Visiting Bordeaux First Growths: Who Opens and How to Book

Plan weekday appointments when visiting Bordeaux first growths: the châteaux that receive visitors open Monday to Friday, and Lafite Rothschild is closed to visitors until January 2028. Four châteaux were named Premiers Grands Crus Classés for red wine in 1855: Haut-Brion, Margaux, Lafite and Latour. Mouton Rothschild joined them in 1973.

In the Médoc, Château Margaux stands in Margaux, and Mouton Rothschild and Latour in Pauillac. Haut-Brion is in Pessac, a few kilometers from Bordeaux, in the Pessac-Léognan appellation.

This page covers what each château offers the public today, how to request a visit, when the doors are closed and what the visits cost.

The 1855 classification

At the Paris World Fair of 1855, the Association of Bordeaux Wine Merchants drew up an official classification of the best wines of Bordeaux, at the request of the Gironde Chamber of Commerce. It placed around sixty Médoc growths, together with one growth from Graves, into five levels of quality. The classification is still in force today.

Haut-Brion was named one of the four Premiers Grands Crus Classés alongside Margaux, Lafite and Latour. On May 25, 1787, Joseph de Fumel received Thomas Jefferson at Haut-Brion. Jefferson named the same four as the first-quality vineyards for red wine.

Mouton Rothschild achieved First Growth status in 1973, after a fight of twenty years by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, following a decree signed by Jacques Chirac, then Minister of Agriculture.

Getting there

The fastest route from Paris is the direct high-speed train from Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux Saint-Jean, which takes 2 hours 4 minutes. The line opened in 2017 and carries 33 round trips a day. Details are on the Paris to Bordeaux by train page.

From Saint-Jean, the TER line to Le Verdon-sur-Mer runs up the Médoc and stops at Margaux and Pauillac. The fastest train reaches Margaux in about 42 minutes and Pauillac in 1 hour 4 minutes, with 12 trains a day to Pauillac.

By car, leave the Bordeaux ring road (A630) at exit 7 or 8 and take the D2 toward Blanquefort, Macau and Margaux. Margaux is about 45 minutes from Bordeaux, and Pauillac is 50 minutes by the D2, the Route des Châteaux, or the D1215. The Bordeaux to the Médoc page compares the options.

For Haut-Brion in Pessac, the Bordeaux tourist office gives line 4, to the Sembat or Pape Clément stop. Tram line C links Saint-Jean station with the city center.

When to go

Château Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Latour receive visitors Monday to Friday and close on weekends and public holidays.

Château Margaux closes in August and during the harvest. Mouton Rothschild suspends tours during the harvest. Château Latour opens from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Château Lafite Rothschild is closed to visitors until January 2028 for renovations. Its sister estate, Château Duhart-Milon, opens Monday to Friday all year.

At Château La Mission Haut-Brion, the visit request form offers start times of 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Visiting the estates

Visits are by appointment at Mouton Rothschild, Château Margaux and Latour.

Château Mouton Rothschild

Mouton Rothschild, in Pauillac, runs tours by appointment only, subject to availability. Book at least two months in advance through the visit request form, giving the language, the date and the number of visitors. The booking is final only after the château team has been in contact.

Tours are private, limited to eight people per group, and last about two to two and a half hours, followed by a tasting. They run in French or English, or in another language with an interpreter. The phone number is +33 5 56 73 21 29.

The Grand Chai, a barrel hall 100 meters long designed by Charles Siclis, was built in 1926. Beside it, in a former barrel hall, is the Museum of Wine in Art, inaugurated in 1962.

Since 2013, the original artworks painted for the Mouton Rothschild labels since 1945 have hung in the Paintings for the Labels room next to the vat room, which is open to the public. A bottle library there holds every vintage since 1924.

Château Margaux

Château Margaux receives visitors in its cellars by appointment only. Tasting is only for professionals. Send a request through the contact form with the subject "Visit the estate," or call +33 5 57 88 83 83. The estate's website also offers a virtual tour.

The château was built between 1805 and 1815 by the Bordeaux architect Louis Combes in a Neo-Palladian style, with a façade of four Ionic columns and a triangular pediment. The estate's buildings have been listed as a historic monument since 1946.

