Bordeaux

Bordeaux is an elegant, UNESCO world-heritage city that has been recently redeveloped to the delight of all who visit. The heart of the city is the Garonne River, the same waterway Dutch and English merchants sailed centuries ago with barrels of wine. Today, where once grungy warehouses lined the river, a park-like concourse now frames and showcases the city.

Each year, wine lovers from all over the world come to Bordeaux for one simple reason: to visit the 300,000 acres of vineyards that surround the city from every direction. And no matter which direction you go, there's a famous appellation—from the classic reds of the Médoc to the underappreciated whites of Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers; from the unparalleled dessert wines of Sauternes, to the rising reds of the Right Bank's Pomerol and Saint-Émilion.