Many Bordeaux wineries are closed on the weekends, especially during the low season from November to March. However, some Bordeaux wineries are open on Sundays all year round and can accept you for a vineyard tour and tasting. Normally, an appointment is required to visit Bordeaux vineyards.
I usually recommend avoiding Bordeaux wine tours on Sundays, however, if you must taste Bordeaux wines on the weekend, these wineries may be open. Please always contact the wineries to check their opening hours and request an appointment in advance.
Saint-Emilion
These Saint-Emilion wineries are open on Sundays. Winter schedules may vary.
Chateau de Pressac has the best views in Saint-Emilion and the most amazing castle.
The site of Chateau de Pressac was the place of surrender of the English in the Hundred Years War, which ended here in 1453.
The chateau was classified as Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe in 2012. The vineyards of the chateau are some of the most diverse – with all black grape varieties present.
By appointment.
Open on weekends and some holidays.
The first records of a vineyard lying between Saint Emilion and Pomerol, relates to the 16th century.
One of the property owners, Dominique Glenne, left his name to the chateau. A subsequent owner, merchant Henri Greloud, added the definite article “La” to the name in the mid-19th century. Apparently, he wanted the chateau name to sound like a Caribbean Island of La Dominique.
The transformation of Chateau La Dominique is linked to the Fayat family acquiring the chateau in 1969. The Fayat family also owns a large construction business as well as Château Clément-Pichon in the Médoc and three properties in Pomerol.
From a small family winery, the chateau has transformed to a state of the art winery with impressive architecture and one of the best restaurants on the Right Bank, La Terrace Rouge, with unforgettable views on vineyards, Pomerol, and the famous Chateau Cheval Blanc.
La Terrasse Rouge was created by Nicolas Lascombes, a well-known local restaurateur. The menu highlights gastronomy of the Southwest France.
Chateau La Dominique will make a great stop on your Bordeaux wine tour, if you would like to admire modern architecture by Jean Nouvel, and enjoy lunch on a sunny terrace with a glass of Chateau La Dominique, or one of the other 250 wines on the wine list.
By appointment.
April to October: Every day from 10 am to 7 pm including weekends and public holidays
November to March: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm
Chateau Soutard dates back to the 16th century when the first farm buildings were erased made of limestone. Soutard was first mentioned in 1513 with the mention an a farm and a windmill of Mayne de Soutard.
The first castle was built on the property in 1741. Soutard became one of the first chateaux to plant their vines “in rows”. Michel des Ligneris acquired the property in 1919, and his family ran the property until 2006, when Chateau Soutard was acquired by La MONDIALE, a social protection group in France and the owner of Chateau Larmande and Chateau Grand Faurie La Rose nearby.
Today, the chateau is a beautifully renovated winery, with guest rooms and opportunity to drop in for a glass of Soutard. The chateau is classified as Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé.
Chateau Soutard is in the walking distance from the town of Saint-Emilion. Follow a beautiful alley of linden trees to enter this beautiful property.
By appointment.
Chateau Soutard offers a variety of experience from wine tours and tastings paired with fine French cheese to nature trail walks. You can also rent a bike and ride along Saint-Emilion vineyards.
Château de Ferrand’s story began in the early 18th century. Elie de Bétoulaud, the founder of the chateau, wanted to pay a tribute to King Louis XIV. He built Ferrand to remind the elegance, eccentricity and joy of Versailles.
In 1977, the chateau changed its hands for the first time. Baron Bich, who co-founded multi-national ballpoint pen co BIC, purchased the chateau.
Today, his daughter, Pauline Bich Chandon-Moët and her husband Philippe Chandon-Moët manage this Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe chateau.
The estate has recently undergone a beautiful renovation and now offers several suites with views of world-famous vineyards, as well as gastronomic lunches and dinners.
By appointment from Wednesday to Monday.
The chateau offers a great variety of tastings and workshops including a blending workshop with a trained sommelier.
Situated southern slopes of Saint-Emilion plateau Château La Gaffelière started its history in the 4th century when Ausonius, a Roman poet, had a vineyard in the same spot.
In 1969, Comte Léo de Malet Roquefort, the owner of the chateau discovered numerous mosaics relating to Gallo-Roman times. The family de Malet Roquefort has run the estate for more than 3 centuries and still live in the magnificent chateau.
The wines of Chateau Gaffeliere come from an exceptional terroir, a so-called “golden triangle”, the area between Chateau Pavie and Chateau Ausone, on limestone and siliceous soils.
