Wine Accomodation in Sauternes and Graves region
Hotels, wine resorts and hotels next to vineyards and wineries in Sauternes, Barsac and Graves
Wine hotels in Graves
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Le Sources de Caudalie Les Sources De Caudalie is located in the Château Smith Haut Lafitte vineyards, 20 kilometres south of Bordeaux. It features a luxury spa centre with wine and grape-based treatments. 20 km from Bordeaux.
Wine hotels in Sauternes and Barsac
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Relais du Chateau D´Arche This hotel is built on a XVII century charterhouse.Surronded by vineyards, it overlooks the village of Sauternes. A great place from where to visit the area´s famous wine estates. 30 km from Bordeaux.
Get inspired! Enjoy your wine Holiday in Sauternes
Hotels in wineries in Burgundy
This large area of vineyard in Graves and Sauternes produces some of the best wines in Bordeaux (and as an extension we could also say that in the world). It is usually more difficult to place it in the map that Medoc, which is just bordering the Estuary, of than Saint Emilion, but this is not to say there is a whole world waiting to be discovered here…
Tasting & enjoying... Graves and Pessac-Leognan
In Graves, names such as Haut-Brion or Pape Clement make us understand the importance of this wine producing region. Some of the properties and vineyards in the area of Graves have suffered from the growth of Bordeaux, and since the price for residential land is normally high, there is quiet a temptation for wine growers… Graves is for sure not a land where clay dominates! The name itself describes the composition of the soil, and gravel ensures, specially there where the layers are deep, drained soils.
The vineyards on the North (or those ones closest to Bordeaux) are part of an appellation called Pessac-Leognan, and the main producers are located here, with the name Graves being kept for the region south. This has been quiet a recent change bearing in mind the history of wine regulations in France, since the naissance of the Pessac appellation dates back to only 1987. Pessac-Leognan is home to Bordeaux´s best white wines, on top of being home to some great red wine producers as already mentioned.
Tasting & enjoying... Sauternes and Barsac
Sauternes and Barsac are surrounded by the region of Graves. The vineyards in this area are among the oldest in Bordeaux, and there is lots of history to explore here. There is something very special about Sauternes and Barsac: these wines are located in Bordeaux, an area which is predominantly for dry wine… but all of a sudden the vineyards located here see themselves surrounded by mist.
The mist, combined with warm autumns is crucial to understand the growth of the fungus that produces the miracle of Sauternes and Barsac wines. The fungus is called botrytis cinerea and its action is to concentrate the liquid and sugar in the grapes. Without the warm temperatures the vineyards would be damp and grey rot would appear, but the mist here comes along warm temperatures, which ends up producing noble rot. With this description it if easy to understand here the importance of terroir… there where noble rot is more effective we are probably close to great wines. But there is of course much more than this. To start, grapes are picked by hand one by one: the selection of botrytis infected grapes is a tedious, yet crucial process. The mist, low-yields, the development of the noble rot and the history that left castles, the name of Yquem, one of the world´s most expensive wines, chateaux and churches provides a very romantic picture of the region… Worth a visit?
We do encourage you to book one of the wine hotels recommended in this large area that goes from Graves down to Sauternes. With your hotel in this area, you will not only enjoy and taste what we have just described, but also have the opportunity to enjoy short drives to the other main areas in Brodeaux. Sauternes and its environments provides with an opportunity not only to get to now fantastic wines, but also to practice canoeing or even run the Sauternes Marathon in June!!
