The Départementale 2 Road : Leaving Bordeaux, it winds along the Gironde estuary , ending up in Saint-Vivien-de-Médoc. In particular, it passes through an impressive number of wine châteaux, some of them among the most renowned in the world.

Départementale 2 Road : Tomorrow’s route will be a time trial finishing in Pauillac, and so will deprive the pack of the entire northern itinerary. Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann could have been a great guide for the riders. For three years, from May 1985 to May 1988, he was held hostage in the Lebanon. During that time, he handled his fear and boredom by memorizing the list of the great classified 1855 vintages and by attempting to place them on an imaginary map: La Lagune, Cantemerle, Giscours…

Départementale 2 Road : Jean-Michel Cazes knows this road by heart. He is a great name in wine production and moreover, the owner of Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac. He has been working for many years to promote the Médoc region. “This route is exceptional” he says. “To the best of my knowledge, it’s a concentration of great vineyards that’s unique in the world. I love taking visitors there. Every time, they are astonished by how little distance separates each of these prestigious names, all of which they already know by reputation.” Palmer, Margaux, Latour…

The vineyard garden.

Their prestige is further highlighted by an astonishing landscape. “We are in a totally artificial and domesticated area, whose special feature is that it has no unified style,” Jean-Michel Cazes continues. “Most of the châteaux were built in the XIXth century by people wanting to show off their wealth using architecture. The residences which they conceived were not intended for living in throughout the entire year. The owners only spent a few weeks there, in Summer. Sometimes they stayed on until the harvest. All these places, few of them suitable for modern family life, have nothing in common. Cos d’Estournel sounds Asian. Cantenac Brown looks like an English manor house. Giscours was remodelled by M. Cruse for one of his mistresses, an opera singer, in the Napoleon III style. Pichon-Longeville was inspired by the Loire châteaux. All of these together create a fantastical universe reminiscent of engravings by Gustave Doré.” Even the names themselves contribute to this extraordinary aura : Prieuré-Lichine, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Poyferré…

This universe, in which the “restoration” architect Viollet-Leduc would have basked, adds charm to this itinerary in the heart of a “wine garden”, where a rose bush blossoms at the end of each row of vines.

Feelings and pleasure

The heterogeneity of the architecture is compensated by the homogeneity of the wine. “Here, there is no real difference” considers Jean-Michel Cazes. “Everyone makes what they want, but on the whole everyone is working in the same way. Telling the difference between a Saint-Julien and a Pauillac is very difficult. Quite frankly, whenever I taste, I am mistaken more often than I am just right.”

If followers of the Tour are tempted to a blind tasting, Jean-Michel Cazes would offer them this advice as a seasoned wine producer. “A quick glance at the bottle is better than twenty years’ experience. Because you must understand that wine is not just a matter of taste. It’s also about feelings and pleasure.. Rauzan-Ségla, Beychevelle, Saint-Pierre…