Wine Cultural Centre to launch in Bordeaux

Plans are afoot to open an international Wine Cultural Centre in Bordeaux city centre. Designed by Parisian architect X-TU and London based museum and exhibition design agency, Casson Mann, the new visitor attraction will sit on the banks of the River Garonne when it opens in 2014.

In harmony with the gushing river, the building's curved design issaid to be "reminiscent of wine flowing through stemmed glasses" and also "draws comparisons to a decanter". Environmentally sound, the structure will be built of wood and glass.

The city of Bordeaux is inextricably linked to its wine. With prestigious terroirs and famous châteaux, as well as négociants, oenologists and winegrowers with centuries of tradition behind them, Bordeaux has spread the science and love of wine around the world. The region's wine roads have been travelled by connoisseurs from every continent, Bordeaux’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognises the city’s historic unity, and celebrations, such as the Bordeaux Fête le Vin prove that this wine region knows how to have fun. Bordeaux is truly a cultural capital of wine.

But in the past the city has lacked an emblematic location to reflect this reality. Now Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux and Minister of Foreign Affairs in France, supported by the wine industry, is working towards creating this new visitor attraction.

Ambitious, surprising and innovative, the future Wine Cultural Centre will be a major facility of international stature. Designed to offer visitors an entertaining voyage of discovery, the centre will include exhibitions on the regions of Bordeaux, the great terroirs of Bordeaux, as well as the history, lifestyle in modern society and much more.

When the futuristic Centre opens in 2014, 400,000 visitors are expected to pass through its doors each year.