The Insider’s Guide to Bordeaux
VINIV members have an appreciation for the finest and most authentic experiences. Since Bordeaux will become your ‘home away from home’ as a winemaker, we’ve created the VINIV Insider’s Guide to Bordeaux. This is our curated list of the better places you don’t want to miss – where to stay, where to eat, châteaux to visit – and what to consider as you plan your trip. You will quickly understand why the ‘Bordelais’ don’t stray too far from home. Bordeaux is their oyster, and now it’s yours too.
Jean-Michel Cazes
Owner, Château Lynch-Bages
My homeland - the Médoc - has been progressively ushered into the spotlight by settlers, each bringing their own disparate culture, lifestyle, and philosophy. They’ve given birth to a land with its own distinct identity — its own art de vivre — centred around some of the greatest wines on earth. VINIV is our way to invite you to step into all of Bordeaux and call it your own.
Jean-Charles Cazes
CEO and owner, Château Lynch-Bages
If the Cazes surname has become synonymous with Château Lynch-Bages, it is due in large part to my father Jean-Michel – a true road warrior. Now that I travel the world representing the brand, I see how the fondness and respect for Lynch-Bages reflects how people feel about him. He wanted those who made the pilgrimage to his beloved Médoc to feel welcome, long before it became the norm. And so he brought a sleepy hamlet back to life, creating a Relais & Châteaux hotel, Michelin-star restaurant, a bistrot and other activities to make people feel at home.
As his successor, I saw an opportunity in 2012 to take this ‘welcome’ one step further. By putting the oenophile at the centre of the winemaking experience, VINIV engages their passion in a whole new way. One of the first clients to produce his own barrel of high-quality wine with this groundbreaking model? My father, who creates his ‘Lou Janou’ vintage with VINIV – in honour to his own grandfather.
VINIV exists to allow wine lovers to experience much more – and this guide is way of making sure that you can step into Bordeaux and leave your own family mark.
Lorraine Carrigan
Director, VINIV
Since 2008 the small provincial metropolis of Bordeaux (the sixth largest in France) has asserted itself as the country’s ‘second city’. In a short period, numerous publications have named Bordeaux and the region as one of the world’s best travel destinations. Despite that, making sense of how to organise your stay during your VINIV winemaking experience is no easy task. Bordeaux is not Napa Valley — finding a restaurant in the heart of the Médoc on a week night can become quite the challenge. You can find them (the list is admittedly short), but you need to know where to look.
VINIV members have an appreciation for the finest and most authentic experiences. Since Bordeaux will become your ‘home away from home’ as a winemaker, we’ve created the VINIV Insider’s Guide to Bordeaux. This is our curated list of the better places you don’t want to miss – where to stay, where to eat, châteaux to visit – and what to consider as you plan your trip.
You will quickly understand why the ‘Bordelais’ don’t stray too far from home. Bordeaux is their oyster, and now it’s yours too.
About VINIV
Bordeaux wine is renowned across the world for its finesse and complexity but only a select few can describe themselves as Bordeaux winemakers: those born into it, those willing to risk millions buying land here, and those who create their own experience with VINIV. We give you the rare opportunity to make a bespoke barrel of wine, using your nose, palate and imagination, at our winery adjacent to Château Lynch-Bages.
Become a Bordeaux insider on a journey that starts with unparalleled access to the region’s most prestigious vineyards and celebrated winemakers, and ends with a unique vintage that is unmistakably your own. We’d say it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but who says you’ll only do it once in a lifetime?