I'm going to be going to Bordeaux for a few days this May and was wondering if anybody has had any particularly good (or bad) experiences at any of the chateaux, restaurants, bed & breakfasts etc. Would enjoy comments on any of the above!
Visiting Bordeaux
I'm going to be going to Bordeaux for a few days this May and was wondering if anybody has had any particularly good (or bad) experiences at any of the chateaux, restaurants, bed & breakfasts etc. Would enjoy comments on any of the above!
Marc... I am working on booking my next trip Bordeaux now. Feel free to post any questions. I'm happy to help. What do you need to know? Have you been before?
Thanks Jeff. I haven't been before, so I'm excited to see it for the first time. I'll have limited time there - maybe two and a half days, but I'd at least like to see Margaux (where I've already made an appointment), Latour, Lafite, Leoville Barton, Talbot, and perhaps others if time allows. How many do you think can reasonably be done in one day?
I'm having a tough time finding small places to stay in the Medoc (Cordeillan Bages unfortunately being out of the question!); have you had better luck staying in the city itself?
When will you be visiting Jeff? This year I'll be heading to Bdx with my Chapter in September.
Marc
I am happy to see you posting again! I'll be in Bordeaux in early April. But I might have an open day on the way out. Are you still in Geneva?
You will not be able hit more than 4, three is safer. Each visit is usually 1 on 1 and will last at least 90 minutes and you need drive time. Margaux is 45 minutes from St. Estephe. Pauillac and St. Julien are next door to each other.Originally Posted by M Albert Bouffard
I'm having a tough time finding small places to stay in the Medoc (Cordeillan Bages unfortunately being out of the question!); have you had better luck staying in the city itself?
The city is an hour away Stay in the vineyards. There are a few options. I am not sure of what anything costs. A few options for you aside from Cordeillan are:
In Margaux, you can start at Chateau Marojallia. Follow the link to their page on my site and I have link to their site. They are a hotel/winery. Very nice!
In Pauillac, you can stay at Chateau Pedesclaux Follow the link to their page on my site and I have link to their site. They are a hotel/winery. I have note been, but they recently refurbuished it.
In Margaux, there are a few other choices. They have Relais hotel and in Pauillac, there is the www.hoteldefrance-angleterre.com/ I have not been there.
We're here to help. Ask any questions.
Hi,
I have only had great visit's in Bordeaux, even if I am a bit tired of the roundtrip at Mouton, as they do not always seem to understand that I've seen it many times (but its a nice roundtrip). My experience is that the biggest problem for anyone visiting Bordeaux, especially for the first time, is that (if one has visited other regions) one expect to sample many wines/ vintages. This will very rarely happen. Expect to only try one wine (of each, first and second label as an example) at each visit. Even if they make huge amounts of wine, they do not show them off easily, like they do in Burgundy or frankly, everywhere else. I've visited Ramonet as an example, tasting wines back to the 1980's of which several was Bienvenues and Batard Montrachet and Montrachet, the latter a wine more expensive than most of the Bordeaux estate's wines, and far more rare, or Schloss Johannisberg, opening a fantastic 1956 Trockenbeerenauslese, wine rarely become rarer than that. So if you have had this sort of experience before, do not expect it here.
It may be a bit boring staying in Médoc, there isn't much going on there at night, and, for some reasons, there isn't that many restaurants, at least good ones. I would stay in Bordeaux, even if you need an hour each way (or more, depending on who you will visit) On the other hand, if you would like to relax, Médoc might be perfect for you.
Latour, Lafite, Barton and Talbot should be possible in one day, it's about ten-fifteen minutes between Lafite and Talbot, the others lie in between. From Latour to Margaux, its something like 20-25 minutes or so. I would say that visits normally take between 60 and 90 minutes, sometimes a visit is scheduled for 60 minutes, and you stay there for two and a half hours, and it feels like ten minutes when you leave.... Unlike many other wine regions, where things might be made in some shed, there are so many beautiful places in Bordeaux, so, even after many visits to the region, my camera still glows after most visits....
Christer is right. The Medoc is boring at night. In fact, boring is exciting, next to what you find in the Medoc at night. If you have not spent much time in Bordeaux, or if this is your first visit to Bordeaux, you will have more fun staying in Bordeaux. But it will take an hour or a little more to get from the city to the vineyards. If you stay in the Medoc, eat at Restaurant St. Julien. I never miss it!
Jeff
While I have family in Geneva, I'm based near Zurich when not in Shanghai. If your itinary takes you via ZHR, I'd be most happy to meet up again. Should be around in April.
Marc
Want to come to a dinner in London, Friday, March 23 at The Ledbury with a few friends? We'll be pouring some nice wines! What do you think?
Jeff and Christer - thanks so much for the advice! Have either of you had any experience with the wine school? I saw their link on the Lynch Bages website (below). I'm not sure if it's a generic kind of thing or if they have tastings that would actually be interesting.
http://www.lynchbages.com/en/wine-an...lan-your-visit
It's the start of the golf season here. Will pencil it in though. That said, the Belgium OL sounds more attractive !
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