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Smith-Haut-Lafitte

Bordeaux Wine & City 2008

Bordeaux Wine & City 2008

Tasting in the Medoc

St Emilion

Bordeaux Wine & City 2008

24 - 27 April 2008, 23 - 26 October 2008, 20 - 23 November 2008

Our innovative programme of Wine & City trips is aimed at the more independent traveller who would also like to spend a couple of days in a party being taken to wine visits in the company of a wine expert with the added advantage that someone else does the driving! (invaluable of course on a wine tour).

The guide will help you to get the best out of the wine visits and if you wish assist you in buying a good selection of wines at good prices direct from the wineries and from local wine shops. You book your own travel arrangements and meet up at the hotel on the first evening. This gives you the freedom to decide how you wish to travel and the length of your trip.

The excellent value of these trips means that combined with taking advantage of any special travel deals you might find - that you still have the peace of mind that the actual tour part is put together by a fully bonded, professional tour operator. If you book hotel elements etc yourself direct via the web you generally have no financial or legal comeback. Arranging proper visits to Bordeaux chateaux where you get to taste more than the most recent vintage is also notoriously difficult, and arranging a meal at a Bordeaux wine château as an independent is impossible. The advantage of having a coach for a couple of days also saves on the inevitable argument about whose turn it is to drive!

Our base for the weekend is the majestic city of Bordeaux, in a central 2* hotel (which we have chosen as we prefer it to all the 3*s) within walking distance of the shops and the Marche des Grands Hommes.

There is a wealth of wine shops nearby and many good restaurants to choose from and we will give you a list of our tried and tested suggestions based on 18 years of visiting this lovely town. There is also some free time in St Emilion - equally famous for its chocolate macaroons as well as its wine!

The Chateaux visits will be in the Medoc and the Right bank and will be chosen by us for the high quality of the wines, as well as the possibility to buy direct. Because of the negociant system, it is normally not possible to buy direct at Bordeaux châteaux.