We took the 9 hour tour that visited the village of Saint-Emilion and a wine tasting in the town,…read moreChateau Bernateau on the right bank where we had lunch at picnic tables, then across the river to Magaux on the left bank to Chateau Prieure-Lichine, and Chateau Siran. We traveled in a tour van and our guide was very friendly and knowledgable. We tasted many wines and got a first hand view on wine making. We were very lucky because the wineries were picking and harvesting the grapes (it was later in September).

My friend and I did the Saint-Emilion Small Group Day Tour with Wine Tastings & Lunch. Our fabulous…read moretour guide, Ed, escorted us to two chateaus before doing a tasting in Saint-Emilion. The experience was absolutely lovely and a great learning experience. We were lucky to have stunning spring weather and enjoyed a picnic lunch with meats and cheese. We also got to visit the stunning sites of Saint-Emilion. I wouldn't hesitate to book another tour with Rustic Vines.

A pleasant surprise. Josephine Baker's home for 30 years has been brought back to its former glory…read more The grounds and gardens are immaculate, with a troop of gardeners picking up every leaf and planting new flowers near the chapel. A falconry show begins at 11:15, with another at 4. Audioguides in numerous languages are available at the gift shop and start of the tour. The gorgeous chateau has an interesting history beginning in the 15th century, with gargoyles galore. Josephine, resistance fighter, humanitarian, and world renowned singer and dancer from the 1920s to the 60s, installed some amazing bathrooms into the chateau, which has lots of stairs. Great views over the valley and village. Pieces of her music are available on the audio guide. A woman-owned business about an amazing woman. Cafe and toilets are available. Free parking, but tickets are required to enter grounds.

Chateau Milandes was built in the early 15th Century, but it's most famous inhabitant (in my…read moreopinion) was Josephine Baker. She started renting the Château in 1937, then bought it and lived their till the late 1960s. This is where she raised her flock of adopted children (she had 12!). Evicted and swindled in her later years, she spent her final years elsewhere, dying in Paris in 1975. The Château was bought 20 some years ago, and the current owner and her daughter have brought back the Château and gardens in all their glory! The items on display map out Baker's tumultuous life, from her birth in Jim Crow Missouri to her rise to fame on the French entertainment world. Truly fascinating and a must see for any fan of Josephine Baker!

Stop your search and just book the tour with Jean Pierre now! Do not miss out on an amazing and…read morememorable experience in Bordeaux by booking with someone else. Jean Pierre is meticulous in planning out his tours, he takes into account what you want to see, which Châteaux you want to visit , etc. He really loves what he does and it shows in his tours. Experience start to finish; - emailed request and received a response very quickly - Jean Pierre asked a few questions about the group, size, our wine knowledge (we are novice wine drinkers), requests on Châteaux we wanted to visit ... then he got working on the itinerary and making appointments for the Châteaux visits. - Jean Pierre confirms pickup location and itinerary (picked us up from our Airbnb!) - follow up communications confirming pickup points etc (he is very clear in all communication) .. we were a group of 4 and it ended up being just us that day! I believe his car fits up to six people. - then a day touring and enjoying wine: our day started at Château du Tailhas Pomerol, then scenic drive around Pomerol and St. Emilion, lunch/ explore St. Emilion, Château Dominique and then Château Canon La Gaffeliere. (Jean Pierre made sure to give us different types of chateaux to visit, from small family owned to larger more industrialized ones) We learned so much from Jean Pierre, from now knowing that different regions in Bordeaux produce different blends of wine to how the terroir affects the taste of the wines. I'm already looking at my calendar for 2017 to see when I can get back to Bordeaux and do another tour.. perhaps multiple day tours with Jean Pierre!

