How to do a wine tour of Bordeaux vineyards by public transport

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free journey e-mail for skilled recommendation and money-saving reductions

Get Simon Calder’s Travel e-mail

The day took a bit of a wobble at Margaux. Not, you perceive, as a result of I’d been sampling some of Bordeaux’s top-quality tipples after a superb lunch accompanied by extra wine. It was as a result of Margaux village’s station was abandoned out of season, with practice data displayed on screens, and no clue which of the 2 platforms was which. Trains making the 45-minute journey to Bordeaux metropolis appeared to run at completely different occasions from each platforms.

I had to likelihood it; I doubted I’d have time to cross the open tracks as soon as the practice arrived. Luckily, I guessed appropriately and chugged on with my discovery of Bordeaux by public transport.

Most individuals don’t realise the extent of France’s wine producing area. It would take you two and a half hours to drive the 99 miles from its northernmost to southernmost extremities. No marvel these taking a winery tour usually drive or go on group journeys. There is, nonetheless, one other approach – to go to the vineyards by trains, bus and tram. And apart from the slight hiccup I skilled at Margaux, I discovered it surprisingly simple.

One winery, Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, is even inside the sprawling metropolis’s limits and will be reached by Bordeaux’s intensive tram community. What’s extra, it’s designed by Philippe Starck, resembling the bow of a boat from the skin, whereas inside the concrete wine vats are painted in several designs. (Tour with tasting prices €55).

It’s in full distinction to the historic Château Pape Clément, a 25-minute bus journey away, or a 40-minute bus and practice journey from the town centre. Vines had been initially planted right here within the thirteenth century by Bertrand de Got, who grew to become Pope Clement V. Now, the grand cru classé wines lie maturing in an unlimited barrel-filled room lit by chandeliers.

Read extra on taking a wine street journey via Italy’s Piedmont area

You could make your personal model within the Nineteenth-century chateau in a course of reminiscent of a faculty chemistry lesson, as you experiment with completely different ratios of merlot to cab sav. Once I had my profitable system, I bottled it, added a cork and foil and embellished the label: Château Jane. (Tour with tasting prices €20, a winemaker course prices €99).

Another day, one other winery or three, this time within the Medoc with its well-known Margaux appellation. The village of Margaux isn’t essentially the most interesting, however you’re there for the vino, and that doesn’t disappoint. I began with the biodynamic wine at Château Ferriere, made to beyond-organic ideas and in accordance to the cycle of the moon; additionally they make biodynamic tea. (Tour and tasting prices €25).

It’s simply a brief stroll from right here to Marquis de Terme, which has an elegantly trendy restaurant the place I polished off a very good lunch accompanied by their scrumptious grand cru classé. The tour right here is especially fascinating as a result of they’ve an eye fixed on the longer term in addition to the previous and are consistently innovating.

The expansive cellar not solely holds rows of barrels by which to age the wine, but in addition different containers to obtain completely different finishes – pearl-shaped barrels, egg-shaped concrete vats, pottery amphora and a giant picket barrel related by wifi to report adjustments in temperature, strain and oxygen. I can affirm that the completed product is especially scrumptious; I completed off my tasting with rum made in Martinique from the chateau’s barrels. (Tour and three tastings prices €35).

It was at this level that my little incident on the station almost jeopardised the 20-minute practice trip adopted by a 20-minute stroll to Château Saint-Ahon. Reminiscent of buildings in Paris’s Place de Vosges, this small property is extraordinarily household pleasant, with walks via the vines interspersed by informative panels. Its wines are a respectable worth, with the eponymous model coming in at €14, which you’ll drink accompanied by a picnic of produce purchased within the store. (Tour and tasting prices €12). Better nonetheless, as a result of it’s in Bordeaux metropolis, as soon as again on the station, you may take a tram again to the sprawling metropolis.

Where you keep right here depends upon whether or not you need to be close to the station within the south (the place I picked) or a tram trip from it close to the attractive Place de la Bourse within the centre, with its many eating places.

Read extra on how to do a sustainable wine tour of Chile

Wherever you select, you shouldn’t go to Bordeaux with out seeing the medieval hilltop village of Saint-Émilion, and having fun with some of its vintages. Happily, it’s simply a 34-minute practice journey away, adopted by a 20-minute stroll alongside a vine-fringed street (or an hour-long bus trip with out the stroll in season). The eponymous eighth-century saint lived in a cave right here, which you’ll nonetheless go to together with the catacombs and spectacular monolithic church; Émilion’s presence drew non secular communities who had been adept at wine making.

They included the monks on the Couvent des Jacobins, whose atmospheric cellars are reached via a small picket Harry-Potter model door beneath the steps. Private visits offer you time to sit back within the fairly gardens, whereas tastings of their natural wines are accompanied by cheese, chocolate or St-Émilion’s well-known macaroons. (Tour and tasting prices €22).

It’s way more touristy up the street at Cloître de Cordeliers, the place you may get pleasure from a restaurant picnic within the ruins of the cloister and take a mad tuk-tuk tour across the city and thru some of the miles of underground tunnels carved out below Saint-Émilion by quarrying. (Tuk-tuk and tasting prices €25.) The ones listed below are used to retailer glowing wine relatively than Bordeaux purple, however simply a five-minute stroll away, Château Villemaurine makes use of some of its personal community of tunnels to mature its very good grand cru classé. Tours by torchlight head into the silence of the cellars, the place bats hold from the ceiling and vine roots work their approach via the overhead rock. It could be laborious to discover a extra evocative place to finish my journey. (Tour and tasting prices €20).

Travel necessities

How to get there

Bordeaux is simply two hours from Paris by practice. Returns from London St Pancras price from £235 (thetrainline.com).

Where to keep

The Golden Tulip is a trendy lodge simply minutes from the station with B&B doubles from £90.

More data Bordeaux-tourism.co.uk, gironde-tourisme.com