This weekend I went to Saint-Émilion, the town and famous wine appellation in the Bordeaux region, to visit our friends at Château Troplong Mondot. I first met Aymeric de Gironde, its CEO, when he was the managing director at Cos d’Estournel, a beautiful estate in the Médoc where we had Matt’s 50th birthday (and did a big feature on it in Condé Nast Traveler). He invited us to Troplong a year ago to experience their newly renovated château (which you can rent) and the Keys (their lovely guest rooms in an adjacent part of the vineyard), but their restaurant and winery were under construction. I love surprises, but I’m not used to being surprised by a hotel or restaurant opening because usually I’ve seen a ton of photos beforehand, or the PR person has so oversold it that I feel like I’ve been there before even arriving.
This was not the case at Troplong. The winery is epic—they’ve taken to calling the cellar room “the cathedral” after so many of their guests described it as such. And they’re right. I’m not going to pretend I understand all the grand cru classé wine talk, and the fact that they’ve been doing it since 1700, but suffice it to say, we love this wine.
Then there’s the restaurant, Les Belles Perdrix. One thing you should know about me: I hate a tasting menu. Besides them being too rich (usually), I just get uncomfortable with the long descriptions and all the interruptions. But dinner there was a tasting menu, and I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed myself and especially the food. Besides them being on the zero km program (they have the biggest gardens I’ve seen), they are French, so being local and seasonal is just what they do. Each dish, from the roasted John Dory with pine morels and vin jaune to the Cour d’Armoise chicken with black pudding, was delicious, beautiful, and presented with a helpfully short description. We left feeling light—without any food hangover the next morning.
The rooms at the Keys are all very different—the Vineyard House sits on its own and has two bedrooms, and the other rooms within a limestone house just next to the château are very well appointed and incredibly comfortable.
Plus you have the best of both worlds—staying in the middle of a vineyard and looking onto charming St. Émilion, but you aren’t in the middle of town, which can get quite crowded with wine tourists. It’s an easy 10-minute bike ride away, and the property provides electric bikes to guests. And trust me, you’ll definitely need the electric boost after a wine-filled boozy lunch in town. (We went to L’Envers du Décor and had the best steak tartare with fries we’ve had in a long time!)
I’ve been lucky to experience many countryside hotels and restaurants, as well as wineries. This is the best in show on all three, and that they’ve managed to be so good at all of this in their first year—bravo. It sets a new standard, and is definitely the most impressive place I’ve stayed in the Bordeaux area.