Opened since 2017, la Cité du vin is a new-generation cultural site unique in the world, where the soul of wine is expressed through an immersive and sensory approach at the heart of an evocative architecture. La Cité du Vin shows wine in a different way, across the world, across the ages, in all cultures and in all civilisations. La Cité du vin has been awarded a Special Achievement Best Of Wine Tourism award in 2019.
Bordeaux ‘Port of the Moon’, so called thanks to its crescent moon shaped river Garonne, was granted UNESCO Heritage status in 2007 as ‘an inhabited historic and outstanding urban and architectural ensemble’. It was also ‘recognized for its historic role as a place of exchange of cultural values over more than 2,000 years’. La Cité du Vin continues this tradition of cultural exchange opening up the world of wine to all.
La Cité du Vin is at the heart of the reinvention of an often overlooked part of Bordeaux. To the north of the Quai de Chartrons, the historic centre of the Bordeaux wine trade, the stunning golden building was inspired by old, gnarled vines, wine swirling in a glass and the eddies of the Garonne River.
It dominates the Bacalan docks, acts as a punctuation mark between the industrial maritime heritage of the city and the elegant 18th century waterfront architecture Bordeaux is so famous for. Bordeaux has more classified buildings than any other city in France outside of Paris.
A visit to La Cité du Vin is not a Bordeaux centric experience. It re-opened in February 2024 with a 3000 m² interactive and multimedia exhibition that takes visitors around the world of wine and vine, from Antiquity to the present day, across five continents and in eight languages. Visitors will discover how our universal wine heritage has inspired people and shaped both lives and landscapes for millennia.
Visit at your own pace, spend time on which ever part of this multifaceted world inspires you, history, geography, grapes, wines, sounds, smells, opinions….. An average visit lasts between 2 and 3 hours, but you might get lost all day and many people come back for more!
Sky High
The tour ends in the Belvedere, 8 floors and 35 metres up, with a glass of wine chosen from a selection of 20 wines from around the world, served under a monumental chandelier made from thousands of wine bottles. Discover the Bordeaux skyline with old grain silos and historic buildings to stunning new architecture including Europe’s largest vertical lift bridge, showing just how the Cite du Vin is at the very heart of this vibrant part of the city.
Food and wine
Guests can wine and dine sky high too, Le 7 Restaurant, is on the 7th floor of La Cité du Vin, open for breakfast, coffee, cocktails lunch and dinner and even afternoon tea, which might be afternoon wine! Choose from over 300 wines dominated by organic and sustainable wines from over 50 countries, including 15 different wines by the glass. There’s also a relaxed ground floor bistro on the banks of the river, a wine shop with listings from around the world and a shop promoting local craftsmanship around the theme of wine.
Education via the palate
Workshops and tastings organised by the Sommelier team run throughout the year, covering topics as delicious as food and wine matching and as serious as environmental challenges.
Working closely with the Bordeaux University and ISVV (Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin), conferences, many available to join live on line, promote the culture of wine but it is also an educational centre, disseminating information far and wide about the wonderful, diverse and constantly evolving world of wine.
At the heart of history
The history of Bordeaux wine is intimately linked to the history of the port. La Cité guards the entrance to the Bassins à Flot, 13 ha of urban water that welcomed ships from around the world. These docks are in the imposing shadow of the U-boat pens, built in the 1940s under German occupation. They now house Les Bassins des Lumieres, the world’s largest numeric art centre, where works of art are projected across the walls and water of this monumental building. Just along the docks, the Musée Mer Marine, shares thousands of treasures from private collections in an interactive journey through the cultural and natural history of the oceans.
All these experiences are just a short tram or boat ride from the centre of Bordeaux. Or stroll or cycle along the board-walk running along the Garonne waterfront, past old warehouses now home to shops, restaurants and exhibition centres. Until recently, this area of Bordeaux was considered a little shady, now thanks in large part to la Cité du Vin its unique atmosphere has become hip and cosmopolitan.
The Cite du Vin celebrated its 7th birthday this June bringing together the world of wine and all the present day diversity of the Bassin des Flots. There’s not one, but a multitude of unique experiences awaiting the adventurous.
Author : Wendy Narby - Insider Tasting Crédits : © David Remazeilles / © ANAKA © dby-photographie_Cite-du-Vin_GEDEON-Programmes_Atelier-Sylvain-Roca-scaled