Les Caves du Louvre
Les Caves du Louvre
A SPECIAL WINE CELLAR IN PARIS
LES CAVES DU LOUVRE
A tour of the former wine cellars of Louis XV with wine tasting? As a wine fan, Anne couldn’t miss it!
In this article, I take you into the world of wine – the smells and the different flavours!
My Rating:
The Positives:
In this one hour, I learnt almost as much about wine as I did during my training, which lasted two months! Our sommelier not only knew an incredible amount about wine, but also communicated it in an entertaining way. And the wine... The visit was anything but “dry theory” :D
The Negatives:
I really can't think of anything at all...except that I would have liked to have stayed longer and tasted even more wines.
Tips:
The Caves du Louvre are not to be confused with the Musée du Vin (wine museum) nor with the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Last Modified: 16.05.2024 | Céline & Anne
Les Caves du Louvre
Tickets
the details
at a glance
Les Caves du Louvre
Photo Gallery
WHAT IS THERE
THERE TO SEE?
…and to smell and taste, one would have to add.
We had booked the guided tour with classic tasting. A sommelier showed us the seven rooms of the Caves du Louvre, and the first wine was served in the very first room: a Riesling from Alsace.
We learned how white wine, red wine, rosé and orange wine (a fourth, still rather unknown wine style) are made. There were also works of art by contemporary artists on display. These artists each tasted a wine and were inspired by it.
The second wine, a cuvée of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from Bordeaux, was served in the tasting room. And even more wine knowledge: Did you know that you can learn a lot about a wine before you even taste it? This is one of the reasons why professionals swirl the glass – and then look for the “tears” that form at the edge of the glass (also known amusingly as “church windows” in German). A large number of these indicate that the alcohol content is quite high. The colour gives an indication of the age: red and purple reflections indicate a young wine, an orange or brownish colour means that it has already been in the bottle for a few years…
In the terrain room we learned about how the soil composition affects the wine and in the aroma room we were able to test our noses: we sniffed the vessels and then placed them on the descriptions of the aromas, which turned green if we had smelled correctly.
Then there was the laboratory (where, by the way, there are also courses where you can make your own wine!), the bottling room (wines with corks are not necessarily better than those with screw caps) and the labelling room, where we learned that in France and many other European countries, the origin is more important than the grape variety. While in Germany, we speak of “a Riesling” or “a Pinot Gris”, the French are more likely to say “a Petrus” or “a Bordeaux”, referring to the vineyard or the region.
Finally, the third and last wine was served in the bar: a cuvée of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, one of the classic blends from the Rhone. Incidentally, all the wines we were allowed to taste came from organic or even biodynamic cultivation.
Even though it is not a museum in the traditional sense, there was of course a shop with a very nice selection of French and international wines, including advice from the sommelier who had given the tour. It goes without saying that we didn’t go home without a few bottles 😀
My conclusion: Even as a passionate wine drinker, I learnt a lot here and really enjoyed myself – a clear recommendation!
CAVES DU LOUVRE
a bit of HISTORY
Anyone who has read our article on the Musée du Louvre will know that “the Louvre” was not always a museum. The French kings resided there until the end of the 17th century.
The entrance to “Les Caves du Louvre” is therefore not far away. At the beginning of the 17th century, the French bourgeois André Eynaud had his town house built here. He was also a wine merchant and used the cellars under the house as business premises. As he was one of the 25 wine merchants who officially supplied the court of Louis XV, there were allegedly also tunnels to the royal palace so that deliveries could be made very discreetly…
Later, another royal supplier bought the building: Jacques-François Trudon, heir to the royal wax factories. He opened a grocery shop and wine shop here, which his descendants ran until recently.
It was only in 2013 that the cellars were renovated and seven rooms were set up to host tastings and other events.
Official website of the Caves du Louvre (FR/EN): www.cavesdulouvre.com
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2023 – 2024
With the support of Anne Okolowitz, our wine expert!
