Sneak preview of the new Cité du Vin in Bordeaux

[AlexR]

The Bordelais are a bit like Texans. They naturally assume everything is bigger and better in their part of the world… Their département, the Gironde, is the largest in France and their wine the most famous on the planet (bar one: Champagne). However, Bordeaux was closed like an oyster for many years to wine lovers. You needed an introduction to visit the famous châteaux and it was difficult to see much of anything without a car.

This has all changed enormously, and nothing illustrates this more than the new Cité du Vin. Created by the Foundation for Wine Culture and Civilisations – funded by a various local government agencies and the EU (80%), along with private sponsors (20%) – this will be inaugurated by François Hollande next week before opening to the public on the 1st of June.
That makes June a very busy month in Bordeaux, with European Football Cup matches played here and the Bordeaux Wine Festival (http://www.bordeaux-wine-festival.com/) taking place at the end of the month.

The Cité du Vin is housed in a striking modern building on the Garonne. Its unusual shape has been the butt of cheeky jokes, but it kind of grows on you…
It is easy to go there by public transport (tram).
The Cité is in Bacalan, a part of town long considered “the wrong side of the tracks”, but currently undergoing a major transformation.
As much as Bordeaux goes in for navel-gazing, the Cité du Vin is well and truly international. The new wine cellar/boutique has 14,000 bottles of wines from more than 80 countries and the multi-media commentary is in 8 languages. Obviously, Bordeaux is not given short shrift though, and there is a desk to help tourists arrange to see the local wine country. Some 450,000 are expected a year. Cost of admission: 20 euros.
The Cité is 8 floors high. Half of these are open to the public. My tour started on the top floor (“the belvedere”), which features a circular plate glass window affording a commanding 360° view of the city. There is also an enormous tasting bar there.
The seventh floor has a restaurant called, appropriately enough “Le Sept”. This is run by the team from the Brasserie Bordelaise, the Terrasse Rouge (Château La Domnique), etc. The restaurant is rather small (seats 70), reflecting the fact that the initial project had to be downsized in light of budgetary restrictions. There is also a snack bar on the ground floor.
The visit, as such, is “self-guided” and essentially consists of a sophisticated, imaginative, and interactive multimedia show with smartphones on a very modern, tastefully-designed circuit. Total commentary amounts to 10 hours, but the average visit is expected to last 1 to 1 and a half hours. The visual effects are very well done. Views of some of the world’s most beautiful vineyard regions on enormous screens are spellbinding.

However, the Cité is not just about screens. The 3,000 metres open to the public also feature: a battery of marvelously retro “Nez du Vin” type wine aroma sniffers, a programme of special events, a temporary exhibition area, a honeycomb of various-sized rooms for tastings, an auditorium, function rooms, a trippy “Imaginarium”, a wine library (or rather reading room), and “sensory workshops” for children. I might add that I think children would enjoy the experience as much as their parents – minus the tasting of course!
So, is the Cité worthy of the hype? I think any wine lover would enjoy it immensely and it has been planned to welcome the whole family. I will be posting a more detailed report with photos on my blog www.bordeauxwineblog within the next couple of weeks (after going back a second time).

Best regards,
Alex R.

[AKR]

I'm looking forward to visiting at some point, perhaps even this fast train service talked about. Thanks for the notes.

[DavidG]

Nice write up. I've enjoyed reading this and other reports. Sounds like a very nice place but no substitute for the personal sort of attention one can get with an arranged visit at a chateaux. Perhaps more introductory than for the hard core Bordeaux-phile.

You mention 14,000 bottles on premises. Are they from all over or mostly Bordeaux? Do they sell bottles of wine for consumption on premises other than with a meal in the restaurant, or to take away, or do they only do tastings? Are tastings organized events or do they have multiple different wines on offer by the glass all of the time for whoever walks up?

[AlexR]

David,

The Cité is fun for people of all varying levels of wine knowldege but, even so, targets the general public.
Two thirds of the wine in the boutique are non French. Any wine consumed on the premises is in: the restaurant, the snack bar, the large tasting room on the top floor, smaller "workshop" tasting rooms.
I believe that in-depth tastings are part of a program of events and must be reserved. However, I'll be going back in a little over a week and will have a better handle on things.

Meanwhile, here's a report from the Daily Telegraph, glass phallus and al: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti ... eum-guide/

Alex R.