Sample some of the best of the French wine world with a full-day wine tour of the fabled Médoc region from Bordeaux. With an expert guide, visit three châteaux for wine tastings where you'll sip firsthand the wines giving this region its worldwide reputation since the 1855 Bordeaux classification. Learn about the appellations and classification system for wine, get insider tips on pairing food with wine, find out how to decode a French wine label and more. At the second château of the day, dig into a traditional French lunch.

Full-day Médoc wine tour from Bordeaux
Wine taste at three prestigious château estates in the Médoc wine region
Discover the significance behind the 1855 classification of Médoc’s red wines (ranked among the best in Bordeaux)
Get an in-depth look at winemaking, including how to pair wine with food
Enjoy a traditional French lunch with your guide and fellow wine lovers at the second château

What's Included

Wine tastings
Lunch
Professional guide
Air-conditioned vehicle

Gratuities
Food and drinks, unless specified
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Office de Tourisme et des Congrès de Bordeaux Métropole
12 Cr du 30 Juillet, 33000 Bordeaux, France
The closest tram stop is Quinconces on lines B and C Please be in front of the Tourist Office at 9am to meet the guide. The departure is at 9.15am. This tour is open to adults over 18 only.

Start time

09:15 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Meet your guide outside the Bordeaux Tourist Office and climb into a comfortable air-conditioned coach for your full-day tour of the Médoc region. As you make your way out of the city, get an introduction to Bordeaux wines. Enjoy the scenic views of the Gironde Estuary en route.

Learn how this region's wines were first classified after the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III wanted to be able to distinguish between wines of different quality. Thus the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 was born, with châteaux ranked by the quality of the wine they produced. During this day tour, visit three Médoc châteaux to sample some of the wines that still use the 1855 classification system.

At the first château, find out how things like climate and geology — the terroir — inform the wine. Learn about the different varietals of grapes used to make Bordeaux's famous wines. In particular in the Médoc region, it's Cabernet Sauvignon. Learn how to read a French wine label, how to pair food with wine, and all the steps that go into making wine.

At the second château, learn some of the secrets to wine tasting before enjoying a traditional French lunch. At the third château, learn more about the specifics of the 1855 classification. Hear about its origins and history and how it still has a major impact on wine-making today. After the visit to the third wine estate, climb back into the coach and enjoy the scenic ride back to Bordeaux.

The châteaux you visit during the tour will vary, but the three will be among this list: Château Prieuré Lichine, Château Léoville Poyferré, Château Lynch-Bages, Château Lagrange, Château Cantenac Brown, Château Lascombes, Château Camensac, Château Branaire Ducru, Château Lynch-Moussas, Château Pichon Longueville Baron, Château Brane Cantenac, and Château Cantemerle.

Office de Tourisme de Bordeaux

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Chateau Prieure-Lichine

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Chateau Marquis de Terme

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Chateau de Camensac

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Please note the tour is conducted in English and French at the same time
Minimum age is 18 years
Not wheelchair accessible
A minimum of 10 persons is required to confirm the tour
The size of the group is 25 people maximum

Near public transportation
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 4 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 4 full days before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 3 full days before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 3 full days before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Tips

If the organiser could use a bigger van so it won't be so congested, the guide did not need to speak in English then followed by French, I'd give it a 5-star.

If you have to choose between Medoc and St Emilion, choose Medoc.

Reviews

4.0

21 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 21 reviews

Must do if you like upscale experiences!

Anton_B, Jun 2023

This was a delightful experience! We visited 3 upscale classified growth chateau. Each of the 3 chateau tours added something new to our understanding of the wine making process. I was really impressed by the quality of the provided lunch! It was a four course lunch served with a 95+ point rated wine, taking place in a 16th-century chateau dining room. That is an experience that I won’t forget for a very long time. Overall, I highly recommend!

Good experience

kf9888, Nov 2019

The tour in general was good. The chateaux visited did provide us with a very good knowledge on wine and wine making. The lunch included was also good. If the organiser could use a bigger van so it won't be so congested, the guide did not need to speak in English then followed by French, I'd give it a 5-star.

Great day in Medoc

Susan_D, Sep 2019

We had a great day in Medoc! And having taking this and a tour of St Emilion from the same company, I would recommend Medoc over St Emilion We had a bus load of participants speaking various languages. Our guide provided French and English versions of the events of the day. All stops were well planned out with little repetitive stories from each winery. Very much appreciated! And the wine was great with excellent 2nd classe wines. Lunch at winery 2 was delicious with generous wine pours. If you have to choose between Medoc and St Emilion, choose Medoc. You won't regret it!

