The Bordeaux Wine Experience

The wife and I share a love of food and wine. Together, we’ve discovered an appreciation for Bordeaux. So, it was a no-​brainer when planning our honeymoon to spend it in Bordeaux to learn about and experience some great wines as well as great food. After doing a lot of research, the Bordeaux Wine Experience rose to the top of our list of Bordeaux tour companies. All of our pre-​decisional interactions with the company were via email and our many questions were answered promptly and thoroughly. We decided on the Bordeaux Wine Experience since it offered a thoughtfully curated, all-​inclusive tour of the region, and the best opportunity to taste the widest selection of wines from the region’s most acclaimed châteaux. One of the other big selling points for us was that each tour group was limited in size (only 13 people were in our group) making it a more personal, intimate experience.
The Bordeaux Wine Experience offers several different tours of different type and duration throughout the course of a year, but we opted for the Grand Tour of Bordeaux, a 6-​day, 5-​night tour in late summer right before harvest. Our tour included…
— Accommodations in a beautiful 18^th Century château
— Most meals (all but one) were included, some of which were gourmet meals at three Bordeaux châteaux and one at a Michelin-​starred restaurant
— Ground transportation to/​from all châteaux in a luxury tour bus
— Tours and tastings at 10 Classified Growth châteaux
— Friendly, experienced, and knowledgeable host/​guide fluent in English, French, Dutch, and probably a few other languages.
I cannot say enough good things about our time on our Bordeaux Wine Experience. Our fellow group members (surprisingly our group was made up entirely by Americans) were fun, friendly, and passionate about wine. Our host/​guide, Ronald Rens and his lovely wife, Margaret, displayed exceptional hospitality, welcoming us into their beautiful château. Ronald was thoroughly knowledgeable on Bordeaux and an expert guide for the tour. Full of «insider» information, he kept it interesting while imparting his knowledge and anecdotes in a fun, good-​natured manner. We received unparalleled access to Classified Growth châteaux like Lafite Rothschild, Haut-​Brion, d’Yquem, Angelus and others with opportunities to taste a variety of their wines from the best vintages. In a couple of instances, the actual château owner gave us our tours. Very cool! Apart from the tours and tastings at the various châteaux, the food we had throughout our stay was outstanding. Grand Cru wines were served with every meal except breakfast (I know… crazy!). Our group’s «Farewell Dinner» was a delicious gourmet meal prepared by a professional chef at the château that paled in comparison to the amazing wines that were served at the dinner such as an ’94 Latour, ’01 Margaux, ’01 Mouton Rothschild, and a ’95 d’Yquem. I think it’s safe to say that on that particular night, no one in the world sat down for dinner and was served that lineup of wines.
In truth, the Bordeaux Wine Experience and the particular tour we chose are not for everyone. It was a pricey experience. If you don’t love wine and aren’t interested in learning more about the wines of the Bordeaux region, how it’s made, and what makes it special, then the price will likely be a non-​starter. However, I found it money well spent. I learned so much about Bordeaux wines and gained a much deeper, profound appreciation for them. I will never look at a restaurant wine list or wine shop quite the same way! If you love wines and want an EXPERIENCE, then I highly recommend the Bordeaux Wine Experience as your only choice!

This has been a wonderful experience. The château and the hosts Ron and Margaret are the best! I have enjoyed the week with the history of Bordeaux and visiting many of the classified growths. I’ll edit this once back home and add photos