Pedaling Through the Vineyards of Bordeaux

After we barreled our first estate Merlot in Fall 2025 and started the two year waiting game, we booked a 6 day cycling trip to the Bordeaux region with DuVine.  Our goal was to immerse ourselves in the Bordeaux blends that the area is famous for, especially the Merlot-centric Right Bank.  And the trip delivered!  We must have tried no less than 40 different wines incorporating Merlot across different terroirs, estates and vintages with the goal of informing our future blending practices for the wines we are planning for 2025 and 2026. 

Our guides Bertrand and Chris were phenomenal - they made the trip extra special with so many special touches. Check out our visual itinerary of all the key spots we visited.

The City of Bordeaux

Before we set out into the region, we spent a day and half in the city to shake off any jet lag before hopping on bikes.  Normally, we make a plan and try to get restaurant reservations…but we decided to leave our time open in Bordeaux since we knew we’d have plenty of nice, well planned tastings and dinners on the trip.  So, we just strolled through the city to see many of the big sites and stop for wine along the way.  

Upon arriving Friday afternoon, we had lunch at a very cool food hall called Les Halles de Bacalan - with great food and wine.  It was a casual lunch, but paired with wine from a comprehensive wine bar that started with a classic Croque Monsieur paired with a Pessac Leognan and a decadent duck sandwich with a Pomerol.   

We were there on a Saturday morning for our first full day, so we started at the Marché du Capucins.  This market is really very local and more for folks looking to shop for fresh food for cooking, but it is a site worth seeing and you can sit down for fresh oysters and wine right there in the market.  

From there we meandered around the city and along the Garonne River to hit all the top sites on foot.  From the market, we made our way to the Basilique Saint-Michel to Rue Saint-James, Grosse Cloche, Porte Cailou to Saint-Pierre, Cathedral Saint-André, Pey Berlan and Chartron, known for its antique shops.  We took our time to just stroll, stop for coffee, wine and a wander. 

We had lunch at a gorgeous meat centric restaurant called Gueuleton overlooking a beautiful square, Place du Palais, where we had a delicious filet paired with a Bordeaux blend.  The waiter recommened L’Etoille from Lalande de Pomerol - the little brother to the Pomeral region, a blend of  85% Merlot, 15% Cab Franc.  We also experienced Armagnac for the first time - a traditional French brandy from the Gascony region of southwestern France, distilled from wine and aged in oak barrels, known for its rich, complex flavors of dried fruit, vanilla, and warm spices. We got to try a 2004 (from the year of our wedding) and a 1988 (the year Dave graduated from high school). 

We had a couple of good bistro dinners and our favorite wine discovery was a bottle from Chateau Quinault L’Enclos - we stumbled into it and it turns out that it is owned and produced by the Cheval Blanc people.  It was an absolute score at around 90 euro. 

Bike Tour Day 1: The Left Bank

Day one ride was on the Left Bank in the famous Médoc wine appellation district.  It started with a wine tasting and lunch at Château Maucaillou, a prestigious sixth-generation family estate.  Maucaillou roughly translates to “bad pebbles” which is a great description of the very rocky terroir in the area.  Our first ride took us along Bordeaux’s renowned Left Bank estates, including Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Lafite Rothschild.  I had run the Marathon du Medoc many, many years prior through this area and can attest that it is 100% more fun on wheels.  

We ended our ride and had a delicious dinner with wine pairings at our first nights’ hotel, the beautiful Château Cordeillan-Bages.  Here we sampled the more Cabernet centric Left Bank wines - a 2016 Margeaux and 2018 Pauillac from Château Pichon Baron , where we had stopped for a photo op on the ride.  

Bike Tour Day 2: Across the River

A warm up spin took us to a ferry as we headed across the river to the city of Blaye on the ‘correct bank’ in our opinion.  We enjoyed a walk around and lunch inside the walls of the Citadel of Blaye, where they have the only vineyard inside a UNESCO site.  There is a tiny organically grown Merlot vineyard of only .37 acres overlooking the Gironde estuary.  Over our bistro lunch, we enjoyed a bottle of their Le Clos de l’Echaugette 2020 of which they only produced 737 bottles.  

After lunch, we continued to ride through little-known wine regions of the Côtes de Bourg and rounded out the afternoon riding into Saint-Laurent-d’Arce.  We stopped at a tiny church to get transport to our next stop where we stayed just outside Saint Émilion.  

On this night, we wandered around the small village of Saint Émilon with its impressive number of wine negociants who carry an extraordinary presentation of all the top wines from the region. Dinner was at a cafe - Envers du Decor - where we asked for a wine recommendation and landed on an incredible coincidence.  The 2019 Chateau Sansonnet Grand Cru Classé ended up being the EXACT blend as our 2022 Merlot - 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cab Franc.  A fun comparison! 

Bike Tour Day 3: The Rolling Hills of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol

Day three was the most beautiful ride of the trip with gorgeous rolling hills, vineyards and chateaus.  While we didn’t get to actually taste from the top Pomerol and Saint-Émilion producers, we did get to ride, take a peek and snap some photos of Cheval Blanc, Petrus and Angélus.  

