Bordeaux’s best food & drink

This small museum is a must for those interested in the long history of wine-making in France. Guided visits take you to the wine cellars to see exhibits of wine-making equipment dating from the present back 2,000 years. The tours explain the different grape varieties, how they make Bordeaux’s famous ‘Grand Vins’, and end with a wine tasting.

The Chartrons – Bordeaux’s picturesque 18th-century wine merchants’ quarter – hugs the River Garonne, where sailing ships once docked to load their barrels and bottles. Today, the Quai des Chartrons is a riverside promenade that hosts the Marche des Quais, a lively, extremely popular market, every Sunday morning.

Some 70 stalls sell high-quality, fresh produce to take home for Sunday lunch – or simply tuck into the city’s famous seafood (oysters, mussels, grilled prawns) at outdoor tables. This being Bordeaux, naturally, there is plenty of fine wine on sale to accompany your feast.

Although it only opened in 2017, this vast new food hall by Wine City has become one of the most popular foodie hangouts in the city, with a mix of stalls run by farmers, chefs and producers.

This pastry shop makes cracking versions of Bordeaux’s famous cinnamon and orange canele pastries; they also do rum-soaked caneles in jars and savoury versions with chorizo, now available in several locations in the city.

Long-time favourite in a cosy dining room near the quais, this is the best place for Aquitaine caviar and foie gras, and traditional Bordeaux soul food like lamprey and goose confit.

Exceptional wine bar in an 18th-century prow-shaped townhouse run by the Bordeaux Wine Council, with 30 wines by the glass served by knowledgeable young wine students, along with cheeses, cold meats and chocolates.

Since 1825, the ornate rococo dining room and glassed-in garden have welcomed the beau monde of Bordeaux and the world, with a formidable wine list to choose from, famous for classic cuisine and over 200 wines by the glass.

Enjoying a grand setting in the Intercontinental Hotel and named after the world’s only silver duck press, this is now part of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire and one of the city’s top restaurants.

The ‘Belly of Bordeaux’ is the city’s biggest and busiest covered market, offering delicacies from France and around the world. Join the locals for a mid-morning snack – a half dozen oysters on the half shell – at Jean-Mi’s stand.

Bordeaux’s world-famous Grands Crus are expensive, so you want to be sure you’re buying a wine you really like. At this high-tech wine gallery, you can sample a sip from 48 of the finest bottles – each of which has been allowed to breathe to perfection.

Designed by Anouk Legendre and Nicolas Desmazieres, Bordeaux’s spectacular Cite du Vin opened in 2016 – its curvaceous, spiralling 55m glass tower evoking wine swirling in a glass. Far more than simply a wine museum, it offers a total, immersive wine experience, packed with 19 permanent exhibits that tickle all five senses.

This fascinating, in-depth, high-tech history of winemaking around the world culminates in the building’s spectacular rooftop belvedere, where guests can join in with a wine tasting. The frequent, changing exhibits make the Cite du Vin just as popular with the Bordelais locals as with visitors to the city.

The architecturally-striking building, designed by architects XTU, ‘does not resemble any recognizable shape because it is an evocation of the soul of wine between the river and the city.’