Chateau La Gaffeliere is accessible on foot from the village of Saint Emilion.
From Monday to Sunday by appointment.
Drop-ins for tastings are accepted where availability permits.
Acquired in 2007, by Francoise Lannoye, Château Ambe Tour Pourret – AOC Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, is located only a couple of minutes away from the medieval town of Saint-Émilion.
It is a small estate with a beautiful tower. Average age of the vines is 35 years.
The 5-hectare vineyard is comprised of 75 % Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc.
The winery offers guided tours and tastings by appointment as well as cooking classes and wine and food pairing.
Besides red wine of the Chateau, you can taste sparkling wines Celine from the chateau’s sister property.
Come to enjoy a glass of wine with a snack in the chateau courtyard.
Chateau Tour St Christophe is a small and cozy St Emilion chateau with excellent wines and impressive top-notch hospitality. Experience is always in a private group and with a very engaging guide.
You get to taste several wines by Group Vignobles K, which owns several wineries on the Right Bank in a tasting room overlooking the hills of Saint-Emilion. Among them, the wines of Pomerol and Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux.
Great experience and great value for money on their wines.
By appointment.
Medoc
In my experience as a Bordeaux wine guide, it is more difficult to schedule winery visits in the Medoc on Sunday, however, you can still visit Medoc vineyards on the weekend.
You may find my comprehensive guide for organizing your own custom tour in the Medoc helpful.
1855 Grand Cru Classe – 4th Growth, Margaux
Marquis de Terme received this wine estate as part of his wife’s dowry and gave it his own name in 1762.
Thomas Jefferson visited Bordeaux in 1787 and marked Chateau Marquis de Terme as one of his favorites.
Since 1935 the chateau is owned by the Seneclauze family, who brought it to its current reputation as traditional yet innovative. The chateau is working with many new winemaking techniques aimed to bring up the expression of the terroir. For example, barrel fermentation in unusually-shaped barrels.
From December to March:
Monday to Friday
9 am to 5.30 pm
From April to November:
Monday to Sunday
9 am to 7 pm
The chateau has an exciting menu of wine tours and workshops as well as a new restaurant Au Marquis de Terme right at the winery.
You can enjoy a simple tasting, a guided tour, a tasting of 7 Medoc grand cru classes wine, a snack or a brunch in the garden, or a stroll on a scooter or a bike through the vineyards of Margaux.
By appointment.
Chateau Hourtin Ducasse is open every day for tastings and apero where you pair wine with local products.
Picnic in the chateau yard is a great lunch option in the Pauillac area.
One of my favourite offers in the Medoc – you get to work 4 rows of vines for 2 hours. Carrassonnage, acanage, pliage, épamprage, effeuillage, relevage, tressage, ramassage…After the hard work, you will be rewarded with lunch in the vines.
The story of the property goes back to 1428 when Gilhem de Siran took the feudal oath at the local church of Macau.
At the time of the French Revolution, Chateau Siran was in the possession of François Augustin
du Boscq. The property was brought as a dowry to the Count of Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa, great-grandparents of the famous painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
It was the Toulouse-Lautrec family who had declined the invitation to the 1855 “Bonapartist classification” of the Medoc wineries.
Since 1859, when the property was acquired from Countess of Toulouse-Lautrec by Léo Barbier, it remained in the hands of his descendants.
Today, managed by the sixth generation, Édouard Miailhe, the estate produces wines in the Margaux, Haut-Medoc and the Bordeaux Superieur appellation.
38 hectares are planted with vines. The rest of the estate, composed of woods and meadows, contributes to the biodiversity promoted by the owners.
May to September:
Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 12 30 pm, and from 2 pm to 6 pm.
October to March:
Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 12 30pm and from 2 pm to 5 30 pm.
Besides the wine tours and tastings, Chateau Siran’s highlight is a museum of about 300 wine-related objects, some dating back to the 3rd century B.C.
The Château Siran Escape Game invites you to decipher the secrets of this family estate in an exceptional setting: an authentic nuclear radiation-proof bunker full of wine.
There is no restaurant onsite, but you can order a lunch on the Terrace 360 (by reservation from 12pm to 2pm) and accompany it by a bottle of wine from the boutique.
Languages: French, English & Spanish.
The estate dates back to the 15th century when it belonged to the Martel and the Lauste families. It was passed to Jaques de Bergeron in the 18th century.
The chateau features a beautiful castle completed in 1848. Since, the estate is owned by the CAPSSA, the French insurance institution.
