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Day 1 : Graves and Pessac
Leognan
Rendez-vous in country of the Graves vineyards, close to La Brède, for a
first guided tour, at 10h30 AM.
The owners of this beautiful chartreuse, located in the medium of a splendid
park and vines, produce Graves wines and will welcome you there for a visit
of the vine and wine storehouse.
You will discover a small-scale manufacture where the grape is still
collected with the hand and will taste white and red wines. You will leave
the property with 3 bottles.
You will have a gastronomic lunch in a charming restaurant.
In the afternoon, you will be awaited in the Château Smith Haut Lafitte, for
a guided tour of the estate. This one will be completed by a tasting of this
wine.
In 1990, Daniel and Florence, the owners, sell all they have to repurchase
Smith Haut Lafitte. After two years of hard work, as well in the farm
buildings as in the XVIIIth century chartreuse one, they settle in the
castle where they live all of year to devote themself entirely to their new
passion: the breeding of the white and red high-class wines of Smith Haut
Lafitte.
The fermenting being finished, the wine is put in wooden barrels, in the
underground wine storehouse which you will discover with your guide. The
castle has its own cooperage; it is by this place that you will complete
your visit. Rare are the producers manufacturing their own barrels, excepted
the most famous ones like Lafitte, Pétrus and Margaux.
Once your visit finished, you may continue to freely visit the outsides of
this splendid chartreuse, surrounded of vines, a pond, a hotel and a of
vinothérapie centre attended by many personalities.
At the end of the afternoon, you will be awaited, few kilometres from there,
in another castle, but this time to spend the night there.
You will have all the time to install you in this XVIIIth century castle
renovated with taste and respect of the stone. The owner will welcome you to
make you discover one of the charming rooms.
You will have a dinner in an excellent restaurant, in the heart of the
vineyard and classified " Gault and Millau ". You will taste regional
specialities.
Day 2 : Saint-émilion
After a good breakfast in the castle, you will leave in direction of one of
the many Châteaux of Saint-Emilion jurisdiction .
In company of your hostess, you will discover the secrets of this
prestigious wine, which makes since centuries the fame of Saint-Emilion:
Visit of the property, wine storehouse...
Historical and general presentation of Saint-Emilion name, classification of
the vintages.
Evocation of the topography of the vineyard, the nature of the grounds, type
of vines, the vegetative cycle and the work of the vine
Initiation to the wine making and the breeding of the wine
Tasting of few wines.
You will set out again with a 2 bottles of the production.
However, the great value of the wines of Saint-Emilion is not only gustatory,
it is also an emotional value, aesthetic, and a placement appreciated by
collectors of the whole world.
You will have a lunch in an excellent restaurant located in the heart of the
medieval village of Saint-Emilion.
During the afternoon, free visits of the medieval city of Saint-Emilion,
classified within the World Inheritance of Humanity by UNESCO. Saint-Emilion
comes from the name of the monk who settled in a cave, as a hermit, at the
8th century. The village, surrounded by famous and prestigious vineyards, is
one of the richest in historic buildings. One finds there in particular, a
monolith church, built from the 9th century to the 12th century, the largest
of Europe.
End of this wine tour, the head full of the memory of these sumptuous
residences and these artists who make them live.
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Week-end
"high-class wine of Bordeaux"
