Become a member of our Bordeaux Wine Club today, for free, no strings attached!

Back in 2017 we created the Bordeaux Wine Club for our guests who wanted our help to choose and buy great Bordeaux wines ; we know how challenging it can be to select great bottles, find older vintages and rare bottles, understand the labels, the terroirs ...

As you know we are extremely well connected to hundreds of great chateaux here in Bordeaux and we use our expertise and local knowledge to select some of the best Bordeaux wines, collect them at the estates and ship them to your doorstep.

You select the number of bottles, how often you want to receive wine, red wines only or some whites too (because yes we also have amazing dry and sweet whites in Bordeaux!)

Interested in learning more about Bordeaux wines?

Yes, traveling to Bordeaux this year is difficult for many of you... 

Unfortunately a lot of our guests had to postpone their trip to Bordeaux and will not be able to visit Bordeaux regions and wineries right away.

We thought of you and decided to start web series of winery visits: we'll visit Saint Emilion, Médoc, Graves and many more appellations in Bordeaux (don't forget we have close to 60 appellations in Bordeaux!).

We started with a visit of the fantastic Chateau Beau-Séjour Bécot, top winery of Saint Emilion.

Click on the link below to discover the video and don't forget to subscribe to the Youtube channel and share share share! :)

Thank you so much for your interest in our private wine tours in Bordeaux.

We look forward to seeing you in Bordeaux!

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy... and drink great Bordeaux wines because life is too short to drink bad wine right? ;)

Virtual visit of Chateau Beau-Séjour Bécot

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and it feels so good!

We are so grateful to have had a few tours lately! In this chaotic year some of you have been lucky enough to be able to travel... and we are so happy to be back on the road, doing what we love!

Check out shots of our latest wine tours in our gallery

and start planning your Bordeaux visit with Bordeaux With Elodie.

Don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel for virtual winery visits and Bordeaux updates.

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Stay safe and healthy!

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We can't wait to see you in Bordeaux!

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Elodie

Our dear guests:

Due to the unexpected situation we're operating with a limited team and will not be operating tours until May 11th the earliest. We will keep you updated as soon as we receive more information from the government.
We are available by email at elodie@bordeauxwithelodie.com.
We are working hard on saving Bordeaux With Elodie and the jobs of our wonderful guides; we encourage you to start booking tours for 2021, it is a great way to help us survive.
We thank you for your patience, as it may take a little longer than usual for us to reply.

Stay safe and healthy.

We can't wait to see you again in Bordeaux.

Elodie

We'll win this battle & will enjoy a bottle of Bordeaux together soon x

Because there’s light at the end of the tunnel
Because we are in for a 15 day minimum lockdown
Because I am going to have more time to think than I’ve had for the last 6 years, creating and running #bordeauxwithelodie , the company I’ve always dreamed of having, leading tours in my native region of Bordeaux that I love so much, managing the best team of wine guides I could ever dream of @lowa33 @emib_fe @flowersduet @marinacoon @jeremy @louise_bertet , meeting the most amazing travelers and wine lovers from all over the globe,
but also raising my 3 babies (8, 4, 1 ½)
Because I know many of you are disappointed not to be able to come and visit Bordeaux right now (and we miss you guys, believe me!)
Because there’s hope and we need to be positive
Because I am convinced that even if these crazy times are very challenging and hard to accept, we are going to learn from it all and become better persons
Because I love wine and everything about Bordeaux and I love sharing with my fellow #winelovers
I will share everyday on IG & FB shots i love, taken by one of the dream team members or myself... shots from our private wine tours in Saint Emilion, Médoc etc (like this photo taken at the unique and amazing château #Latour in #Pauillac) , (shots of Bordeaux, Arcachon... and of course the wines we’ll be enjoying during this #quarantaine because #lifeistooshortforbadwine Right?

Much love
Stay healthy & strong
And
#seeyouinbordeauxin30daysorso

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Elodie

Elodie & her team of super guides send you best wishes for happiness, health and prosperity throughout 2020

Happy 2020! What are your big, exciting plans for the new year?

We hope they include a trip to Bordeaux wine country!

We are looking forward to hearing from you and organizing the trip of a life time in our gorgeous region.

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Contact us at info@bordeauxwithelodie.com

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Cheers!

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Elodie & the Dreamteam

"Bordeaux- Chateau Paloumey, Le Saint Julien & Chateau Mouton Rothschild " by NYC Tastes

In order to get the full Bordeaux experience we booked a two day wine tour through Bordeaux with Elodie.  Our fantastic guide Lea picked us up at our place each morning then drove us to various wineries beginning with Chateau Paloumey on the Left Bank.