We did stoped at Pressac to take in the beautiful view and then stopped to do a tasting at Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, where we got a tour of their impressive underground caves, followed by a tasting on their patio with sweeping views of the area.  The underground caves were originally limestone quarries, carved out centuries ago to provide stone for the buildings and churches of Saint-Émilion. Today, these historic tunnels have been transformed into extraordinary wine cellars, offering naturally cool, humid conditions ideal for aging wine.

After a break and a dip in the pool, we went back into Saint-Émilion to local wine merchant ETS Martin.  We were hosted in the impressive cellar by the incredibly funny and informative Benoît.  This was our favorite tasting, where we got to sample 8 different Merlot based wines across various price points, vintages and blends.  Ben did a phenomenal job of giving very honest insights and educating us on the nuances of the area. 

After the tasting, it was on to Château du Palanquey where the owners cooked a fresh dinner in their open kitchen so that we could dine outside in their garden and enjoy their wine made in partnership with Château Angelus—known for their Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Crus. 

Bike Tour Day 4:  Between Two Rivers

Today we headed towards the Dordogne River and crossed into the Entre-Deux-Mers region, known for its crisp white Bordeaux wines - mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Entre-Deux-Mers literally translates to “between two seas,” but the region actually lies between two rivers—the Garonne and the Dordogne—which eventually meet and flow into the Atlantic Ocean via the Gironde estuary.

Our lunch destination today was the 10th generation family owned Château de Castelneau where we were greeted by the very charming Loic and his dog.  Loic colorfully shared the history of his family and the region, along with one of the funniest Merlot analogies we’ve heard yet…You must watch this video clip! 

Today’s lunch was prepared by our guide Bertrand where we started off with an aperitif of a Lillet Blanc spritz.  The spread was amazing - salad, paté, cheese, baguette, an apple tart for dessert and chilled wines on a hot afternoon.  

The guides surprised us with a Bordeaux Clairet - a 100% Merlot, served chilled, to serve as inspiration for our Rosé of Merlot that we have in the works.  Clairet is a traditional Bordeaux wine that falls somewhere between a rosé and a light red, with a deeper color, more body, and bolder fruit flavors than a typical rosé.

Our ride ended on the banks of Garonne river, where we then transited to our favorite hotel of the trip - the three Michelin Key hotel Les Sources de Caudalie.  After dipping in their pool with a cool Rosé, we enjoyed dinner at their bistro La Table du Lavoir - The Washhouse Table.  The original French Laundry??  A funny substitution for our appetizer - they were out of eggs, so instead served us a very decadent foie gras as a replacement for the egg…We were not upset. 

Bike Tour Day 5:  The Sweet Sites of Sauternes

Another day in another stellar wine region - Graves.  We cycled straight from our hotel through medieval villages en route to Sauternes, the capital of sweet wine.

Today’s destination was at Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, known for their Sauternes where we witnessed the difficulty of growing the low yield grapes with the influence of “noble rot” that gives Sauternes its signature flavors.  The chateau is owned by the same people who own Lalique crystal, so the property was filled with incredible crystal lighting and accents, including a full crystal barrel of wine - “ne touche pas”.   We sampled their beautiful wines in crystal glasses made in partnership with Robert Suckling before the last few miles of our journey.    

After our final pedal and almost 140 total miles of riding, we stopped for what I think might be the best cheeseburger I’ve had in all of France at Auberge Les Vignes - a tiny, modest bistro in Sauternes.   

Our final night  was celebrated with a fun toast in the the tower – a chilled Sauternes on ice with an orange rind – as we recapped the week.  Dinner was the most perfect way to conclude our time together with a two-Michelin-starred dinner overseen by Chef Nicolas Masse at La Grand’Vigne.  It was about 10 courses of the most intricately prepared meal of fresh ingredients from the property, including fois gras that was an uncanny representation of a wine cork.  

Day 6: Wine Down 

Our final morning was a stroll around the property and a visit to the hotel’s famous vinotherapy spa.  The spa is a spectacular building with an infinity hot tub overlooking the vineyards, a nice way to ease in before a treatment using their Caudalie brand – all products inspired by wine ingredients.  

Right Bank Inspiration with Napa Roots

There is no better way to see and experience a region like you can on two wheels.  We are excited to come back home and bring some Right Bank inspiration to our upcoming first estate vintage - our 2025 Napa Merlot.   

We’re heading home inspired by the elegance and character of the Right Bank wines, especially the Merlots of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. While our roots (and vines!) are firmly planted in Napa Valley, we’re excited to bring a little Bordeaux inspiration to our very first estate vintage that will launch next year—our 2025 Napa Valley Merlot.

Great wine has a way of telling a story, and we hope you’ll taste a little of our Bordeaux adventure in every bottle!

Enjoy this video with outtakes from the trip created by our wonderful guides!