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Here, some of the region’s most visitor-friendly wineries
Colloquially referred to as Pichon-Baron (as opposed to the equally distinguished Pichon-Lalande across the street), this traditional-meets-modern chateau is ranked as a second-growth—just a notch below the area’s five top properties. The classically styled wines are among Bordeaux’s most consistent, and about half the price of a Mouton or Margaux. And if you can get your hands on a 1989, you’ll taste one of Bordeaux’s finest bottlings of the past quarter-century. (33-5/56-73-17-17; www.pichonlongueville.com)
This property is so visitor-friendly that the owners have opened a hotel next door that features a one-Michelin-star restaurant and a Caudalie spa with innovative wine-themed therapies. After extensive renovation to the winery, Smith-Haut-Lafite’s reds have emerged as the best in Pessac-Leognan after fabled Haut-Brion, and its aromatic whites are among the tastiest in all Bordeaux.(33-5/57-83-11-22; www.smith-haut-lafitte.com)
This chateau is the quirkiest-looking in the region because of its unique, vaguely Asian design, all spires and turrets and flying buttresses. (The winery's symbol is an elephant.) And over the past decade or so, no Bordeaux property has produced better wines year after year: wines with firmness and grip typical of the Old World but a ripeness (and high Merlot content) that makes them pleasurable to drink even when young. The St.-Estephe appellation is all the way at the top of the Medoc, but it’s well worth the drive. (33-5/56-73-15-50; www.cosestournel.com)
Perhaps no chateau’s wines have improved more in the past decade; like all the best producers of the Margaux appellation, these have a bit of Burgundian elegance softening the majesty of Cabernet Sauvignon. The gorgeous manor house is set on one of Bordeaux’s largest estates, but remains under renovation because of an ownership dispute. Also try to stop in at nearby Chateau du Tertre, a lesser property owned by the same Dutch businessman that has a stunning art collection. (33-5/57-97-09-09; www.chateau-giscours.fr)
An underachiever in the recent past, it has been revitalized under new management and is making its best wines since the 1960s. (The fabled 1966 is still prized by collectors.) The 2003 Palmer is one of a minority of Bordeaux wines from that historically hot summer that manages to show freshness and charm. Inside the campus-style facility is new equipment but antique furnishings that evoke France from another era. Ask to see wall scribbles from the Nazi occupation on the top floor of the main house. (33-5/57-88-72-72; www.chateau-palmer.com)
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