This small winery has had a long history in the Medoc region however it wasn't all wonderful.  Back in the 1950's the original owners abandoned the vineyard due to rising costs and it wasn't until 1990 when it was purchased by the Cazeneuve family that it became a fully functioning winery once again.

When NYC Tastes blogger writes about her private wine tour with Bordeaux With Elodie... Cheers!

Day two of the Bordeaux wine tour was also my birthday and it was absolutely perfect.   We began in St. Emilion; an amazing medieval town on the Right Bank of Bordeaux with breathtaking views from every angle and one of our favorite winery's of the trip Chateau Guadet. 

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This small vineyard is one of only two wineries in the heart of St. Emilion and owned by the famous Petrus wine family.   The vineyard consists of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc grapes, merlot being the prominent grape grown on most Right Bank properties.

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We started our tour upstairs to learn about the cement vats Guadet uses to vinify their wine.  Then we took a steep ladder down to the massive cellar where miles of limestone quarries had been created for storing wine.  This was easily the best part of any wine tour I've experienced.  The cool, dark caves winding beneath the Chateau were astounding to behold; it was almost an entirely new city underground.

As you know we offer for lunch to eat in a gastronomic or a gourmet restaurant close to the vineyard... but did you know we can also go or a picnic?

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In this time of the year the weather is just perfect in Bordeaux! Warm (but not too much) and sunny! What should you expect when it comes to picnics at wineries?

Actually, it is not a simple sandwich as we can think... No, it's much fancier than that of course! :) Tomatoes, seasonal fruits, breads ... But also, fresh cheeses, duck foie gras, rillettes, smoked duck breast, sardines, organic chips, tapenades etc... all locally produced of course! Of course the estate wine is always available with these great picnics! :)

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Furthermore, you picnic in a beautiful landscape : In the vineyard! So unique! Ask us for more details!

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A bientôt!

Every other year in Bordeaux there is an important event for the Bordelais but more precisely for all wine lovers! This event is Bordeaux fête le vin.

This year it's the 20 years anniversary of this celebration. Several activities are prepared for everybody to enjoy: fireworks, fanfare, tastings, boat tours... fun!!!

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This event begins, Thursday 14th and runs until Monday, June 18th.

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Come and taste wines from more than 80 appellations, enjoy magic fireworks and a pyrotechnic shows every nights, listen to fanfare music or visit impressive boats like the famous Hermione.  

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To sum up, this year Bordeaux Fête Le Vin festival is 1 000 000 of visitors, 1,7km of stands, 1200 different wines, 80 appellations and 33 sailing ship!

We are very proud and excited to announce you for the second year, we are earned the Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor !

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BWE team thanks you all for your kind words, support and confidence!

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Keep on spreading the word! :)

Spend the day cooking with a French chef, visiting amazing wineries and tasting great wines!

If you want to learn how to cook like a French chef, discover Bordeaux regional dishes but also visit a château and taste wines, this tour is for you!

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This tour can be in Médoc or Saint Emilion.

Visit local wineries and stop in one to attend a private cooking class! Take an apron and cook with a French chef. Learn how to cook some regional specialties like Roasted Duck Breast, Foie Gras, Cannelés... Pair your preparations with the wines of the estate!

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During the afternoon, visit a Grand Cru Classé and taste the wines of the estate. 

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We are waiting for you! 

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Let us introduce you our novelty: a perfect tour for all epicureans!

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Spend a day between the city and the vineyards.

In the morning you will have the chance to discover our beautiful city, to see its architecture and its cultural wealth. You can even choose the theme of your visit such as gastronomy or a visit like a local for example.

You will then take the road towards the region you have chosen to explore: Medoc, Saint Emilion or Pessac. You will visit during the afternoon one or two chateaux and you will taste their wines.

We hope to see you soon on this tour!

Today we will speak about Saint-Emilion. Do you know is village full of history?

We will explain you the secrets of Saint-Emilion…

To locate you, Saint Emilion is a village of about 2000 persons, 45 min from Bordeaux. Perched on a rocky promontory, Saint Emilion and its vineyard derive their originality from the limestone which offers an exceptional soil to its vines. 

The name Saint Emilion comes from the eighth century when a Breton named Émilion, born in Vannes and famous for his miracles, decides to leave his homeland to retire and devote himself to prayer. Along the Atlantic coast, he became a monk and moved to Ascumbas, former name of the city of Saint-Emilion.

