Wine tour · Bordeaux
Médoc wine tour with a private chauffeur
The route des châteaux along the estuary. The 1855 classified growths, Cabernet Sauvignon on gravel. A day set to your tasting appointments.
Terroir
The terroir
The Médoc stretches north of Bordeaux on the left bank, between the Gironde estuary and the Landes forest. Its finest plots sit on gravel mounds — banks of pebbles left by the river — whose natural drainage forces the vine to root deep. A local saying sums up the idea: the best vines see the water.
Cabernet Sauvignon finds its ideal terroir here: late-ripening and heat-loving, it yields structured, age-worthy wines, firm and upright when young. It is blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a touch of Petit Verdot. The vineyard is divided into village appellations — Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe — linked by the D2, the route des châteaux.
The Médoc is still shaped by the 1855 classification, drawn up for the Universal Exhibition on the basis of the prices of the day. Its five growths continue to frame the hierarchy and reputation of the region nearly two centuries later.
Estates
Emblematic châteaux
A few names that give the measure of the appellation. Visits are booked in advance, to suit your interests and budget.
Itinerary
A day in the Médoc
09:00
Departure from Bordeaux along the route des châteaux (D2).
10:00
First classified growth in Margaux: visit and tasting.
12:30
Lunch near the estuary.
14:30
Stop in Pauillac or Saint-Julien, in the heart of the great growths.
16:30
Viewpoint over the Gironde and the gravel mounds.
18:00
Return to Bordeaux.
Access
From Bordeaux
The Médoc extends up to 80 km north-west of Bordeaux, along the estuary. Depending on the châteaux visited, allow from 45 minutes to just over an hour each way.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Some receive by appointment, others remain closed to the public. We target estates that are open and matched to your level of interest.
The first châteaux are 45 minutes away, the northernmost just over an hour. The road follows the estuary, without monotony.
Allow a full day, roughly 9am to 6pm, for two or three estates and lunch.
That is the whole point: you taste freely, we drive. The return is entirely relaxed.