The voucher redeem instruction needs...

Emily_C, Sep 2017

The voucher redeem instruction needs be more clear. Nowhere on the instruction told we should go tourist office to print the actual ticket.

After 4 or 5 previous small group...

Andrew C, Oct 2016

After 4 or 5 previous small group wine tours in BDX, I was very pleased with the wineries visited, including one 2d growth. The Viator guide and the winery guides were very good, providing a lot of information in fluent French and English. I recommend this tour highly.

Fantastic tour, exceeded my...

Ammar A, Jun 2016

Fantastic tour, exceeded my expectations. Not only were the Chateaus chosen were grand and impressive, but the reception was elegant, the tour itself extremely informative, and the host very gracious. The guide and driver were professional and very helpful. Thank you for a great memory.

I have to say I had much higher...

janetkvanderlaan, Jul 2015

I have to say I had much higher expectations for this tour. I specifically came to Bordeaux to visit left bank and had a nice visit but could have been better. To start, we were to meet at the tourism office. We arrived well in advance and no one knew anything about Viator. We nearly missed the tour until we realized that we were with a large group mixed with another tour company on a coach. No one called our names, no one looked for us. Not off to a good start. The first winery was pleasant, the second excellent. No complaints about the lunch. Very well done. The 3rd winery was a complete waste of time. I'm not sure why you would take us to a Grand Cru winery that specializes in Merlot on a left bank tour....clearly I will go to St Emillion for this. The tour promises English...and it is available but the tour is both French and English so you have to hear everything twice. And some of the English content was lost. At the second winery the host did not feel comfortable speaking English so didn't....at first our tour guide was whispering the translation until another guest insisted that we be able to hear the whole thing in English....a little frustrating that we would need to insist. Lastly, from the picture it looks like your going to visit really beautiful chateaus. I was disappointed that none of the ones we visited were anything to look at from the outside. We did pull off the road in the bus for 30 seconds so we could take a picture through the glass of the bus. It was okay....the lunch really saved the tour for me.

Excellent guide. very informative...

David M, May 2015

Excellent guide. very informative trip. The lunch was delicious and there was an opportunity to taste some Grand Cru Classe top growth wines. I highly recommend this tour. good value

A large bus of people, not as...

Patricia B, Oct 2014

A large bus of people, not as intimate as I expected. The guide appeared irritated with having to lead another wine tour.

Good,especially the vist on Branaire...

Peter L, Aug 2014

Good,especially the vist on Branaire Ducru, where we got an excellent lunch at the chateau with excellent wines and a professional presentation. But also Chateau Lascombe and Lynche-Bages gave good presentations. Unfortunately none of the Chateaus gave tastings on mature wines or good years. Downside was that it was announced as an English speaking tour, but much time was spend on 2 (out of 23) only French speaking guests. Additionally, the tourguide didn't add value,and spend much time on smalltaking with the frenchspeaking guests and the Chateau representatives- much of which didn't make it to the English translation. With a good guide, the tour might have been worth the cost.

Wonderful tour and a great value...

o06980, Nov 2011

Wonderful tour and a great value with visits and tasting to top Chateau. A great tour for new visitors to the Left Bank. The lunch was fantastic and the choice of Chateau just wonderful. All in all just a perfect start to our first visit to Bordeaux.

We tasted 8 wines in an all day tour...

Dennis J, Jun 2011

We tasted 8 wines in an all day tour which was a lot less than I hoped for. Really it is a tour on a big bus that shows you where the good stuff is and allows you a few tastes with a nice lunch where we tasted half of the wines for the day.

I just hate it when you are dumped in a...

Wayne G, Oct 2010

I just hate it when you are dumped in a town and told to amuse yourselves for several hours. Yes I agree some free time is required but it was far too long, especially on a cold wet rainy day. Alternatives should be thought of if the weather is unsuitable for wandering through a small town.

This wine tasting day trip is a...

Stephen V, Oct 2009

This wine tasting day trip is a definite must for wine lovers. Full of information about wine, its classification, what food it goes well with and other trivia. A definite must do!

Overall, we enjoyed this tour. It was a...

Katie S., Sep 2007

Overall, we enjoyed this tour. It was a good opportunity to see the Medoc region, since we knew little about it. The lunch was fabulous and the guides were very good. All of the vineyards were beautiful. The only downside was that we didn't get to actually taste the wine very much. We had a small tasting after each tour, but didn't get to taste the variety of wines that the vineyards produced.

Our guide was helpful and thoughtful in...

David B, Aug 2007

Our guide was helpful and thoughtful in both French and English. She really knew a lot about the chateaus and the wine business in general, grape to table.