La Cité du Vin is a 10-floor, €81m project located on the banks of the River Garonne in Bordeaux and has been dubbed the “Guggenheim of wine”.

The building, designed by architects Anouk Legendre and Nicolas Desmazières, of French architecture firm XTU, in collaboration with British interior design agency Casson Mann, is clad in a robe of shimmering gold – a patchwork of printed glass panels and perforated, iridescent lacquered aluminium panels. La Cité du Vin hosts contemporary exhibitions, performances, conferences and wine-tasting workshops that take wine lovers to the heart of the cultures and civilisations of 5,500 years of wine. 

Three tasting laboratories offer workshops for adults, with educational spaces running sessions specially designed for younger visitors. The Introductory Lounge covers the fundamental principles of wine tasting, The Connoisseurs’ Lounge plans more advanced workshops on topics such as blending, food & wine pairings and tasting prestigious wines, and the third laboratory is an interactive, multisensory space immersing visitors in a 360-degree barrage of light, sound and aromas for a multidimensional tasting experience.

The complex also features a 250-seat auditorium, three restaurants, a wine bar, boutique and enoteca (wine shop). The panoramic seventh-floor Restaurant, “Le 7”, showcases local and regional products selected by restaurant director Nicolas Lascombes, matched with wines from 50 different countries, with 500 bottles on the list.

The focus of the Latitude20 wine bar is on wine pairings, with a choice of 800 bottles from 80 countries (including Bali, India, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Brazil and Tahiti) – carefully selected by Bordeaux wine merchant Régis Deltil and his tasting team, together with Andreas Larsson (World’s Best Sommelier 2007) and world-famous oenologist Michel Rolland, owner of several Bordeaux properties including Château Rolland-Maillet, Saint-Émilion.

Bookings can also be made to discover Bordeaux chateaux and vineyards using the riverboat services departing from the new state-of-the-art jetty in front of La Cité du Vin, helicopter or bus.

Ideal For

Wine experience

Highlights

The belvedere room is 35 metres up, on the eighth floor of La Cité du Vin and offers a 360 degree view of Bordeux.