Wine Maven

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Sandi, <br>

I strongly recommend doing a land tour over the cruise for visiting wineries in Bordeaux. Here is the thing, most winery visits in Bordeaux are private one-on-one experiences so it is much, much more special than what happens on these cruises where you are with a bunch of other people. You are not going into a busy tasting room with lots of other guests. Instead, you are actually going into a private experience where you will get cellar tour, vineyard tour and a wine tasting experience. Snacks may or may not be included. It really varies by Chateau. You can read more about it here:<br>

<a href="http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/how-to-visit-bordeaux-top-chateau-for-the-best-wine-tastings/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/how-to-visit-bordeaux-top-chateau-for-the-best-wine-tastings/</a><br>

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I agree with the above website in terms of number of appointments - no more than 3 per day and definitely stop for a leisurely lunch. The wine tasting opportunities and multiple experiences from tasting to barrel tastings to dinners and overnight stays are available at most Chateau's with much to choose from suiting anyone with an interest in wine:<br>

<a href="http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/how-to-visit-bordeaux-top-chateau-for-the-best-wine-tastings/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/how-to-visit-bordeaux-top-chateau-for-the-best-wine-tastings/</a><br>

<a href="https://www.visitfrenchwine.com/en/experience" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.visitfrenchwine.com/en/experience</a><br>

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If you have a wine purveyor or a restaurant that is specialized in wine, they can assist you with appointments or you can make your own via email well in advance of your trip. It's really an amazing experience and I strongly recommend you consider doing this as opposed to a cruise where you might visit 1 or 2 wineries per day with a large group of people.

</p><br><p>Suite Traveler,</p><p>Thank you very much for your perspective on wine tasting in Bordeaux. We have done wine trips to Chile, Uruguay, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and many times to California. Europe is the last great frontier for us.</p><p> It sounds like this approach will require renting a car and making our own appointments at the wineries. We, mainly me, were hoping to avoid renting a car in a foreign country where we don't speak the language. My husband and I have had our worst disagreements in rental cars, even in the US. It's not pretty.</p><p>I'm hoping that another couple will come with us and we can then hire a private guide for the day to do the driving for us. The cost is more reasonable split amongst 4 people vs. 2. If not, I was looking at the small group tours Cindy mentioned in her response. This approach also makes the most sense after drinking wine at 2 or 3 places.</p><p>The articles you provided links to are awesome! All that info feeds my need for data<img src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/clear.png?emoji-grin-1677" class="inlineimg" smilieid="3" border="0"></p><br><br>

Sandi, There are a variety of tours through the tourist office, each specifying a specific region and the chateaux to be visited. So these were good for including areas not included on the cruise. The tours meet at the tourist office, have a driver/guide, and will have up to 8 people in an SUV. Good guide, good tours and tastings, not luxury. I don't recall any snacks on these tours. Maybe some bread or crackers to cleanse the palate

 

We booked with Bordovina through Viator, but you can book with them directly. You can check their website for tours they provide. We had a full day with them starting with a Bordeaux wine education class at their offices. Very well done, and a good grounding in the terroir of the area and the styles of wine, with a nice tasting. Then we had lunch with a the owner and our instructor before we left on a tour of the St. Emilion area including two distinctly different chateaux. Small group of 6. More personal than the tourist office tours. No food other than our lunch.

 

There are a number of independent tour operators in Bordeaux, many you can find on the tourist office website.

 

The AMA tours were much more luxurious than either the tourist office or Bordovino. There is both a tour guide on the bus and the tasting/tour folks at the winery to take care of you. Size of the tour groups was 20-25, but size was not a problem as the chateaux planned their tours and tasting to take care of the size and provide personal attention. We always had a tour and a food and wine tasting. Food varied. One was an assortment of food and nuts, another had meats and cheeses. The Cognac tasting had macarons and chocolate. We generally had a chateau guide versus the wine maker, but always very knowledgeable about the winery, its style of wine, and its history. All very proud of their wine and very welcoming of questions.

AMA includes visits to important sites and towns as well as the chateaux visits. Some of the chateaux are significant historical sites in themselves.

 

We love Bordeaux and will continue to visit there. We have considered just staying in the city and doing tours, and if we do that in the future we would probably plan to use one company to plan our tours. But we enjoy the relaxation of a river cruise. We are planning another Bordeaux cruise on the Scenic Diamond next spring which includes a whole different set of chateaux and a bit more luxury than AMA. Will still go into Bordeaux a few days ahead to visit some areas that the cruise does not include and just to enjoy the city. It is lovely.

 

Hope this answers your questions. Glad to help if I can.

 

Cindy

 

Cindy,

Thank you SOOO much! This is exactly the information I was looking for to compare the do it yourself approach vs. AMA. Whichever way we go, we will have done it in an informed way. I guess you can tell that I spent my whole career in scientific research -- data, data, data!

Kind regards,

Sandi

Cindy,

Thank you for the helpful information.

We are debating taking the AMA Bordeaux wine cruise vs. traveling to Bordeaux, staying at a hotel and going on the arranged wine tours through Bordovino, Viator, or others. We like the concept of smaller tour groups. How would you compare the wine tour experience for the ones you took through Bordovino and the Bordeaux Tourist Office to the ones you took through AMA? How many people were on the AMA tours vs. the others and did that impact the experience? Did you get to tour the wineries and learn from the wine makers on both? Did both tour types include snacks/food with the tastings? Did you visit other places like the towns or castles while on the tours?

Staying in the city and visiting the wineries with the tour companies will be significantly less expensive than the cruise, even with the special rate AMA is offering right now. I was able to find tours out of Bordeaux to all the areas the cruise ship goes to.

I appreciate the time you take to respond and to help us make this decision.

Regards,

Sandi

I am looking at a Bordeaux wine cruise with AMA Waterways. For the wine tasting excursions, I am looking for details on what the experience is like. How many people are at the wine tasting? I would think a group larger than 20 would be impersonal and not much interaction with the winery representative. Do you get a tour along with sufficient tastings? I would be interested in your experience even if you went with Viking, Uniworld or another river boat cruise company.

Wine Maven