Napa meets the Medoc.
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FWIW Yquem charged us EUR84 per person and this included a lengthy walkthru of the (beautiful) grounds and technical facilities, and generous pours of the 2017. Still not cheap but better value it seems
And you get to buy their declassified Sauternes at the shop, which I rather like at approx EUR35 for a 375
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Is that what they charge in Napa wineries?! I wouldn’t visit any winery for that sort of money. I’m more than happy to pay for a visit, but knowing that others in Pauillac charge nothing at all does say a lot.
That price wouldn’t bother me at all. I’ve never been that interested in visiting them because I don’t have any of their wines and I’m not likely to, but I’m curious as to the prices of visits of the other Médoc 1st Growths. Does anyone know?
Go elsewhere … many visits possible for 15-20 or even nothing.
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Some places in the US will waive a tasting/tour fee with a minimum purchase of three bottles or so. Perhaps Mouton could waive the price with the purchase of a case? 
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The highlight of my Bordeaux winery visits - granted this was 20 years ago - was Mouton. The museum was really cool if you are an art buff. The pours were very generous, even of the Mouton itself. Curious about how generous they are now. For the experience I had, in todays dollars, I would pay it. Now I’m not doing a family of four either, it was just the two of us last time.
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I was there last May 2022 on a group tour. Therefore, Not sure what me fee was. Fantastic visit. Due to construction, wine tasting was at Clerc Milon. Healthy pours, but the Mouton served was the 2011. That was disappointing.
Obviously very expensive but I will say that I visited Mouton last summer and found the experience really unique and special. I think both the art museum and the label museum are quite interesting and very well done. And of course, it’s a rare chance to get a good tour of a first growth, which is so cool. I would much much rather they open a place like Mouton (especially with the added art attractions) and charge a lot for it rather than have it generally closed to the public like so many top places are.
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I don’t recall paying anything when wife and I visited/toured/tasted at Ch. Haut Brion in 2009. Arranged appointment via email. Included were decent pours of 2001 HB and a white whose vintage I can’t recall. Of course, my information is out-dated and it wouldn’t surprise me if they charge for visits these days.
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Good thing their slogan wasn’t “Mouton ne charge”
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Perhaps their partnership with the Mondavi’s has taught them how to extract more from patrons…
Is the tasting room open to the general public for drop ins? If so, what is the price? If not that means that they will need to staff it accordingly to provide you a ‘personalized’ experience.
It would be good to know if the price gets reduced or refunded with the purchase of bottles, but my guess is that’s a US thing and does not apply elswhere.
It seems to me that if you were truly interested in the educational aspects of the houses and not just tasting wines, the fees might seem justifiable. If all you wanted was a tasting, that’s a different story.
Cheers
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the only first growth I know that sells bottle direct onsite is Haut Brion
and, of the first growths that accept visitors, none of them are set up for drop-ins . . .
Wow. My wife and I went to Mouton in 2014 and it cost 40 euros a person. What a price increase!!!
We did not have a private visit, but were part of a group. We walked through the museum on our own. We did not taste the Petit Mouton but had Mouton, Clerc-Milon and Armailhac, all 2007s.
We did go to Yquem and Haut Brion when we were in Bordeaux in 2014. I would say that each was a much more impressive winery to visit than Mouton, although, of course, there was no museum. The most impressive house we visited was at Ducru.
Compared to recent visits in South Africa and Australia those prices are extortionate. Meerlust was £15 refunded with a purchase. Spier charged, but was free for hotel guests. Leeuwin charged for the Art Series, but again refunded. £50 per head got a half day with three winery visits in Colchagua. From the comments above it looks like I won’t bother going anywhere near Napa in future.
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Yes, that is what we paid back in 2002. At the time they only did group visits.
To be fair, I think they had to change the model, which was a bit too much like taking the metro and I’m sure they wanted to make it more in keeping with the brand image. Also, one is never going to get as personal visit at Mouton as one gets in GPL or even Pichon Comtesse, for example. So I don’t begrudge them the change at all, but they need to get the balance right between exclusivity and overpricing. At the moment, I think they’ve got that wrong.
Fundamentally, it doesn’t matter a jittery jot - there are loads of chateaux to visit in the Médoc which are much more interesting anyway, hence the fact that Mouton was not at the top of our list.
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It is a unique experience, but for context I would be interested to know what everybody else charges. From that you can decide the budget and whether it fits in it.
Again, ancient history, but we paid the following in 2014:
Troplong-Mondot (8 Euros/pers)
Beau-Sejour Becot (12 Euros/pers)
Pichon-Longueville Baron (8 Euros/pers)
Lynch Bages (7 Euros/pers)
du Tertre (12 Euros/pers)
Haut-Brion (Free of entrance fee)
d’Yquem (Free of entrance fee)
Domaine de Chevalier (Free of entrance fee)
Ducru-Beaucaillou (Free of entrance fee)
Pontet-Canet (Free of entrance fee)
Mouton-Rothschild (40 Euros/pers)
We were with a tour guide (Henri Challou) who took us around. My trip to Bordeaux - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers I don’t know if it would have been different if we booked any of these ourselves.
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Sounds like simple supply and demand. Most wineries want/need more sales and tasting visits (i.e.: dedicated tasting room, tours, etc.) can help. A nominal fee is intended to weed out the less serious customers. The higher the wine price, the higher the fee might need to be. Confirmed serious customers/groups might have the fees waived or reduced.
I own 1 x 375ml bottle of Mouton Rothschild and am unlikely to ever buy another bottle. A quick glance at their 2018 shows it retails for approx $750 - $850 in the US. To sustain that price, I suspect they have a lot more demand than supply. The 350E tasting/tour price doesn’t seem as outrageous based on the single bottle price. The message seems pretty clear that they don’t need you or your family to sell their wine. You’re being weeded…as would be true of the majority of fine wine consumers.
Personally, if/when I visit Bordeaux, I’d be much more interested in some of the names on Howard’s list (and lesser known labels) for wines I actually own a few bottles of and might actually consider buying again.
I’ve been priced out of so many of the wine world’s greats, semi-greats and wannabee-greats that it only bothers me marginally and infrequently. It’d be a different story if I was still building a cellar.
RT
When I was in Bordeaux last year, at one of the chateau with no sales outlet ( I forget which one), I was told that chateau sales would be “complicated” by the exclusive (?) arrangement to sell via the negociants system. Yet some chateau have retail shops, and a few will sell kind of quietly (if asked, but no shop per se). True? I do not know.