Renowned in the Bordeaux region for its “cheese cave” containing around 100 different varieties of this delectable product, the restaurant offers guests a tour of France with a guided tasting entitled “An exploration of wines and cheeses” available from 10:00 am to midnight.

Spend 1 hour and 15 minutes with Françoise and Xavier, the owners, as they serve three platters of three cheeses, which change according to the season, the clients’ nationality and the hosts’ mood. Each accompanied, of course, by a carefully selected wine from the Bordeaux region.

Three “main” pairings are typically chosen to provide a balance of flavours, texture and smell, but the hosts break from the traditional pairing of cheese and red wine. White wine works just as well, as long as it respects the balance between affinity and contrast.

The tasting is a fun experience, accompanied by anecdotes of winemakers and producers (the hosts know almost all of them) as well as weird and wonderful tales about the cheeses themselves, each of which form part of our heritage!

A typical event is as follows:

TOUR ONE

Three fresh and young cheeses with little affinage (ageing), from three French regions:

Langres (cow's milk, Plateau de Langres, Haut Doubs), Cantal Jeune (Auvergne, less than 30 days of affinage) and Sainte Maure de Touraine.

Paired with white wine: Château Sainte-Marie, Vieilles Vignes, Entre deux Mers, made from Sauvignon and a little Sémillon to add a touch of fruit. A romantic, light and fresh pairing.

TOUR TWO

Three cheeses with lots of character, aged, sophisticated and full of flavour: Brie de Meaux, Tome de Brebis with Piment d’Espelette, Brillat Savarin with pepper.

And the wine? A 2011 Château Bellevue, from Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. The young producer disassembles her tractor’s engine herself and fell into the small barrel! Her Merlot wines are velvety, round and supple in the mouth, the perfect match for these mature and creamy cheeses.

A flavoursome pairing that is intense but elegant.

TOUR THREE

To finish, three well-aged and intense cheeses: Trappe d’Echourgnac, a cheese made with walnut liqueur from the Dordogne, a 24-month old Comté and a Bleu des Causses. These are served with a Vin Doux or medium-sweet wine, preferably a Château de Commarque 2015 Sauternes. The wine selected must have enough body to reveal the intensity of the cheese, as well as the outpouring of its flavours and aromas. Opposites attract and come together: the salty cheeses with their dried texture make the perfect match for the sweet and medium-sweet wines!

No car? No need to panic! Base yourself in Bordeaux and explore the wine region in a series of half- or full-day trips.

Just 2O minutes by tram from the city centre (line A), then a few minutes on foot, discover Château Luchey-Halde, which belongs to the École Bordeaux Sciences Agro, or Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, a modern gem with a wine cellar designed by Starck.

A little further away, in the Pessac- Léognan region, Château Bardins is a family-run wine estate that can be easily reached by bus (line 15 departing from Place Gambetta). Close by you’ll find Château Bouscaut (line 15) and Château Olivier (line 5), two exceptional Graves classed crus that members of the public can visit after a pleasant stroll through the vines.

All of the beautiful Entre-deux-Mers vineyards can be reached by bus, but one of the easiest to get to is Château de Camarsac, a fortified château that can be visited by taking bus line 402 from Place Stalingrad.

As for the Médoc, climb aboard bus 29 departing from Place des Quinconces to reach Château Saint-Ahon, one of the finest urban vineyards, located in Blanquefort!

From Saint-Jean railway station, take a train heading to Verdon and alight at Margaux to spend a day discovering all of the wineries dotted in and around the train station:  Château Marquis d’Alesme, Château Ferrière, Château Lascombes, Château Marquis de Terme and Château Pontac-Lynch, to name but a few.

Also accessible by train are the wine estates of Pauillac and Moulis, notably Château Maucaillou and the unmissable Château Chasse Spleen, easily reached by line 33 (Verdon).

After a 35-minute train journey from Bordeaux’s Saint-Jean railway station, visitors can explore Saint-Émilion and its impressive Union de Producteurs, next door to the village’s train station. Heading uphill to the medieval village (20 min walk) you’ll pass by Château La Gaffelière, one of the appellation’s finest wine producers. Château Villemaurine and its spectacular underground cellars are also worth a look and can be found just outside the village.

And for a day exploring the world of sweet wines why not head to Château de Cérons, 1km from Cérons railway station via the Bordeaux-Agen line.

For the ultimate in peace of mind pick up a Bordeaux City Pass and take advantage of its unlimited access to Bordeaux’s public transport system.

The Pass offers plenty of benefits, starting with unlimited access to the city’s public transport system. Visitors can travel as much as they like aboard the city's trams, buses and river shuttles!

As for the city’s heritage, the pass includes entry to the Bassins de Lumières and 11 of the city’s museums and monuments, as well as a guided tour of Bordeaux, either on foot, by mini electric train or aboard a double-decker bus.

Wine lovers will love the free entrance to La Cité du Vin (before midday) and the Musée du Vin et du Négoce, plus discounts on trips to the wine region, visits to wineries just outside the city or a visit to the underground monuments in Saint-Émilion and the Citadelle de Blaye.

The south-west is of course home to world-renowned armagnac! Produced in the Gers region, between the Adour and Garonne rivers, this is France’s oldest eau-de-vie. It is made by distilling white wines produced from Gascony’s traditional grape varieties. In Mauléon d'Armagnac, the Castarède family runs the oldest trading house. Surrounded by the 16 hectares of Domaine de Maniban's vines, it offers visitors a chance to uncover the still’s secrets and the eau-de-vie production process.

This timeless spirit can also be found in two of the region’s liqueurs, Floc de Gascogne – a subtle blend of young armagnac and grape must – and the delicate orange flavours of Pousse-Rapière.

The rich terroir of the neighbouring departments has given rise to some surprising drinks. Hypocras, a medieval beverage made from wine, honey and spices, is still produced in Ariège, while Rogomme, a liqueur wine made from an old Quercy recipe, has been revived by Château de Chambert.

Over in the south-east, in Languedoc-Roussillon, the town of Thuir is the birthplace of Byrrh, an elixir created by the Violet brothers in 1866. With 100 years of history in the commune, Caves Byrrh retraces the history of this aperitif and is home to the world's largest wooden vat, capable of storing over one million litres!

In Marseillan, vermouth and its cocktail offshoots take centre stage at Maison Noilly Prat. Visitors to this 200-year-old establishment can discover its historic cellars and traditional methods of open-air ageing.

In the Faugères AOP, the eau-de-vie Fine Faugères stands out due to its double distillation and delicate aromas. And finally, in the Minervois region, the Marc de muscat "Grain d'ambre”, made from grape marc that is first fermented and then distilled, is sure to surprise the taste buds.

From west to east, Occitanie's vines offer plenty of delights for the disciples of Bacchus!