Grand Hotel de Bordeaux Launches Wine Journey Series

The series offers guests the rare opportunity to discover the charm and elegance of the region’s finest grand cru wineries through three different journeys, including the ‘Classic Car Wine Journey’, the ‘Jefferson Wine Journey’ and the ‘Ernest Hemingway Wine Journey’.

Situated at the heart of the world’s largest area of fine wine vineyards, Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa launched its Wine Concierge Service in 2012, the first of its kind in Europe. With unparalleled relationships with Bordeaux’s prestigious châteaux, the five wine concierges will handle all the logistics for the various wine journeys, in order to provide guests with a level of access to this unique wine heritage that is unsurpassed in the world of luxury hotels.

CLASSIC CAR WINE JOURNEY

The Paris-Bordeaux-Paris trail is often referred to as the first motor race in history, so it seems fitting that first in this series of wine journeys is the ‘Classic Car Wine Journey’. Guests can take to the famous ‘Road of the Châteaux’ in a beautiful vintage car, and choose three châteaux to discover, ranging from a wide range of appellations such as Margaux, St-Julien, St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Emilion, Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes.

Those who wish to take a pit-stop at one of the region’s majestic châteaux can enjoy a luxury lunch prepared by Executive Chef Pascal Nibaudeau and served in the intimate surroundings of the vineyard.

The ‘Classic Car Wine Journey’ starts at €1,140 including one night in a deluxe room, with a supplementary charge of €90 per person for the picnic option.

JEFFERSON WINE JOURNEY

The second in this series is the ‘Jefferson Wine Journey’. A gourmet and an oenophile, Thomas Jefferson had a great appreciation for wines produced in France. Having visited Bordeaux in May 1787, the former president of the United States drafted his classification of Bordeaux wines, 68 years prior to the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. With the ‘Jefferson Wine Journey’, the Wine Concierge Service at the hotel will offer guests the opportunity to follow in Jefferson’s footsteps and choose three châteaux to discover amongst the wine estates that he selected and visited 225 years ago, including Château Margaux, Haut-Brion and Château Yquem.

The original notes Jefferson took as well as archived documents linked to the former president will be showcased, and guests are invited to visit the US consulate in Bordeaux and meet the US consul. The Wine Journey also includes two nights in a deluxe room and a dinner for two at the hotel’s Michelin-starred ‘Le Pressoir d’Argent’ restaurant*.

The ‘Jefferson Wine Journey’ is priced from €2,170, inclusive of return limousine transfers to the châteaux.

* Please note drinks are not included

ERNEST HEMINGWAY WINE JOURNEY

For those who wish to uncover the secrets of great wines and Hemingway’s past, Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa have created the ‘Ernest Hemingway Wine Journey’. This wine journey will offer guests the opportunity to revisit two of the iconic châteaux he would have frequented in the Margaux appellation. First stepping foot in Bordeaux in 1918 when he came over from America in a ship called ‘Chicago’, the famous American author quickly fell in love with the city.

Paying tribute to his passion for the region and its wines, he famously named his granddaughter after Château Margaux. As he once said ‘Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world…and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing’.

The ‘Ernest Hemingway Wine Journey’ is priced from €2,200 and includes one night in a deluxe room and dinner for two at ‘Le Pressoir d’Argent’ restaurant with a bottle of Château Margaux.