Over the centuries, several religious communities have settled in the village, attracted by the cult of Emilion as evidenced by the many monasteries, convents and churches. Thus, between the eighth and eighteenth centuries, Benedictines, Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans and Ursuline sisters coexisted or succeeded one another in the heart of the city.

This is why the city is rich in religious heritage (churches, chapels, crosses), several hundred wine chateaux, mansions, wine cellars, dovecotes, windmills and washhouses.

Saint-Émilion was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1999 under the title "Cultural Landscape". It was the first classified vineyard in the world.

Today, many people come to Saint-Emilion to see and visit all the rich heritage of this medieval town and its 800 châteaux. On average 1 000 000 tourists, each year. 

As you know,  April 9th to 12th was the "En primeur" week. More than 6000 professionals came to Bordeaux for this very specail event: journalists, wine crictics, buyers and wine merchants from around the word...

After the very severe spring frost that happened late April 2017 in Bordeaux (the worst frost episode since 1991), everybody was expecting a "very difficult" vintage...and it turned out to be quite good for some wineries!

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"2017 is a balanced wine, we found the real Bordeaux, for which this wine is fruity, airy, full of freshness.It is not a great vintage, it is easy to drink and most importantly, it has a beautiful length".

Peter Winding, journalist

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"It's a very good vintage for wines from vineyards that did not freeze a year ago," said the best sommelier in 2013 Paolo Passo.

Saint-Emilion was very affected with the frost and lost 60 to 70% of its production. Some wineries were spared, others lost everything. 

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Around Néac, where it is more hilly, some more protected vines have a little less frozen, but on the side of Lalande where it is a relief of plains, everything was touched. Whatever the crop mode, it has been shriveled, especially where it is grassed. Lalande de Pomerol tops the list of Bordeaux appellations most affected by frost.

this drop in production will cause tension in the market. Indeed the reasons are the decline in quality of the vintage compared to the last two, sometimes unfavorable exchange rates, uncertainties in some international markets may lead to lower prices, say professionals, despite the decline in supply and production costs that have increased with the freeze.

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"The wine is not ready, you have to have the experience to imagine it finished in three or four years" confirm the journalists.

"The wines are still in production, bottling will take place in July 2019 and they will be delivered in February 2020. But everything will be paid in June. Financially, it's a big advantage," says a viticulturist.

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We can therefore say that the wines that have managed to avoid the frosts are good wines in general even if this year will not be a great vintage.

The week of "En Primeur" is a very special event happening every year, beginning of April, in Bordeaux. More than 5,500 professionals from all over the world meet in Bordeaux and taste the "baby" vintage, 2017 this year, still aging in barrels!

Many Châteaux are participating and presenting their wines during this "future" week.

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Do you know what the Primeurs are?

The primeurs are a Bordeaux event taking place in the spring. It's a kind of fashion week but with the theme of wine. Under the auspices of the Bordeaux Grand Cru Association and various producer groups, it brings together wine professionals from all over the world to taste the latest vintage of a hundred or so properties in the Bordeaux region. Medoc, Pessac, Saint-Emilion, and many more all these great names are present. Many professionals from all over the world come, such as buyers, merchants and the press, and lend themselves to endless organized tastings. These missions consist of estimating the quality of the vintage in order to forecast its purchases. The role of the press and the great tasters is of crucial importance here. The notes they attribute to wines are indeed eagerly awaited.

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Do you know where the primeurs comes from?

The practice of sales in Bordeaux futures dates back to the eighteenth century, when the Bordeaux trade went to the castles a few months before the harvest to estimate and buy the harvest. Traders were usually in charge of raising and / or bottling the wines themselves. The system of the primeurs of today is a week of tasting in primeurs which was set up during the 1970s. It was institutionalized at the beginning of the 1980s, under the notable impulse of the baron Philippe de Rothschild who organized a tasting of his 1982 vintage while his wine was still aging. Since the 1970s, the practice of sales in primeurs thus allows the trade to buy from the properties the wine nearly two years before their putting on the market at a price more interesting than the tariff of the wine sold in bottle.

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If you want to see more about the primeurs, Click here

BordeauxwithElodie team is happy to announce that the 2018 season has begun!

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It's with pleasure that we introduce you to the team that will accompany you this year. You will surely recognize Elodie, Laetitia and Laura who are always present to visit you visit the different vineyards of Bordeaux.

