Arblaster & Clarke Wine & City trips are aimed at the more independent traveller who wishes to spend the daytime enjoying wine visits accompanied by a wine expert, with the added advantage that someone else does the driving and navigating for you! Specifically on this new programme of Bordeaux II Wine & City tours we have organised for your Wine Guide to introduce to completely different wine chateaux and the French wine-making skills used in Bordeaux. You will be able to participate in various activities in the vineyards of Bordeaux on both the Right Bank and the Médoc.

Bordeaux, the seventh largest city in France, is situated in South West in the Gironde region and is the centre of the most renowned wine region in the world. Wine growing around Bordeaux dates from around 37BC with the arrival of the Romans who planted the first vineyards on the gentle slopes to the south of the town. The English too discovered the sea route to Bordeaux early on and the medieval trade in Bordeaux wine was considerable. In France it was in the 19th century that most of the wine estates and châteaux were established and the first official wine classification, which stands almost unchanged today, came about in 1855.

The city is extremely attractive, with its mainly 19th century buildings and river-front siting. The wine merchants’ old depots line its banks. The mostly pedestrianised old quarter is filled with cafés, brasseries, chic shops, a superb theatre (renowned for its magnificent staircase), a grand cathedral and a tempting indoor market. During recent years the city has undergone a major face-lift. A wonderful new tram system has been installed and the warehouses along the river have been converted into a parade of outlet shops.

To travel to Bordeaux you can make your own arrangements, or we will be happy to do this for you (being fully bonded with the CAA we can of course book your flights for you), 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.

We will stay in a central welcoming 2* hotel in the heart of the main shopping district and opposite the Marché des Grands Hommes. You can choose to upgrade to the magnificent 5* Regent, which is nearby if you prefer a higher level of luxury, but still benefit from A&C’s excellent arrangement with them.

There is a wealth of wine shops nearby and many good restaurants to choose from and, as on all the Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours, we will give you our personal list of our tried and tested suggestions based on over 20 years of visiting this wonderful French wine town, which just gets better every time we visit! Using our extensive, well researched list, you’ll have some assistance on hand to make your selection from the superb choice of dining that Bordeaux offers – from wine bar, to bistro to chic Michelin rosette – all within easy reach of our chosen accommodation. The evenings are unescorted giving you the freedom to make your own choice.

On the first evening, our wine guide will meet you to host an informative introductory tasting, just as we do on our superb champagne weekends. Not only is this is an enjoyable way to set the scene wine-wise for the weekend so that you get the very best out of the next few days, it also, of course, gives you a chance to meet both the wine guide and the other tour participants.

Next day, you’ll spend a full day wine touring in the Médoc, or what is known as the “Left Bank”, where we will arrange a total of three chateaux visits and tastings, and a private invitation to lunch at one of them. This will typically include visits to a selection of chateaux in the famous Médoc communes of St Estephe, Margaux, Pauillac and Listrac such as Lynch-Bages, Beychevelle, Pichon-Longueville, Rauzan-Segla, Rauzan-Gassies, Talbot, Palmer, Angludet and a range of others – we have been visiting since 1989 – so we know who to go to and have many good connections (this is not a new region or a new tour for A&C!). We may also select other slightly lesser known chateaux offering great value wines and the opportunity to buy direct which is often not the case at the more famous chateaux due to the negociant system. During this day you will be introduced to the wine-making techniques in Bordeaux and have the opportunity to participate!

On your second full day of wine touring, our wine guide will take you to several more important Bordeaux wine regions. Our first visit of the morning is to a superb chateau where we are personally welcomed – this could be in one of the satellite regions in the charming countryside outside St Émilion, or in the Graves, for example. Lunchtime is usually spent with good friends of ours from Champagne, who we have been visiting since 1995, who own an excellent property in the Côtes de Castillon, where you’ll start with a glass of Champagne and then taste great value reds over a kind invitation to a private home-cooked lunch. Our final visit of the day is to a chateau in Pomerol.

The opportunity to have lunch in beautiful wine chateaux in Bordeaux is not only an extremely enjoyable experience, but it is, to our mind, the best way to really appreciate these magnificent wines – with the local food in the place that it was made. Arranging such invitations as an independent traveller is simply not possible, the wine chateaux do not have restaurants like in the new world, so lunching with them is a private experience only.

So the Arblaster & Clarke Bordeaux Wine & City Tour really gives you a superb overview of the region in a very short space of time. There will also be time for you to stroll around St Émilion too as it would be a shame to miss out on seeing the loveliest wine town of the region, with its medieval cobbled streets, its magnificent monolithic church, wine bars, wine shops and cake shops – where you can try the other local specialities – macaroons!

The excellent value of these trips means that combined with taking advantage of any special travel deals you might find – you still have peace of mind that the actual tour part is put together by a fully bonded, specialist tour operator.