My Summer In Bordeaux By Alexander Sichel

My Summer In Bordeaux 

The reputation of Bordeaux was built hundreds of year ago on its ability to produce high-quality wines. And it is truly fascinating to see how closely the city follows the life of its surrounding vines. In winter, as the vines shut down and go to sleep, so does the city. However, as soon as spring begins, when you can feel the life pumping in the vineyard, the city awakens, glowing, until the end of harvest. To give you an idea – less than one million people live in Bordeaux and its suburbs, but over five million people visit our city every year, mostly during the height of summer. We embrace the culture that tourism brings and I adore the vibrant atmosphere. Restaurant patios fill up, bottles of red, white, rosé are poured on every table, people play music in the streets. It’s warm, everyone is happy, and it doesn”t even feel too crowded. 

France: St. Emilion and Bordeaux Wine Country

Visiting wineries is also great during summer – Saint-Émilion, Margaux, Sauternes – all of these little villages are great and it”s definitely worth spending half a day visiting each. And you don’t have to go for the most prestigious and renowned wineries. If you take your car and drive in the Entre-Deux-Mers you can find some awesome and very welcoming family wineries.

Like everywhere else when it comes to winemaking, our hands are tied during summer. We hope that the weather will be good for our grapes to ripen, while we clean all the equipment and prepare for harvest. 

After work, during the week, I spend most of my evenings in the city walking along the Quais. I take a break from wine, have a beer in one of our pubs, and sometimes go to one of the rooftops for cocktails. You can easily walk around the city center, however, public transportation is also great and simple. Make sure you buy a ticket though as I”ve lost a fair amount of money paying fines.

On weekends I enjoy going to the beach – only 45 mins away! Sometimes I go up north to the Médoc, Lacanau or Carcans. Some days I drive South to the Bassin d”Arcachon, Dune du Pyla, Cap Ferret, etc. But after a nice day on the beach my perfect evening is a quaint barbecue with friends, family and many bottles of wine.

Alexander Sichel