3 Best Sights in Bordeaux and the Wine Country, France

Although several estates in and around Blaye offer tours and tastings (all listed on the Tourist Office website), the Château Marquis de Vauban is one of the best with comprehensive explanations of the winemaking process, wine tastings, tours of the vineyards and citadel, and fine dining.

The remnants of three Gallo-Roman villas, built successively over five centuries on the same site, offer a glimpse into the life of a prosperous landowner and include a 700-foot-wide dining room, galleries, and terraced gardens. The earliest vestiges, richly decorated with mosaics of marble imported from North Africa, date from AD 14–20. An on-site museum provides historical information and displays relics recovered from the site.

Unique in France, the perfectly preserved 17th-century Bolt of the Estuary was built by Vauban—Louis XIV's trusted marshal and France's most famous military engineer—between 1686 and 1689 to protect Bordeaux from sea invaders. Of Vauban's 160 fortresses still standing in France, the Bolt is one of only 12 listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The huge site covers more than 55 acres and includes the Citadel of Blaye on the right bank, Fort Pâté on a river island, and Fort Médoc on the opposite bank and encloses a 12th-century castle and gate and a 15th-century tower. The citadel also houses a museum and the Gironde Estuary Interpretation Center. One-hour guided tours in English are offered every day between June and September at 3 pm and can be booked at the Tourist Information Center.