Our Chateau Accommodation

Bordeaux Château Marojallia meal in 2009

Cellars in Bordeaux

Château Lafite-Rothschild

Bordeaux ‘en Primeur’

21 - 25 June 2010

“A glass of Château Margaux will be delicious just as it is, but it becomes an infinitely more complex experience if one has had the pleasure of visiting its vineyards, of knowing who looks after the estate and who makes the wine.” (Stephen Brook, ‘Bordeaux: People, Power and Politics’).

We could not agree with him more! This special, exceptional tour, offers the chance to taste ‘En Primeur’ at the top left bank chateaux shortly after the main trade tastings in the spring, so that you will be assessing the 2009’s well ahead of the rest of the claret drinking public – which may well assist you if you are thinking of investing.

Recent en-primeur tasting of the 2009 vintage has left the wine trade riled – hailed as “thrilling” by Jancis Robinson and “wow – Latour 2009 is better than Margaux 2005” by Simon Staples of Berry Bros & Rudd. The most intriguing factor of the 2009 vintage for Jancis Robinson was that there were some failures to deliver amongst the chateaux. On the Right Bank there were some wines that were too alcoholic, although the vintage displays great fruit levels compared to tannins and ‘softer’ tannins than in previous years. This makes the ‘en primeur’ tasting a much more enjoyable tasting for all because they are presenting well at this early stage. Steven Spurrier hailed the 2009 vintage the best vintage Bordeaux had ever produced.

We’ll spend a day in three of the different left bank appellations to visit the top Châteaux, giving you the opportunity to gain an insight into the differences between them and the qualities and flavours the different soils bring. As with all our unique ‘Reserve Collection’ tours, you will also have the unique opportunity of meals as private guests in some of most beautiful and prestigious properties in Bordeaux. These are not restaurants, but private invitations to dine at the chateaux. Over the meals we’ll also taste some older wines to add to your enjoyment.

We are private guests at a chateau in Margaux, with just 8 rooms and an outdoor pool, set in its own vineyards. Muriel Andraud, wife of dynamic winemaker, Jean-Luc Thunevin (who was very much a mover in the ‘Garage wine’ trend in Pomerol) is winemaker for the Château. Over dinner on the first evening we’ll taste some of the Château’s wines that get excellent reviews, despite some controversy over yield declarations.

Our wine guide sets the tone with an instructive introductory tasting. Next day, we’ll discover the appellation of Margaux, on foot. Margaux wines are considered to make the Médoc’s most polished and fragrant wine. The soil of Margaux is the thinnest and most gravelly in the Médoc resulting in wines that start life comparatively supple and in good years there is a delicacy about the wine with a deep perfume that can make it the most exquisite claret of all.

Our visits today are to 3ème Cru, Margaux, Château Ferrière, where we’ll see the energy that Claire Villars is putting into producing wine from the tiny parcel of just 8 hectares of vines. At nearby Rauzan-Gassies, 2ème Cru, Margaux, we’ll be welcomed to a lunch and tasting. After lunch we take a short walk to ‘super second’ Château Palmer, directly inland from Château Margaux, whose wines are widely considered to follow hot on Margaux’s heels! Our final Margaux property today is to 2ème Cru, Lascombes, again wines have shown dramatic improvements here in recent years, which we’ll discover over dinner.

Our visits today take us to St Estèphe to Château Montrose, 2ème Cru, the rising star of the upper Médoc. Developed on formerly uncultivated land at the beginning of the 19th Century, this property has been in the hands of the Charmolüe family since 1896. After lunch in Pauillac, our afternoon visit is to the illustrious 1st Growth, Château Lafite-Rothschild.

The next appellation for us to tackle is St Julien, firstly at Château Gruaud-Larose, where we’ll discover fruit-driven wines that age effortlessly, and are great value! Our lunch venue is Château Beychevelle, one of the most beautiful chateaux in the Médoc.

Our afternoon visit is to Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, an estate that is a great example of the classically structured wines that this commune can produce. This was once part of the Beychevelle estate. The final visit will be in St. Estèphe to Château Phelan Segur, owned by Monsieur Thierry Gardinier. This is an attractive estate commanding fine views over the Gironde estuary. The wines of this outstanding Cru Bourgeois are complex with fine longevity and recent excellent vintages display the dedication to quality. We will also be having dinner at the Chateau.

On our final morning we have the special privilege of discovering why 1st Growth, Pessac-Léognan Château Haut-Brion, and its sister property La Mission, have been so popular with the British since the 17th century. We’ll taste both wines at La Mission before a brief lunchtime in Bordeaux. You can choose to stay on or fly home this afternoon.

Our Wine Guide – Tour Manager on this Reserve Collection Tour is Wendy Narby. Wendy lives near St Emilion in her family-owned Château and looks forward to sharing her extensive knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, this classic wine region with you.

If you would prefer to visit the every First Growth in Bordeaux, we recommend our Bordeaux First Growths tour, which is an even smaller party size and is led by a Master of Wine and a Tour Manager.