What a great way to visit the wine region! I highly recommend the experience to anyone visiting…read moreBordeaux. The staff was passionate, friendly and helpful and spoke great English. We started with the Margaux Médoc half day tour and liked the experience so much that we booked a full day tour to Saint Emillion the next day. Both tours were very different and worth it, although the charming town of Saint Emillion has particularly amazed me with its medieval architecture and history. Each tour provides you with a suggested route, in-car history lessons and amazing chateaus where you can stop by for a visit and learn about the wine and process. We had a visit and a wine tasting booked in advance at the Chateau Pressac as part of our package. The Chateau was lovely and the wine tasty; the host was very kind and knowledgeable and answered all our questions about wine production process. Visiting the area with Memosine was a memorable and fun adventure with a taste of freedom. The vehicles are adorable and draw stares everywhere you go! Memosine offers great flexibility as you can hop on and off anytime for pictures, visits, wine tasting, lunch, etc. Also, both vehicles we booked were visible on the map, which was very convenient when we lost sight of the others. This was a highlight of our trip! I highly recommend to anyone!

From the owner: Wine & City tours en véhicules média-guidés. Des visites uniques en liberté, à votre propre rythme !read more

Wine tasting among castles in the French countryside? Sign me up! This tour was the highlight of…read moreour Bordeaux trip, specially the Saint-Émilion Afternoon Tour with Quentin. I was able to book easily via their webpage the evening before. Our tour group had 8 people and started at 1:45 PM, lasting 5 hours. The pickup point was in the heart of Bordeaux at the tourist office. Our tour guide Quentin spoke great English and was super personable. He also drove the mini van and used the hour of commute time each way to get to know us and share his knowledge. The first stop was a larger scale winery, Château Soutard, which is a Saint-Émilion Grands cru classés winery (in the top 10% of wineries in Right Bank). They had deep pickets and you could tell by the infrastructure. We rode a gigantic silent glass elevator for transporting barrels underground which they affectionately called "James Bond." Our guide here led us on a thorough tour of the indoor facilities and guided us through a tasting of two reds. Quentin also did a fun smell test with us. We spent 1.5 hours here. The next stop was the charming old town of Saint-Émilion, and the reason I booked the Right Bank tour over the Left Bank one. Over the course of an hour, Quentin led us through the highlights of the city including a wine cave (the oldest wine bottles I've seen!) and an old church. It rained on and off, but Quentin was prepared with umbrellas. Our third and final stop was a relatively smaller winery called Château Côte de Baleau. They had a picturesque castle on property, and the guide here welcomed us with glasses of Bordeaux blanc from another winery. Quentin showed us the grapevines and the traditional concrete aging vats. Then the female guide led us through a vertical tasting of two Saint-Émilion Grand Crus - 2007 and 2014. Compared to the first winery, I enjoyed the more laid-back vibe here, and the wine was almost as good and at a lower price point. We also had some small bites to pair - comté cheese, sausage, dark chocolate, almonds, and bread. I liked how both wineries didn't push buying the wine at all - no mention of sales and no price lists shown during the tasting. The cost of this tour was slightly more than other half day options I found (€94), but I thought it was well worth it for the longer time and included bites. It was also nice to not worry about a rental and driving ourselves an hour out to the wineries from Bordeaux where we stayed. Highly recommend this experience!

Warning for tourists: this is not a party bus and includes minimal wine (see more at bottom)…read more First, Quentin our guide was great! Super knowledgeable and friendly. We appreciated the conversation and him answering all our questions. We appreciated the snacks he brought and the tasting game he facilitated. Definitely continue that going forward! The tour was limited to 8 people. Both vineyards we visited were great. Everything was English friendly and it was an easy, relaxing day. However, as mentioned above, this is NOT a party bus with the wine tasting being extremely limited. You will only have 5 small tasters on the entire trip accounting for less than a full glass of wine. You will not get buzzed. To be fair, I haven't done any other wine tastings in France, but I have done many of them in California. Most in California include three vineyards with 5-6 tastings at each, so you get to try 15+ wines in a day. This has resulted in wine tours in the US becoming more like party buses for birthdays, bachelorette parties, etc. This is absolutely not the same here. You will only taste a small amount of wine so you won't need a designated driver after all. Again, we had a fun time but were surprised at how little wine we actually got to drink. So for us, 90€ turned out to be pretty expensive for a few sips of wine. We are glad we did it once but would not do it again like you would a wine bus in the US.