Come to Chateau Lamothe-Bergeron to taste famous Cru Bourgeous Superiore wines. I find the interactive wine tour at the chateau to be quite entertaining.
From April to October: 7 days a week, from 10 am to 6 pm.
From November to March: Mondays to Fridays from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm.
Visits only with a prior booking.
Pessac-Leognan
The region of Pessac-Leognan is known for some of the best red and white wines in France. The white wines of Pessac-Leognan are unique to Bordeaux, which is mostly known for its red wines.
The story of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand Cru Classe, began in the 14th century, when Verrier du Dubosc signed deeds for this estate. At the time, there were vines planted on the estate. George Smith, a Scottish wine merchant, acquired the property in the mid-18th century.
Later, in 1842, Mayor of Bordeaux, Lodi Martin Duffour-Dubergier, acquired the chateau. It has become an exceptional grand cru.
Florence and Daniel Cathiard, former Olympians, fell in love with the estate in 1990. The winery and the estate underwent a major renovation. A spa and the hotel were added. The chateau produces one of the highest-rated wines in Bordeaux.
Open 7 days a week.
Tours are by appointment, but you can drop in for a tasting.
Besides a program of tours and workshops, it is possible to come for a discovery of 8 hectares of forest filled with art objects.
A vinotherapy spa, a 5-star hotel, and a 2-Michelin stars restaurant are on site.
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is a luxurious spot near Bordeaux to stay in the wine country, enjoy a spa, haut cuisine and wine.
Grand Cru Classé de Graves
The first harvest at the estate took place in 1252. At the time, the chateau was known as Domaine de la Mothe.
The name Pape Clement relates to Pope Clement V who was given the estate by his dying brother in 1306. The Pope was famous for contributing to the development of viticulture in France.
The existing castle was built in the neo-Gothic style in 1864.
Since 1980s the chateau is owned by the legendary wine entrepreneur Bernard Magrez who brought back the fame of the chateau and brought it to success. In 2009, the white of Chateau Pape Clement was given 100 Parker points and so did the red wine a year later.
By appointment.
Closed on Mondays, the 25th of December and the 1st of January.
The chateau offers a variety of tasting and food pairing experiences and interesting workshops.
Here, you can taste other wines of the Bernard Magrez company produced in France and abroad.
By appointment
Open from Monday to Saturday from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm
During high season (summer)
Open from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 7 pm
Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm with a break between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm
The chateau offers guided tours, tastings, workshops and romantic tastings in the beautiful garden.
Sauternes
Sauternes is located about 40 km southeast of the city of Bordeaux. The region is known for morning fogs
creating the phenomenon of noble rot which plays a key role in making their sweet wines. You can also find dry white wines in Sauternes.
1855 PREMIER CRU SUPÉRIEUR
During the Middle Ages, Château d’Yquem belonged to the King of England, who was also Duke of Aquitaine at the time. In 1453, southwest France was once again brought under the French crown.
In 1593, a descendent of a local noble family, Jacques Sauvage, took over Yquem. In 1785, Françoise Joséphine de Sauvage d’Yquem, young widow became the estate manager and made Yquem prosper. Thomas Jefferson was fond of Yquem wines. In 1855, in the famous classification made at the request of Emperor Napoléon III, Yquem was designated the one and only premier cru supérieur.
Today, the winery remains the top estate of Sauternes. At the end of the 20th century, Château d’Yquem was acquired by LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton.
By appointment only.
Monday through Sunday
Language: English and French.
Maximum number of people: 6.
The guided tour lasts 90 minutes.
The Guiraud family of merchants, founders of the modern estate at the end of the 18th century, gave the name to the chateau.
Within three generations, the property was classified as Premier Grand Cru Classé in the 1855 classification ordered by the Emperor Napoleon III.
Since 2006, the chateau is owned by 4 friends, the big names in the France and in the Bordeaux wine industry: Xavier Planty, Robert Peugeout, Olivier Bernard and Stephan Von Niepperg.
This black label is one of the oldest in the Bordeaux region and has remained unchanged since its creation.
The château employs environment-friendly processes that are 100% natural. To protect biodiversity in the vineyard, the chateau plants tree hedges and grasses between the rows, installs hives for pollinating insects.
Château Guiraud is open 7 days a week
Weekends and holidays included
10 am – 6 pm with or without appointment
French, English and Norwegian
You can find many other Bordeaux tips in my Bordeaux Blog.
Atlas Bordeaux contains more information on private Bordeaux wine tours.
