The building which will house the future Bordeaux Centre of Wine Culture and Tourism is a giant whirlpool, a decanter shaped by the undulating movement of wine being poured into a glass. Designed in the cooperation between the French architectural firm X-TU Architects and the British Casson Mann, the Cultural Center aims to be a major institution dedicated to the culture and diversity of wine.

Located on the banks of the Garonne river, in the wake of the historic wine trade, the 47 meters high building occupies 10.000 square meters plot. Nearly 4.000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibition spaces also contain tasting „poly-sensory“ rooms facing the river and overlooking the town and the vineyard. With its wooden structure, the building seeks to honor the sensory experience and flexibility of wine.

“Bordeaux… for millennia a port town benefiting from cultural exchange, trade and the perpetual outreach towards distant civilisations and cultures. Through the Centre Culturel et Touristique du Vin project we celebrate the past while looking towards the future. The city of Bordeaux cements its place as the natural gateway to the global civilisation of wine” said Prince Robert of Luxembourg, President and CEO of the family firm and great grandson of its founder, Mr Clarence Dillon.

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