The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Taste your way around the world’s most famous wines
THE ART The grounds of Smith Haut Lafitte are studded with magnificent modern sculptures. “Every time there is some money left over, we buy one,” says Florence. The 26-strong collection includes a giant bronze hare by Barry Flanagan that watches over the cabernet franc; and a Chuck Hoberman sphere – Nouaison – that expands and contracts before your eyes. Book the “When Arts Meets Vines” tour to view them.
ALSO VISIT The immaculate and beautiful Château Haut Bailly makes excellent red wine and its hospitality is second to none (haut-bailly.com).
CHÂTEAU BAUDUC, ENTRE-DEUX-MERS
For affordable wines and the best inside track chat, seek out this estate in the peaceful Entre-Deux-Mers region (situated between two rivers, the Dordogne and the Garonne). It’s owned by Gavin and Angela Quinney, who bought the place in 1999 and moved their family to France to run it. Gavin gives most of the tours himself, and is an extraordinary and interesting fund of information about everything from the best local restaurants to the two plagues of hail and frost. Château Bauduc has been a big restaurant hit back home – the sauvignon blanc is now the house white at Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein. You can buy it direct at bauduc.com for £11 a bottle.
Tours run from May to September, Monday to Friday at 11am, with the tasting (of six wines) at 11.30am. It costs €15 for 90 minutes, or €10 for just the tasting (bauduc.com).
ALSO VISIT This tip is one of Gavin’s: “The excellent market on Wednesday mornings in Créon is one of the best in Gironde; it has taken place every Wednesday since 1315, allegedly.”
CHÂTEAU CANON LA GAFFELIÈRE, ST ÉMILION
The Médoc is all about men in suits and long, slightly bleak, vinescapes with big skies and views of the estuary. Bordeaux’s right bank – on which you find St Émilion, Pomerol, and so on, is completely different – bucolic, rambling, green, pretty.
The wines mostly rely more on merlot than cabernet sauvignon, and are often plumper and richer.
Château la Gaffelière, run by Errol Flynn lookalike Stephan von Neipperg, is a class act, with an excellent sister estate in Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux. Tours cost €12 per person (neipperg.com).
ALSO VISIT Stop in the town of St Émilion and have a wander and a coffee. Be warned – the slopes joining the top of the town to the bottom are steep and no good for dodgy knees, but there’s a very good restaurant called L’Envers du Décor (enversdudecor.com) at the top, and that’s where you need to be to admire the view, too. The local tourism office and its website have advice on which other chateaux it’s possible to go and see (saint-emilion-tourisme.com).
CHÂTEAU GUIRAUD, SAUTERNES
The beautiful grounds of this
Premier Grand Cru Classé in the commune of Sauternes are a wonderful place to while away a summer afternoon. Guiraud is extremely visitor-friendly, happy to receive spontaneous drop-ins or those who book in advance (though I would err on the side of caution with that). There’s a restaurant too – needless to say the menu comes with wine pairings.
Guiraud offers five different set visits, including a cheese and sauternes tasting, priced from €20 to €150. The chateau also offers bespoke experiences (chateauguiraud.com). ALSO VISIT The wines of Château d’Yquem are a kind of holy grail for sauternes drinkers. You can book various tours (yquem.fr) – though prices are steep, starting at €75 for the “Discovery” which includes a tasting of 2016 Y and 2015
Château d’Yquem.