Bordeaux has been enthusiastic about foreigners for a very long time, but as customers rather than guests. From at least the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to the man who shortly afterwards ascended the English throne as Henry II, Bordelais ships would load up with local wine and sail north. When the two countries weren’t warring (and Bordeaux was on the English side, when they were) visitors were welcome but only the very privileged would be invited to stay. Recently, that has changed. Wine lovers who have come all this way want more than a bottle and a bill: they want an experience, and the châteaux of Bordeaux, set amid the vines that spread from the Gironde estuary along the banks of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, are well placed to provide just that.
There is so much more than wine here, from the seafood and beaches of Arcachon to the beautiful historic cities of Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion. Not all the Bordeaux châteaux have become involved in tourism: good luck getting into Château Margaux, for example. But many, including several Classed Growths, have understood that the allure of a bottle of Bordeaux is as much about place as about flavour.
A profound understanding of what makes Bordeaux great includes the chance to rub the gravel between your fingers, to taste looking over the vines
There is no wine that cannot be enhanced by a memory of vines, good food, sunshine, relaxation, and a lovely and unusual place to stay. A profound understanding of what makes Bordeaux great includes the chance to rub the gravel between your fingers, to taste looking over the vines. That, too, is terroir. For those who love history, it’s a thrill to see the 18th-century Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, where Mammon and Bacchus once met, or the imposing wall in Saint-Émilion that is all that remains of a 12th-century Dominican monastery. Sunseekers will enjoy a trip down one of the rivers or a day out beside the coast.
These days, it is also possible to book a room in an ancient château – radically repurposed to ensure that the medieval experience isn’t too authentic – and there are also unusual options ranging from farmhouses to treehouses. This is the chance to be a château-dweller, at least briefly – to live a fantasy fuelled by fine wine. And planting oneself like a vine in the Bordeaux region also solves the wine tourist’s biggest dilemma: how to see the sights and drink the wines without worrying about transport. This may be the greatest luxury of temporarily opting to call a château home.
8 Bordeaux Château hotels for wine lovers to seek out
La Maison d’Estournel, Château Cos d’Estournel
Saint-Estèphe
Louis Gaspard d’Estournel inherited this estate, now classed as a Second Growth, in 1791 and chose, daringly, to sail to India to sell his wines there himself. His admiration for that country is visible in the pagodas and elephants that decorate Château Cos d’Estournel and earned him the nickname ‘the Majarajah of Saint-Estèphe’, but he actually lived at Château Pomys down the road, in a mansion that hotelier Michel Reybier (who bought Cos in 2000) has now reunited with the rest of the estate and turned into a luxurious hotel. Fourteen rooms, tastefully decorated with just a touch of chintz, overlook the vineyards; there is a pool, a bistro restaurant with open kitchen, electric bikes to tour the vines and the opportunity to visit the Château – with a special tasting specifically for hotel guests, in addition to vineyard tours, with or without lunch. And for those looking to get even closer to Cos, the owners’ sumptuous eight-bedroom residence, a tower with indoor pool within the grounds that is known as La Chartreuse, is available to rent on an exclusive-use basis.
lamaison-estournel.com
Château Léognan
Léognan
This Château opened as a hotel in 2023, with 17 plush, airy bedrooms plus five ‘logements insolites’ or unusual accommodation options: three treehouses and two lodges, all facing the vines. There are 70 hectares of grounds, including six hectares of vines (Philippe Miecaze, who owns the property with his wife Chantal, is also the winemaker), a spa and Le Manège, the fine dining restaurant, whose chef Gael Derrien trained at the George V and Shangri-La hotels in Paris. Derrien marries the sophistication he learned there with the simplicity of good ingredients, locally and seasonally sourced, including herbs from his own garden. There are plans for more restaurants and rooms and a heated pool in the former stables, all of which should be ready in 2026.
chateauleognan.com
The Farmhouse, Château Bauduc
Créon
Gavin and Angela Quinney are English, although they have been here in the Entre-Deux-Mers region since 1999, raising a family and making such good, well-priced wines that they have won praise, and more importantly space on the wine list, from top English restaurateurs including Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay. Their accommodation is a four-bedroom farmhouse in the vineyard, with its own pool, a comfortable living area that has an open kitchen, wooden beams and a fireplace. The Bauducs have lots of recommendations for places to pick up good ingredients in Créon, the 14th-century town that is walking distance down the road, including the Wednesday market; they are happy to offer guided vineyard walks, winery tours and tastings, or guests can just wander around on their own. And if all that rural peace gets too much, the bright lights of Bordeaux are just 40 minutes’ drive away.