Emilie and Léa are two new recruits who are happy to have joined the team to show you around the vineyards of the region. If you want to learn more about your guides, do not hesitate to visit the Team page.

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This year we are offering novelties such as carriage rides, hot air balloon rides or horseback riding. Do not hesitate to tell us if you are interested!

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See you soon.

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From left to right: Laetitia, Léa, Emilie, Elodie and Laura.

Travel + Leisure, By Elaine Sciolino

France's premier wine-making region produces some of the greatest vintages of all time, but it has historically not taken kindly to visitors—until now. From the city to the grand old châteaux beyond, Bordeaux is showing a fresh face to the world. 

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I confess I came late to Bordeaux. My experience with wine began as a kid growing up in Buffalo in the 1950s. My paternal grandfather, Gaetano, who emigrated from Sicily, concocted a rough-edged wine in the backyard every fall. One year red; one year white. He “aged” it for a few months in old whiskey barrels to give it a bigger bite and watered it down for me and my siblings to sample.

During my first decade living in France, I mostly avoided visiting the Bordeaux wine region. To many, the very name means old-fashioned, snobbish, and unaffordable. For centuries, its winemakers have created some of the world’s most prized and expensive wines—Thomas Jefferson was famously devoted—and they devised a system of classifying them that hasn’t changed since the days of Emperor Napoleon III.

I realized that I could spend my whole life sampling Bordeaux wines and never master the vast universe of their history and traditions. I have French friends who so revere them that they can rattle off vintages the way American baseball fans know who scored how many home runs in which World Series. Fantasizing about Bordeaux wines helped journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann endure his ordeal as a hostage in Lebanon in the 1980s. He kept his memory in shape by reciting daily the famous 1855 classification system. He imagined the aromas and tastes of the wines from the dark and cramped dungeon where he was held chained and sometimes blindfolded. “Sometimes in the deep dark well of reality, a miracle happened,” he wrote after the ordeal was over. “The taste of cedar and black currant from the Cabernet Sauvignon, the plummy aroma of the Merlot, returned to me.”

It was with the Bordeaux mystique in mind that early one morning, under clouds pregnant with rain, I boarded a riverboat to take me up the Garonne into the city of Bordeaux. As I made my way through the slow-moving waters, it was as if I were being ferried from the 18th century into the future: I passed rows of low, elegant limestone buildings that, in prerevolutionary times, had defined the city as a center of wealth and the most important port in France.

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Then suddenly, as if the wine god Dionysus had willed it with his staff, the sun broke through. As we looped around the bend in the river, a modern structure caught the light and shone in glorious gold and silver. This was the Cité du Vin, the $85 million architectural flight of fancy that opened last June. Part museum, part visitors’ center, part mini theme park, it was born of a collaboration among a number of players, including the city of Bordeaux, the Bordeaux Wine Council, and Crédit Agricole Aquitaine bank. Its stated mission is to promote “the cultural, universal, and living heritage that is wine” to visitors from around the world.

Some say the structure is poetry in motion: a thick, curved appendage representing wine swirling in a glass atop a vast round vase. Others call it a metallic whale with a funny-looking tail. Its two French architects describe it as “an evocation.” No matter. For the residents and vintners of the region, it is the symbol of Bordeaux’s quest to both revive its principal city and to shake off centuries of insularity and moribund tradition. As I traveled around the city and into the vineyards beyond, I could see efforts everywhere to turn the epicenter of old-world wine making into a more modern, global capital of wine.

There was a time when the city of Bordeaux, much like the surrounding wine country, was an unwelcoming destination—the kind of place you got in and out of quickly. The first time I visited, years ago, I found a city of darkness with its back to the river and buildings veiled in 100 years of soot.

That was before Alain Juppé, the former prime minister and presidential hopeful now in his fourth term as mayor of Bordeaux, launched a bold urban-renewal project. The city razed the abandoned warehouses along the waterfront to create a pedestrian walkway and bike path. It cleaned the soot from the limestone façades of the Bourse, the Grand Théâtre, and the main cathedral, then insisted other property owners do the same. It installed a 41-mile tram system and banned cars from much of the city center. In 2017, a major renovation of the central railroad station will be complete, and a new high-speed train line will cut the travel time from Paris by more than a third—to a mere two hours.

