Tour The World’s Best Vineyards
Category: Bordeaux
Nicolas Frion’s cooking is innovative and refined and has its origins in the terroir of the South West, adapting traditional recipes with great creativity. He chooses the best fish from the estuary and the best organic vegetables on the market. While his inspiration comes from classical techniques, he often lets his youthful approach take over and is not afraid to try out subtle and original combinations.
The Bordeaux Wine Experience specializes in luxury wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region and is generally considered as the leading Bordeaux wine tour company. Just imagine yourself visiting Bordeaux and tasting at the world’s most famous chateaux like Margaux, Latour or Haut Brion and of course Lafite and Mouton Rothschild. The Bordeaux Wine Experience makes this “once in a lifetime tour” possible. Stay at their private 18th century chateau and enjoy fabulous meals in chateaux and Michelin rated restaurants.
Located in the famous Medoc wine region, about 40 kilometers north-west of the city of Bordeaux, the vineyard of Château Latour belongs to the Pauillac appellation. The quality of its wine depends partly on the type of grape variety that is being used, but also on the exceptional combination of natural elements (geography, geology and climate) that constitutes its “Terroir”.
Châteaux Margaux, classified among the premier crus, has the unique privilege in Bordeaux of bearing the name of its appellation d´origine. It is the brilliant embodiment of that appellation´s sumptuous elegance and subtlety. It is difficult to sum up in a few lines the long and splendid history of the estate. It could perhaps be entitled ‘There was once an estate called Château Margaux’.
Furthermore, Château d’Yquem’s time-honored vineyard management and winemaking practices have an important role to play. Last, but not least, there is the amazing alchemy brought about by Botrytis cfnerea, the remarkable fungus that, here in Sauternes- and here alone- paradoxically transforms decay into gold. Above and beyond these reasons, Château d’Yquem must actually be smelled, tasted and appreciated to understand its magic.
In 1990, Daniel Cathiard fell in love with the property and joined the list of prestigious owners, firmly intending to further enhance Smith Haut Lafitte’s tradition of excellence. He combined the most modern winemaking techniques and age-old traditional methods: organic compost, return to small wooden vats, ageing on the lees in barrel, etc.
Pontet-Canet has always been a legendary Médoc. It is deep ruby-red, crimson, and sometimes almost black colour and has a characteristic bouquet of black fruit (especially blackcurrant), liquorice, and prune as well as fig, cedar, and sometimes cocoa overtones. Pontet-Canet combines power and elegance, as well as concentration and fullness on the palate. Rather sinewy in style, Pontet-Canet is clearly a classical wine with a tannic structure that provides excellent ageing potential.
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande remains faithful to the tradition of hand picking during the harvests. Every year more than one hundred people – often the same families from Andalusia – pick the grapes in accordance with their maturity and the age of the parcel of land: The Merlot, an early grape, begins the harvests, the Cabernet and the Petit Verdot, late varieties, close the harvests. A very rigorous selection is carried out among the vines and later in the receiving bin.
At the edge of Pauillac. On the soil of Saint-Estèphe, the vines of Lilian-Ladouys are to be found where the roads meet, a stone’s throw from the Graves of Cos d’Estournel and the Château Lafite-Rothschild. With its elegant Directory Charterhouse, the Lilian-Ladouys Château expresses a generous idea of Médoc’s durability, a close union between the crop the wine itself.
After the Second World War, an attractive tasting room was set up in one of the chais for receiving visitors to the château. The new tasting room in the new tower, baptized the Salle de Marbre, was inaugurated in 1990. The circular view of the vineyard, classic decor, and elegant crystal glasses, combine to provide wine brokers, writers, and enthusiasts who visit Haut-Brion the perfect place to reflect on the virtues of the wine. Visits are only possible by appointment from Monday to Friday.