bauduc.com
Château Pape Clément
Pessac
When Bernard de Goth became Pope in 1305 and took the name Clément V, his family had already been tending vines at the property now named for him for half a century. There is nothing medieval about the current château, though, not even the magnificently turreted walls: it was rebuilt in 1864. And certainly not the facilities, which include large, light bedrooms and vast gardens dotted with artworks and botanical curiosities such as a thousand-year-old olive tree and a Cedar of Lebanon planted before the French Revolution. Truffles from the four truffle oaks owned by proprietor Bernard Magrez elevate a restaurant that is already special, and a stay here can include a visit of the Grand Cru Classé estate and wine tastings in various formats, including a cheese-pairing workshop. Despite its lovely grounds, the château is almost in Bordeaux, with the Quai des Chartrons less than six miles away.
chateau-pape-clement.fr
Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
Sauternes
The Lalique hotel collection, like the crystal objects that made René Lalique famous, is small but perfectly formed: Glenturret in Scotland and three establishments in France, including this fairytale castle with 18-hectares of enclosed vineyard in Sauternes, the region that is home to the world’s greatest sweet wine. The château has ten bedrooms and three suites with views over vineyards that have been cultivated since 1618; the restaurant boasts two Michelin stars and a 350,000-bottle cellar including all the top Bordeaux wines, red, white and sweet. Both are decorated with interiors, chandeliers and art in the exquisite Art Deco style that Lalique perfected in the 1920s. Tours and tastings are available by appointment and the excitements of Bordeaux are just 45 minutes’ drive – if you can wrench yourself away.
lafauriepeyragueylalique.com/en/the-domain/chateau/
Hotel de Pavie, Château de Pavie
Saint-Émilion
There may be no better place to admire the white walls of Saint-Émilion than the large terrace at the Hotel de Pavie, formerly known as the Hostellerie de Plaisance. This hotel and restaurant in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed city on Bordeaux’s Right Bank has been under the aegis of the Perse family, owners of Premier Grand Cru Classé estate Château de Pavie, since 2001. These days, the restaurant is under the direction of Yannick Alléno and has two Michelin stars, and there are 22 rooms and suites, decorated in a bright contemporary style, in a trio of buildings. One of these is La Maison de Clocher, next to the bell tower of the famous monolithic church. The 225-foot tower is the only part above ground: the body of the church was dug out of the limestone in the early 12th century. The wine estate is a pleasant 25-minute walk away and visits must be booked, although the wines can of course be enjoyed with Alléno’s superb food, as well.
hoteldepavie.com
The Keys, Château Troplong Mondot
Saint-Émilion
The nearby water tower signals that this is the highest hill in the area, although the gorgeous views from the gracious mansion across the vineyards to Saint-Émilion may already have given that away. It’s a lovely 25-minute walk to town, too, sometimes passing one of the horses used to work the vineyards’ soil. Amid the vines stands the two-bedroom Vineyard House, with its chequered floor and open fire, and there is also The Keys, next door to the château, which incorporates two bedrooms and a two-bedroom suite, the Art Studio, once used by Christine Valette-Pariente, the estate’s owner until her death in 2014. Each can be booked separately, and the pool outside the main house is open to all guests. David Charrier’s restaurant Les Belles Perdrix holds a Michelin star – and if there were stars for beautiful views, its vast windows overlooking the vines would have earned one of those, as well.
troplong-mondot.com
Château Cordeillan-Bages
Bages
Jean-Michel Cazes died last year aged 88, and the obituaries made clear that he had fit so much achievement into his life that even those many decades don’t seem enough for all he accomplished. Putting Pauillac, then a backwater uninterested in (and unprepared for) visitors, firmly on the tourism map was an important part of that. In addition to modernising Château Lynch-Bages and Ormes de Pez – the two estates his grandfather bought – he added others, renovated the whole village of Bages and founded this beautiful 28-room hotel. Situated in a 19th-century building of creamy Bordeaux stone that still retains traces of its 17th-century predecessor, it is filled with works of art and designer furniture and is, of course, surrounded by vines. For a long time, there was a Michelin-starred restaurant in-house; these days, dining is a few steps away at Café Lavinal in the village, but the heated pool, gym and sauna are still very much on offer, as are vineyard tours.
cordeillanbages.com/en/hotel