One of the things I knew I wanted to do on my recent trip to France was spend a day in wine…read morecountry. Based on solid reviews for Authentica we booked the full day tour (€130/pp). I would say this tour is best for those with some wine knowledge as they delve deep into the history and geography of the region. The focus is on education rather than guzzling a lot of wine. We visited a private cellar that represented many producers and had an introduction to what the region makes. After that, you'll see beautiful countryside, as well as the most expensive vineyard in the world (€15K/bottle!!). Then a stop in Beaune for lunch (on your own) and on to a woman owned winery to delve deep into the difference terroir makes in wine. Our guide Paul was incredibly knowledgeable about the region and wine in general. I would probably have wished for another winery stop versus lots of driving but ultimately I learned a ton and really enjoyed it!

We had a wonderful guide and learned so much. Very knowledgeable and engaging…read more I was thankful to have both a wine shop (with multiple label tastings) and one particular winery with a selection of their wines and vintages. There is some cheese provided at the shop to pair with your tastings. Many of us bought a couple bottles. Some of these wines only sold locally not exported. They will ship your purchases for you. I recommend bringing water, take photos of the wines tasted and documents you're given as notes. I would recommend this highly.

There's the Maison de Tourisme, sort of down the street, where you mostly book tours and whatnot…read more Then there's this, the Centre de Tourisme, which is much bigger and hidden away (even though it's in pain view and well marked). I came in looking for bus schedules (check) but no gain schedules or maps that I could find (boo). Lots of mini booklets suggesting where to visit. They're great, if you know the area names (which I don't). Most things are closed this time of year anyway, it seems (February). There's a bathroom to use, they'll let you store your stuff, and will book a room for you if need be. They also pointed me to the Mediathèque sort of behind them for power and free Wi-Fi. Score! Great service, just not a lot going on when I visited.

From the owner: la plus petite des grandes villes Située dans un environnement géographique enviable, la ville est…read morefacile d'accès, à mi-chemin sur l'axe Paris -Bordeaux. Caractérisée par la jeunesse de sa population (environ un habitant sur trois a moins de trente ans) et par la densité du nombre d'étudiants (près d'un poitevin sur quatre), Poitiers est dotée de tous les équipements et services inhérents à sa fonction de métropole régionale : importantes infrastructures de transport, Université pluridisciplinaire et autres établissements d'enseignement supérieur, grandes administrations, services aux entreprises, pôle de recherche scientifique, hôpitaux, équipements culturels et sportifs de qualité, animations, festivals... L'un des atouts majeurs de Poitiers c'est bien d'offrir tous les avantages d'une grande cité sans en subir les inconvénients : ville verte, ses dimensions sont humaines et sa qualité de vi(ll)e préservée.

It is about 4.5 for the visit. It is amazing the entire rock face was cut out in the middle for…read moredwelling. This nature cave is one kilometer long and 8 meters high. The limestone face provide prehistoric living area and protection. Currently the visit include walk along the entire length. It has some civil engineering equipment displayed how the 15 century people moving rock. This includes the hand crane, leveling, and horizontal pulley. This mechanism demonstrates how the rock was move. The cave also has the fortress for defense. You also can see the jail was putting there. Some area is used for gardening. This high location has a good overlooking the river below.

The guide is in Irish, joked the receptionist as he handed us a returnable trail leaflet as we…read moreentered La Roque St Christophe, a must visit site if you are in this area. This sheer rock face, some five terraces high, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It was such a secure place, above the Vezere river, that man made it a troglodytic fort in the 10th century and that these early efforts were added to throughout the middle ages when the fort, really by then a high rise town, often held as many as 1000 people. A little reconstruction has taken place and one can easily imagine how the medieval town worked, how it continued to supply itself full size working models of big lifting machines have been constructed here - and how it defended itself against attackers. A marvellous and worthwhile experience.

Fredric our guide is exceptional. He grew up in the region and knows all the people. Due to his…read morepersonal connections our tour was amazing. He is knowledgeable, responsible and friendly with a great sense of humor.

We had the absolute best time touring Bordeaux and St. Emilion with Frederic. He picked us up, took…read morecare of every detail, shared his wealth of knowledge and was such a fun and charming guide. The location for our lunch was simply magical and added to an already perfect day! We really couldn't have been happier and are looking forward to coming back to tour more wineries with Frederic and Rendez-vous Chateau Tours! Could not recommend Rendez-vous Chateau tours more!