Sunday, September 23 – Saturday, September 29, 2018

Home Back to Adventure Itinerary What’s Included

For your wonderful week in Bordeaux you will be residing in a magnificent Chateau in the region of Fronsac, east of the city of Bordeaux. Here we will enjoy daily breakfasts, an amazing pool with a stunning view and you will be treated like royalty. Two centuries ago, the wine from Fronsac dominated the wine from Libournes (Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, Castillon). They had a strong reputation and were sold at higher prices than the wines from Saint-Emilion & Pomerol. Nowadays, the Saint-Emilion, Pomerol and Fronsac regions are the biggest gallo roman berceaux of vines from the Bordeaux region. The first vines planted in Fronsac dated back 2000 years. After having built a watchtower above La Motte de La Rivière in 769, Charlemagne built a mighty fortress “Campus Francorum” in 770 from which comes the name Fronsac. In 1663, the duke of Richelieu acquired the lands from the duchy of Fronsac.

At the heart of a large renowned vineyard, Château La Rivière raises its Renaissance architecture. Château La Rivière, which dates back to the Carolingian period, was originally located on a castle mound, west of the current location it has occupied since the fourteenth century. It was then the property of the family L’Isle, who received it in thanks for their loyalty to the King of England during the Hundred Years War. However, dissatisfied with the behavior of the son of Gaston de l’Isle, the English King Edward III eventually withdrew the Château and gave it to Airin Alberd. The L’Isle family only recovered the castle at the end of the war and rebuilt the building at the end of the sixteenth century. But the Château La Rivière did not end its adventures as it was sold as national property during the French Revolution. It then underwent deep restorations thanks to the famous Viollet-le-Duc in the nineteenth century. Today the castle, consisting of a large complex of buildings grouped around three courtyards, is a neo-Renaissance building.

The coat of arms that we can see on the Château La Rivière are those of the family of L’Isle, owner of the castle until the Revolution. The family coat of arms of the L’Isle family date back to the time of the first crusades. They emphasize the family relationship with the King of England since one can recognize a rampant lion with its sparse mane, akin to the leopards of the Plantagenet dynasty.

The cellars of the Château La Rivière are old quarries from which white stone has long been extracted for the construction of the region. Visitors to the Château La Rivière can admire the seven acres of cellars where the wine produced on the property is aging in barrels and then bottled.

Chambres in the Chateau