and "English" styles. All of them are equipped with direct phone, mini bar, satellite television, safe, trouser presser, full bathroom (toilet, shower, bath, hair dryer). chef has a repertoire of the highest calibre using home-grown produce and local specialities such as crab, langoustine and eels. You expect the wine list to be exceptional - and it is - and you can wrestle with your choice in the restaurant set, as if in veneration, amongst the wine racks of the ancient cellars.
The Pavillon de Margeaux*** is a typically Margaux 19th century style residence, overlooking the vineyards of Château Margaux and Château Marquis of Alesne Becker. The decor and layout of each of the 14 bedrooms of the pavillon de Margaux were designed in partnership with various Medoc Châteaux, giving each one its own unique atmosphere, in an elegant yet welcoming environment. The Pavillon de Margeaux has 9 Lounge Bedrooms and 5 Traditional Bedrooms. Some are air-conditioned and all have bathrooms en-suite, TV, mini-bars and telephone. The talented chef prepares exquisite authentic regional cuisine in the Restaurant. The terrace offers a clear view over the vineyards, whose charm varies from season to season.
Villa St Simon - the beautifully restored 1860 Maison de Maitre. Stay in one of five period-furnished, modern equipped chambres, in historic Blaye, on the Gironde River, in the heart of Bordeaux winelands. Although staying at Villa St Simon is an experience in authentic French life-style all accommodation is equipped with modern conveniences including en suite bathrooms, posturpedic mattress, cable TV, DVD and even WiFi - for those workaholics who just can’t switch off. Chambres are named after local chateaux and each has a unique character and charm. Twin or double beds are available, as are single rooms and double room suites. The indulgent loft apartment includes two bedrooms, a large living room and kitchenette.
Only 2 Kilometers from Sauternes, the Peraguey Maison Rouge house offers a place for relaxation and discovery of the Bordeaux vineyards. 3 rooms are available in the charming guest house with a refined decoration in the middle of the famous vineyard of Sauternes, close to the Yquem, Lafaurie - Peyrague Estates. A living room with big fireplace, swimming pool, quiet yard with a great view on the most popular wineyards.
In the middle of Château Smith Haut Lafitte vineyards, 15 minutes from Bordeaux, sits Les Sources de Caudalie****, the perfect wine-country escape. Nestled among its own historic vineyards and lake-gardens, much here is dedicated to the ‘terroir’ where you will also find two restaurants, a superb spa offering grape-based therapies, a cooking school and wine tasting courses. This peaceful and tranquil retreat is a hamlet of five properties housing rooms and suites based on a variety of diverse themes. The use of old wooden beams throughout blends beautifully with traditional furnishings, while the picturesque cabin, built on stilts, provides breathtaking views across the lake. Experience a grape seed and essential oil massage in the spa. Discover the secrets of Smith Haut Lafitte on a wine tasting evening or book a cookery course with the chef. Make sure you dine in the main restaurant for haute cuisine, either inside or on the summer terrace outside.
RATES from (per person per night in Euro):
Le Relais Margaux**** € 125.00 sharing € 250.00 single
The Pavillon de Margeaux*** € 70.00 sharing € 125.00 single
Villa St Simon € 52.00 sharing € 85.00 single
Peraguey Maison Rouge € 55.00 sharing € 110.00 single
Sources de Caudalie**** € 180.00 sharing € 280.00 single
Car Hire Bordeaux Airport
Experience The West Coast Of France
If you’re touching down at Bordeaux Airport then why not pick up one of our top class hire cars so you’ll really get the best of this wonderful region. Cruise along ‘Les Quais’ by the waterside and feast your eyes on the unique Aquitane Bridge, or sample the rich aesthetic and buzzing atmosphere of La Victoire, then motor along the Rue Gambetta to soak up the city scene. Head out of town to the numerous sun drenched beach resorts along the coast, or take in the rolling vineyards and quaint river side roads along the Garonne.
Bordeaux Airport car hire includes:
3rd Party Insurance
Vehicle Damage Cover (to a fixed amount)
Theft Protection
Airport & Location Taxes
Unlimited Mileage
24-hour Roadside Assistance
Rates from Euro 130.00 per vehicle per day
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