For the best of Bordeaux, take the Graves and Sauternes wine route

Driving from the bustling centre of Bordeaux, it takes barely half an hour to break through the shopping malls, factories and fast-food drive-ins – the gritty urban landscape that encircles most French towns – and find myself on a quiet country lane, part of a labyrinth that weaves around the vineyards along the left bank of the Garonne river.

I was tempted to sign up for a guided day trip until I discovered that many of the dynamic, mostly family-owned chateaux that line the Graves and Sauternes wine route have taken a host of initiatives that make it easy to rent a car and embark on an exploration that goes far beyond just a series of cellar tastings of the latest vintages. What’s more, you don’t need to make appointments and many visits are free.

My wine tour begins at the romantic-sounding Château Venus, and it comes as a shock to arrive not at some fairy-tale castle but a huge prefabricated “chai”, cellar warehouse, surrounded by vines that were planted five years ago. Friendly young owner Bertrand Amart quickly enlightens me; every recognised Bordeaux winery is automatically labelled a château. This helps explain why it can be so difficult to decide which Bordeaux to buy back home; there are a mind-boggling 8,500 châteaux to choose from.

Amart is already producing some excellent red and white Graves, and for a bird’s-eye view of the wine route, he offers to fly guests in his small plane for a half-hour tour (at a cost of just €60/HK$580).

Five minutes later we lift off from the grass runway that cuts through his vines and soar into a blue sky.

Amart points out the majestic Château d’Yquem, the Sauternes vines owned by LVMH’s Bernard Arnault, medieval churches and fortified red-roofed villages, ruined castles and elegantly laid-out renaissance gardens.

Within the graphic criss-cross lines of vines, vendangeurs hand-pick ripe bunches.