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A Week in Bordeaux Wine Country
Côte de Bourg, Aquitaine
About the location: Surrounded by the vines of Château Bujan, in a vineyard of the Côtes de Bourg, you will live in the charming 17th-century guest house of the winemakers. Nestled in a small green valley and restored with talent by architect Marielle Meli (Pascal’s wife), La Maison des Vignes (“House in the Vines”), with its large fireplaces, oak beams, four personalized bedrooms and old books, is totally elegant, while retaining a feeling of true authenticity. A week long wine course in Bordeaux, France, with Pascal Meli, Bujan’s owner and winemaker, and food-and-wine expert Michèle Rousseau is a warm, personal and relaxing way to get to know the wines and gastronomy of the Bordeaux region.
About your hosts: Years ago Pascal realized his dream and purchased the 42-acre vineyard of Chateau Bujan, where he has devoted himself to producing small production of exceptionally fine wine. Michèle was the administrative director of the Côtes de Bourg appellation. In 2000 they teamed up to create an unbelievably unique and personal experience for the guests of Maison des Vignes, where you will spend time visiting the chateaux, meeting the people who make the wine and preparing typical and simple culinary specialties, while in the company of your totally charming hosts.
About the cooking lessons: Michèle Rousseau has been cultivating her passion for wines in the Bordeaux region for 20 years, and through her apprenticeship with a local well-known restaurant owner and meetings with Parisian Michelin-star chefs, she has come to develop a diverse knowledge of cooking with fresh ingredients to complement wine selection. In six cooking lessons using the freshest available seasonal ingredients, you will learn to prepare regional dinner menus to accompany the wines tasted that day in your Bordeaux wine tour: Saint-Emilion, Médoc, Sauternes…
Price Per Person
US$3425 per person based on double occupancy
A rental car is required for this program: we would be happy to assist you with a low-cost rental.
Please note: this program requires a US$1500 per person deposit.
Tour Dates
Available on request any week Saturday to Saturday for a minimum of four people.
What's Included
- Seven nights accommodations in the Maison des Vignes
- Daily breakfast
- Meals with their selected wines as per program (6 dinners and 2 lunches)
- In the evenings, if you are in the mood for cooking, you can participate in the preparation of dinner
- Six morning guided tours
- At least six wine tastings
Please note that this program requires a car: we would be happy to assist you with a low-cost rental.
Other Regions in France
- Pick up your rental car (we recommend from the Bordeaux airport or train station). Michele or Pascal will meet you to assist with your car rental, and you will then follow them to the Maison.
- Welcome dinner this evening at the Maison.
- After breakfast, Pascal will show you around his Château, a beautiful stone house that has watched over two centuries surrounded by 42 acres of rolling vines in an especially lovely Bordeaux landscape. Pascal will explain to you his way of making wine and take you through a tour of the vineyards. In his cellars, you will see the year’s wine, peek at the vats and barrels and share in the life at Bujan.
- Lunch will be served at the Maison, in the garden or by the pool, weather permitting.
- Bujan is open to you all afternoon. You can walk in the woods or the vineyard; you can look in on the work of the season outdoors or in the cellars. You can take a dip in the swimming pool, discover the banks of the estuary of the Gironde, or simply lie down with a good book!
- Breakfast. Board the ferry that crosses the Gironde at Blaye with Michele and take the route des Chateaux.
- All the dream Chateaux are here: Margaux, Latour, Mouton-Rothschild… You will visit one of the Chateaux, and if the Cellar Master is in good humor, he will entrust you with a few secrets while you savor the latest vintages.
- You can continue the visit in the afternoon or head to Bordeaux for the return wine tour.
- Around 7.00 p.m. your dinner will feature the Médoc wines and regional dishes such as cold cuts and Pauillac lamb.
- After breakfast, we will head for Sauternes, one hour away by car.
- In a small 25-acre property, you will discover the secrets of this golden wine. You will be shown the processes that make this wine so particular. During the tasting, you’ll discover that this sweet wine goes well with both salty and sweet appetizers.
- In the afternoon, you’ll probably want to visit the magnificent chateaux and immerse yourself in their glorious past. Wandering through Sauternes’ country roads, you will make the surprising discoveries of Chateau Yquem, Chateau de Malle with its gardens, Chateau de la Brede where Montesquieu, the famous philosopher who wrote The Spirit of the Laws, lived.
- Everyone meets again at 6.00 p.m. to prepare a meal together that will feature Sauternes wines: foie gras in all its forms, parsley seasoned cheeses, Auvergne blue cheese, Fourme d’Ambert or Roquefort, orange salad…
- Around 9.00 a.m., we will set off for the outdoor market at Blaye. Blaye is a lovely town dominated by a 17th-century citadel, classified a world heritage site by UNESCO. We will buy some of the things we need for lunch.
- Back at the Maison, we will cook and have lunch together.
- Free afternoon and dinner on your own.
- Saint Emilion has some of the oldest vineyards in the Bordeaux region. Surrounded by undulating valleys, the very “civilized” village has a distinctive and authentic charm. We will tour the property of a typical chateau of this renowned appellation.
- After a look at the grounds, you will enter the heart of the Chateau, the cellar, where you will taste the wines that are made there.
- The mediaeval village of Saint Emilion is worthy of all your attention and most probably all your afternoon. The site with its many monuments is remarkable. You will find craft and art shops to visit and some famous and enticing restaurants.
- We will see you again at the Chateau Bujan around 7.00 p.m. We will recap this outing with the wines of Saint Emilion and the dishes that accompany them so well: roast duck, autumn game meat, gratin dauphinois, Saint Nectaire cheese, pears in spiced wine with soft macaroons (small almond cakes made only in St Emilion!).
- Depending on your desires, we will take the ferry across the estuary and make our way to the Bassin d’Arcachon where we will spend the day, or we will visit the town of Bordeaux, which has been classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
- If we visit the Basin the day will include where possible a visit of an oyster farm, lunch on your own beside the Basin on the Arcachon or Cap Ferret site, a climb of the Dune du Pyla or a walk in the pine forest, or perhaps an exploration of Arcachon. However, recent problems in the oyster farming trade might make the trip to Bordeaux more attractive.
- Bordeaux is one of the most beautiful and distinctive cities in France, and well worth exploring.
- Friday night’s dinner will give us the opportunity to taste again the wines that you preferred and to select, depending on the season, dishes that would best accompany the wines: roasts or stews, garden vegetables, tasty cheeses.
- Breakfast and a reluctant farewell. We suggest a departure around 10:00 am.