Rather than use the city as a transit point for vineyard-hopping, visitors are now being encouraged to stay a day or two, as I did. Le Boutique Hotel—a wonderful 18th-century town house with UNESCO status as an architectural treasure—was my first choice. Bordeaux has traditionally suffered from a lack of good hotels beyond the Grand Hôtel, which I found bland. But lately, smaller properties with more character have opened. Le Boutique has a cozy wine bar with an excellent selection, along with eclectic rooms and suites that conjure the wealth and sumptuousness of this historically rich city.

Another reason to stick around Bordeaux now is a wave of neo-bistros led by young chefs—one of the most gifted of whom is Victor Ostronzec of Soléna, a small, stark place on Rue Chauffour that he took over last year. Ostronzec insisted I try nearly everything on the menu, including gambas with pea purée and roasted lemon, mixed raw and cooked green and white asparagus with a pistachio vinaigrette, sea bass with a cauliflower emulsion, and ris de veau with caramelized onions. I was too full for dessert.

No way, he said, serving me his specialty: a version of baba au rhum wrapped in whipped cream, with fresh strawberries and a quenelle of olive-oil sorbet on the side. I never order baba au rhum—it reminds me of the syrupy-sweet versions I had as a kid. But this baba was in another league—a gastronomic souvenir I will cherish (and order again).

My friend Jean-Claude Ribaut, a Parisian food critic, was also in town and stressed the need to balance the nouveau dining experience with classic Bordeaux cuisine at Brasserie Bordelaise, in the old city center. It is always packed with locals who come for the excellent foie gras, oysters, and local sausage. In season, the must-have dish is lamprey prepared by boiling its blood down into a thick sauce with red wine, onions, leeks, cloves, and lardons. I found it heavenly.

We hopped the tram for the short trip to the Chartrons quarter, where British, Flemish, and Irish wine merchants once lived and traded. Lately, it has morphed into a cool, gentrified neighborhood of residential lofts, art galleries, restaurants, and boutiques. Part of its charm is that it is still in the stages of becoming: some abandoned buildings stand out in their sooty blackness, while others have been scrubbed to a creamy beige.

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It’s against this backdrop that the Cité du Vin makes a Guggenheim Bilbao–esque impression. Inside, what’s most striking is how much it breaks from the usual Bordeaux chauvinism by focusing on the global impact of wine in history. The ground-floor Latitude20 wine bar stocks 800 wines from more than 70 countries, while on the ninth floor, the Belvédère is the place to go for a glass of non-Bordeaux. There are two restaurants: a snack bar and a more upscale place on the eighth floor with panoramic views and a modern French menu that rotates with the seasons.

At the Cité’s core is an exhibition space created by the London-based museum-design firm Casson Mann. Its entrance will dazzle even the most cosmopolitan wine buffs: there, three enormous screens show helicopter footage of wine terrains from around the globe; the films flow over you as you sit and watch. My favorite space was the slightly risqué, 18-and-over Bacchus & Vénus room, where I reclined on a red sofa, gazed up at ceiling projections of paintings lush with the sensuality of wine, and listened to wine-inspired poetry. Ringing the room are peep shows, including one containing an elaborate handblown wineglass in the shape of a penis. For French officialdom, the museum is a celebration of the greatness of Bordeaux. President François Hollande called it “a success for France,” and Mayor Juppé praised it as “a beacon for Bordeaux.”

For the people and the winemakers of Bordeaux, the museum—with its fluid and daring design, its shiny façade that changes color with the time of day—represents even more: a feeling of optimism about the future that’s often lacking in France these days.

As of Lonely Planet:

The city of Bordeaux is among France's most exciting, vibrant and dynamic cities. In the last decade and a half, it's shed its languid, Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty) image thanks to the vision of city mayor Alain Juppé who has pedestrianised boulevards, restored neoclassical architecture, created a high-tech public transport system and reclaimed Bordeaux's former industrial wet docks at Bassin à Flots. Half the city (18 sq km) is Unesco-listed, making it the largest urban World Heritage site; while world-class architects have designed a bevy of striking new buildings – the Herzog & de Meuron stadium (2015), decanter-shaped La Cité du Vin (2016) and Jean-Jacques Bosc bridge (2018) across the Garonne River included.

Bolstered by its high-spirited university-student population and 5½ million visitors annually, La Belle Bordeaux scarcely sleeps: think barista-run coffee shops, super-food food trucks, an exceptional dining scene and more fine wine than you could ever possibly drink. Santé!

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/southwestern-france/bordeaux/introduction#ixzz4W107FUdw

We are very proud to announce that Bordeaux with Elodie won the Luxury Travel Guide Award 2017!!!

What an honor!!