If you’re a wine fan and you’re in Bordeaux, there is one thing for certain. You’re gonna have to do a wine tour. In fact, even if you’re not a wine fan, you will also need to do a wine tour. Trust me, I’m a beer guy. When I visited Bordeaux I obviously had to sample the wine – and yes – it was awesome. (Don’t ask me about tasting notes).
I did a small wine tasting in a local wine bar, which was recommended to me. But I did also head to the Cite du Vin and explore around the city. And one thing is for sure, you’re not short of Bordeaux wine tours.
Read my 48 hour guide to Bordeaux here.
However, when it comes to doing wine tours in Bordeaux, there is one clear focal destination…
St Emilion
The heart of the Bordeaux wine production and a stunning town in it’s own right, tours to St Emilion are a must for any wine afficionado in Bordeaux.
The town itself is a short drive (around half an hour), or around an hour by public transport, from Bordeaux city. You can take a train there if you want to do a self-guided wine tour.
However the many options for wine tours to St Emilion are obviously the easiest way to enjoy a day tour from Bordeaux to do some serious wine tasting.
Not everyone will want to do a tour to St Emilion. But if you want to tour a vineyard and visit the spiritual home of wine, then definitely consider doing a day trip to St, Emilion.
Bordeaux wine tasting
You don’t need to leave Bordeaux to do sample some of the world’s finest wines. In fact, the wine tasting I took part in was a stones throw from the Grand Theatre, which is one of the main points of interest in the city.
(It might have been this place actually)
We turned up, our guide was a fun fella who obviously loved his job (I mean… getting tourists to drink wine and eat cheese for a living? Thats a fun job right). We got stuck in pretty quick and even us wine noobs got to learn a bit about how to taste the wine, and how to pair cheese too.
It was around an hour and a half, and we left wanting more wine – so we headed to a nearby bar to carry on. Lots of fun.
The City of Wine
One of the most striking buildings in Bordeaux (perhaps in France actually) is the Cite du Vin, or the City of Wine. You can also take a wine masterclass here and find out history about the Bordeaux wine making region.
While I did come and enjoy the views of the building, and even wandered in to take a look around, we didn’t actually take part in the classes.
But… To be fair the prices were about the same as our wine tasting in the city centre.
Check out ticket prices for the City of Wine Bordeaux here.
Wine Cruises
There are also lots of options to take a boat cruise with food and wine. And this being France, or course the food and wine are excellent.
if you want to take a cruise and a wine tour at the same time, take a look at this tour.