The estate covers 265 hectares in the Margaux appellation, with around 87 hectares of red vines and 12 hectares of white vines in production. It lies some 30 kilometers from Bordeaux.

Château Latour

Château Latour, at Saint-Lambert in Pauillac, offers visits to the estate primarily for professionals, and only by appointment. The estate's email is contact@chateau-latour.com and its phone number +33 5 56 73 19 80.

Latour's historic vineyard, l'Enclos, lies 300 meters from the Gironde estuary on gravelly hilltops 12 to 16 meters above it. The oldest document mentioning Latour, a permit to build a fortified tower, dates from 1331.

Château Lafite Rothschild

Lafite Rothschild is closed to visitors until January 2028. The estate sends visitors to its sister Grand Cru Classé, Château Duhart-Milon, in the village of Pauillac close to the estuary and the docks.

At Duhart-Milon, the 30-minute Guided Tasting needs no reservation, subject to availability. Every other visit is by reservation, through the estate's form or visites@duhartmilon.com.

Château Haut-Brion

The Domaine Clarence Dillon visit program lists private tours of Château La Mission Haut-Brion and of Quintus near Saint-Émilion, and no tour of Château Haut-Brion itself. Its masterclasses include Haut-Brion vintages.

The La Mission Haut-Brion tour lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is booked through the visit request form. The form accepts private individuals as well as professionals, from 1 to 15 visitors, in French or English.

The Pavillon Catelan, opened in 2021 in a renovated early 19th-century building at the entrance of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, welcomes visitors. Its Salle des Vignes terrace opens onto the Haut-Brion vineyards, and its La Cave du Château Pessac tasting space is open by reservation.

Around the first growths

The Maison du Tourisme et du Vin in Pauillac books visits at its partner châteaux and provides a map of the Grand Cru châteaux. La Randonnée des Châteaux starts there, with loops of 8 and 14 km on foot or by bike. The 14 km loop takes about 4 hours and passes Pontet-Canet, Mouton Rothschild and Pédesclaux, with a viewpoint over Lafite Rothschild.

From Pauillac you can also cycle along the estuary to Saint-Estèphe and pass Cos d'Estournel, Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild on the way back.

Other Pauillac estates take visitors. Château Pichon Baron opens every day of the year by appointment, with a tasting of three wines. Château Lynch-Bages runs a cellar visit Monday to Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

What it costs

Visits at and around the first growths start at €20 ($22) and reach €120 ($130) for a standard private tour. Mouton Rothschild states no price for its tour.

At Duhart-Milon, the Guided Tasting costs €20 ($22) and the 1-hour Discovery Tour €30 ($32). The Experience Tour costs €40 ($43) for 1 hour 30 minutes, and the Gourmet Visit €60 ($65) for 2 hours 30 minutes, booked at least 48 hours ahead. The Cooper's Workshop costs €80 ($86) and starts at 10 a.m., and the Introduction to Wine Tasting €100 ($108).

The La Mission Haut-Brion private tour costs €120 ($130) per person, and the Quintus tour €60 ($65) for 1 hour. The Horizontal Masterclass, which pairs Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion from the 2015 vintage, costs €450 ($486) per person for 1 hour 30 minutes, with a minimum of 4 guests. The La Mission vertical masterclass costs €700 ($756) per person.

The Lynch-Bages cellar visit costs €25 ($27) for 1 hour 30 minutes. The Bordeaux tourist office's Châteaux & Terroirs half-day coach tour to the Médoc costs €55 ($59), with two château visits. It leaves 12 Cours du 30 Juillet at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays and returns at about 6:30 p.m.

Before you go

• Book Mouton Rothschild at least two months ahead. The booking is final only once the château team has been in contact.
• Plan every first-growth visit for a weekday. Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Latour close on weekends and public holidays, Margaux and Mouton stop visits during the harvest, and Margaux also closes in August.
• Lafite Rothschild is closed to visitors until January 2028.

For lead times and fees at other estates, see Booking Bordeaux château visits. Spit if you are driving.