Bordeaux and St Emillion wineries

[Kristanfoo]

Hi All,

Got 2 days in Bordeaux and 4 in St Emillion.
Anyone recommend some good wineries to visit?
Time and heat restricted to about 5 so any advice appreciated.
Sadly don't have the budget to drink $500-1000 bottles but I'm sure there are solid producers that others could recommend.

[Polymer]

You will need to schedule appointments for all of them and most will not even give you the option to buy anything....So personally I'd just try to go for whatever ones you've wanted to see and find out if they have free time...

[simon1980]

I'm no expert (sum total of 1 visit), but a few thoughts may help:

Langoa Barton (Leoville Barton is made in the Langoa building too) was excellent...and a "must book" job. Recommended.
Lynch Bages is a big operation, and they very helpfully got us onto a tour, even though we had not called ahead. Possibly an easy option.
Pontet Canet / Mouton are both large operations that cater for lots of tourists...

St Emillion is much quieter than the Left Bank. I have had great success in Italy and Spain from just asking around...hotel manager / local wine shops etc. I usually work out about half my visits in advance (probably the famous names!) and the other half I take people's tips. Some are no good, and others end up providing great quality (both in the wine and the experience of the people).

Good luck,

simon1980

[Andrew Jordan]

Second Lynch Bages. Easy to get on a tour even if you have not booked ahead.

[wifekidsmortgage]

Lynch Bages is one of the better tours where you can taste - but not buy. Ch Pichon Baron is another, you can both taste and purchase there and the Chateaux itself is stunning. If time is not one your side you can always hook up for a tour, there are a number of operators of varying level and access. The tourist info in Bordeaux was a great source of information when we were there last year but I had already pre arranged tours/tastings at the above two wineries.

There is a guide that is also prominent on Trip Advisor as well, who as an expert in all things Bordeaux, was a great source of information. His name was Dewey Markham and he goes by the moniker "Dmjwineworks" in TripAdvisor.