Adventures in Bordeaux, La Cite du Vin
- Ava Lyn
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
La Cite du Vin Bordeaux
134 Quai de Bacalan
33300 Bordeaux,
France
It is hard to miss La Cite Du Vin. It is striking, shaped like a wine decanter, sitting on the banks of the Garonne River, which shape the region's terroir. This massive modern museum is all about wine and is built to be completely interactive. It is overseen by the Foundation of Wine Culture and Civilisations, sharing and making wine accessible to their audience.
In the main permanent exhibition, there are 19 interactive sections that enable visitors to explore themes like climate change, grape varietals, terroirs and winemaking. Alot of these exhibits are interactive and the digital audio guides which you point at a particular exhibit allows you to follow the exhibit. It was fantastic that you didn't necessary need to move from one point to another to understand the entire exhibit and it gave you to freedom to roam and revisit any exhibit at any time.
Each section of the musem features a different theme, from the history of civilisations and wine through to geography, economy, arts, gastronomy and actual wine making. There is definitely something of interest for everyone.
I loved the fact that this museum caters for all ages. The interactive games are engaging and the kids were having a blast. The entire exhibition was about 3000 sqm, so we did spend the most part of the day in the musem. So do take note when planning to come over to Cite du Vin that it is going to take a big part of your day to explore the entire space.
Located on the second floor is a completely separate space where you get to learn about the effect on wine aging as well as experience the various scents and smells on the wine flavour wheel. After you are done with the entire exhibit, you are then invited to the Belvedere, which is a large open viewing platform to enjoy a glass of wine from a selection of international offerings, whilst taking in the views of Bordeaux and the Garonne river. For the young ones, there is also a non-alcoholic grape juice option.
We also attended an Introduction to Wine Tasting workshop that was led by a wine professional. This workshop was done in French. For those who are English, Spanish, Italian or German speakers, it is possible to attend this workshop using the audioguide. Whilst the content was the same, the instructor was definitely more candid in French and provided plenty of humour along the way. During this workshop we went through how to examine the wine, release the aromas, compare the scents against the wine flavour wheel and taste the wine to assess structure, balance and complexity. It can be alot to take in within an hour, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Do note that this workshop is an add on and requires a separate ticket. It also runs once a day, so do check in on timing and whether it suits your schedule.
Would We Recommend?
Absolutely yes! This exhibition was incredibly well thought out and there was something for everyone, regardless of age or prior wine knowledge. The exhibits were interactive and the audio guides worked very well. We learnt so much about wine, including impacts of climate change, the harvesting process, the varietals, the irrigation techniques through into experiencing the scents and smells.
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