Best of Wine Tourism Awards 2015 - Bordeaux - A magical Night!

Place de la Bourse - Chamber of Commerce of  Bordeaux

 Great Wine Capitals - Best of Tourism Awards 2015

This week has been a busy one, well to be honest this whole month has been busy. But I love it and I love this time of year!

One of the fun things that I got to do this week, thanks to this blog, was to attend the Best of Wine Tourism 2015 Awards for the Bordeaux region.  This event was magical fun and it was also one of those serendipitous moments where my two worlds (blogger of American Mom in Bordeaux)  and regional tour guide collided!  Something, I didn't really expect to happen!

I'll back up to that wonderful-Tuesday.  I worked that day and was in charge of a day tour of Libourne Market, a visit & lunch at Chateau Siraurac and a tour of Saint Emilion in the afternoon.  Chateau Siraurac in Neac was right in the middle of harvesting and our clients were able to see first hand how grapes are picked and the harvest process.  (Look for a separate post on the Wine harvest later this week), We then enjoyed a beautiful tour of the chateau and gardens, finishing with lunch in the Orangerie room.  Paul Goldschmidt, the owner of the chateau, and his team are very dedicated and so passionate about their work and it shows! They take so much pride in what they have created there.  It's such a lovely place to visit!

The MC for the night

At the end of my day, I headed back into Bordeaux to attend the Best of Wine Tourism 2015 Awards ceremony.  This Awards ceremony honors regional wineries/vineyards (Chateaux in French) for their dedicated work in 6 Tourism categories.  These awards are part of the Great Wine Capitals - a network of ten major global cities which all have internationally- renowned wine regions.  This is the 12th Annual Best of Wine Tourism Awards where the 10 member cities present nominees in each region for most original, innovative wine and wine sites for visitors.  These are Bordeaux's nominees and winners (**-bolded).  The Winners of each category receive Best of d'Or (Gold) recognition for the region and will go on to compete against the other regional Best of d'Or (Gold) winners for Best of Wine Tourism -International Competition 2015 held in early November in Mendoza, Argentina.  

The Current President of the Chamber of Commerce

The six categories with nominees and winners for 2015 are:

Paul Goldschmidt of Chateau Siraurac & his team

Architecture et Paysages (Architecture & Landscape)

**Chateau Siaurac
Chateau de Ferrand
Chateau de Reignac
Chateau Siran

Art et Culture (Art & Culture)
**Chateau Chasse-Spleen
Chateau Guadet
Union de Producteurs de Saint-Emilion

Decouverte et Innovation (Innovative wine tourism experiences)
** Chateau du Payre

Chateau Boutinet
Chateau La Tour de By

Hebergement (Accommodations)

The videos virtually transported us to all the Chateaux

**Chateau de Leognan
Chateau Giscours
Chateau de la Perriere

Services Oenotouristiques (Wine Tourism Services)
**Chateau La Croizille
Chateau d'Agassac
Chateau de Candale
Agence des Grands Crus
Vitrine du Pays Foyen

Valorisation Oenotouristiques des practiques environnementales (Sustainable wine tourism practices)
**Chateau Couhins

The whole ceremony was super professional and felt like you were attending a "Hollywood" Awards show! As they announced each nominee, they ran a short video on the giant screens highlighting the Chateau including a short spoken vignette about what tourism means for them.  We were virtually transported around the region with this production!!  Kudos to the video production company - la maison du bonheur located here in Bordeaux - Well Done! In my opinion, these videos made the evening!!

I was honored to be invited and attend such a beautiful event.  It was a privilege to be included among journalists and bloggers to share this special occasion. I was fascinated to learn about how all of these Chateaux are embracing tourism in such wonderful ways - making all the the nominees top places to visit!  I have linked each Chateau's website with their name - so feel free to explore some very beautiful and unique vineyards in the Bordeaux region!! If you are planning a trip to this area - these are wonderful places to check out and feel free to share with anyone else you may know who will be traveling to the Bordeaux region.

We were further spoiled by delicious oysters, charcuterie, cheeses & caneles & macaroons!  All served with the wines from the nominated vineyards!  Quite a night!! - Well done - Great Wine Capitals - Bordeaux!

If you haven't figured how my worlds collided -Take a glance at who won Best of d'Or (Gold) in the Architecture and Paysage category - Chateau Siraurac! I had no idea who the nominees were for each category prior to attending the evening.  It was a total coincidence that I had spent the morning and lunch there!  I can honestly say that their chateau and gardens are indeed something very special!! It was delightful to be there and watch the whole team be honored!

All the nominees & Gold winners for the Bordeaux Region

Congratulations to all the Winners!!  I look forward to exploring many of these places myself!!