30 April 2025 / Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency
What exactly is the Cité du Vin, could you present the venue and its goals?
Elodie Gratuze: Located in Bordeaux, the Cité du Vin is a cultural venue, unique in the world, and dedicated to wine. With its interactive Permanent exhibition based on digital technologies, its various tasting experiences, its cultural events and practical facilities (shops, restaurants), the Cité du Vin honours the vineyards of the whole world through their cultural, civilisational and universal heritage. Visitors from all walks of life (beginners, wine lovers, professionals, families and young people, companies, French and international...) are invited on a spectacular journey around the world across the ages, in all cultures!
Certified “Tourism & Handicap” since its opening, “Sustainable Entertainment” ” since 2022, “Accueil Vélo” in 2024 , and “NF environment - Visitor sites” since 2021, the Cité du Vin is managed and developed by the Foundation for wine culture and civilisations (a public-interest foundation) whose mission is to make the universal and living heritage of wine accessible to the widest possible audience.
(Photo: Cité du Vin / DBY-Photographie / GEDEON Programmes / Atelier Sylvain Roca)
What is the history of the collaboration with Wines of Hungary?
E. G.: We have been collaborating with Wines of Hungary since 2019, developing a strong and mutually beneficial partnership. Over time, we have worked together on various tastings, cultural events aimed at increasing awareness and appreciation of Hungarian wines in international markets. This ongoing collaboration has enabled us to promote the region’s rich wine heritage and highlight the diversity and excellence of Hungarian wine producers.. The Foundation for Wine Culture and Civilisations works daily with around fifty wine partners from across the globe—including organisations, interprofessional bodies, chambers of commerce, and regional associations—who have chosen to associate their image with the Cité du Vin. These valued partners provide a curated selection of “ambassador” wines that are showcased throughout the year as part of the Cité du Vin’s activities. Wines from each partner, including Wines of Hungary, are featured at the Belvedere, in our daily tasting workshops, and in our broader cultural programming, which includes evening workshops, events, conferences, and the immersive Via Sensoria experience. For the latest edition of Via Sensoria — a sensory tasting journey themed “As the Seasons Pass” — the Foundation has partnered with four partners, each providing wines to represent a season. We are delighted to count Wines of Hungary among them, symbolising Winter in this unique, multi-sensory experience.
Elodie Gratuze
What is Via Sensoria and how should we imagine this temporary exhibition?
E. G.: Via Sensoria is a sensory journey — an immersive pause where four artistic interpretations of the seasons are paired with four unexpected tastings, inviting visitors to explore the theme through emotion and sensation. The tour takes an hour, accompanied by a sommelier-guide who helps visitors find their bearings, always with accessibility in mind. Connoisseurs or newcomers, wine lovers or not, adults or children, all can follow the journey, which breaks away from the conventional rules of tasting to offer unexpected pairings of artistic environments and a selection of wines and alcohol-free beverages.
The seasons are in the spotlight with a journey resolutely focused on nature. From dawn to dusk, the visitor strolls through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter over the course of a day. The journey is designed to be sensitive and poetic, using various means to immerse the visitor. The staging, designed by Atelier Sylvain Roca, is divided into four areas with unique architectural shapes and textures, evocative of the seasons: the pavilions. The progression from one season to the next is reflected in carefully designed changes to the ambient lighting, bringing out the light effects specific to each season. Visitors are enveloped by this light throughout their immersion, an interlude that offers a chance to disconnect. The pavilions are the centrepieces of the experience, each presented as a creative and impressionist tableau combining a poem, a video creation, a musical composition and sometimes a scent to awaken the senses. In each, the visitor is placed in a specific position to reflect this progression through the seasons.
(Photo: Cité du Vin / XTU-architects)
For its third edition, running from 1 April to 2 November 2025, Via Sensoria invites visitors once again to journey through the seasons. The experience has been enriched, with an even stronger focus on the senses, including playful tasting games designed to enhance discovery. In each pavilion, the sommelier-guide will spotlight one of the five senses, introducing different tasting approaches — such as intuitive tasting — to make the experience more fun, accessible, and sensory-driven. The wine selection has also been completely refreshed to showcase four new regions: the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Georgia, and Hungary. In addition, a new range of alcohol-free drinks from Maison Meneau will be featured, along with a chocolate delicacy by Mademoiselle de Margaux. A unique experience to discover — or rediscover!
Tokaj has become one of the highlights of the Winter room. How is the wine selection presented in each room?
E.G.: For each season, a carefully selected wine or soft drink is chosen to perfectly embody the essence of that season. Each season also provides a perfect opportunity to focus on one of the five senses, using various tasting techniques (intuitive, blind, and analytical) to make the experience both enjoyable and accessible, while heightening the sensory aspect.
In winter, visitors are enveloped in a cozy, comforting atmosphere. Nature begins its rest, quietly preparing for rebirth. This season is a contrast of cold and warmth, which is why we believe Szamorodni, a sweet wine, is the perfect match during this season. Made from partially botrytised grapes affected by noble rot, it embodies this contrast. With its notes of candied fruit, dried apricot, and honey, it offers exceptional pairings with food, evoking the comforting essence of winter. An orange-flavored chocolate further complements the Szamorodni, adding to the warmth of the experience.
What are the three other wines and wine regions associated with the other seasons?
E. G.: Spring, symbolizing freshness and renewal, invites participants to explore Loire Valley white wines, particularly Sauvignon Blanc, with its vibrant minerality and freshness, perfectly capturing the essence of the season, alongside a refreshing grapefruit syrup as an alternative.
For a summer tasting, we embrace the season's warmth with Clairet, a historic Bordeaux wine offering vibrant red fruit aromas and a subtle tannin touch, alongside with a refreshing cherry-hibiscus fizz as an alcohol-free alternative, capturing the relaxed, convivial spirit of summer.
Autumn’s vibrant colors inspire a tasting of Saperavi, a rich red wine from Georgia, renowned for its intense colour and texture, along with a deeply flavored cassis syrup, echoing the wine’s colour and intensity.
How should this immersive experience be imagined?
E. G.: The role of the sommelier host will be crucial, as their task is to welcome and guide the public from season to season. They will accompany guests from one space to another, providing insights into the choice of wines in relation to the season, all within an environment of sound, light, and poetry. Additionally, the sommelier will focus on highlighting the specificity of the wine region and the diversity of its terroir, all while offering unique tastings that awaken the senses in an innovative way, enhancing the overall tasting experience.
How can this exhibition help to make Hungarian wines more visible?
E. G.: This exhibition can help make Hungarian wines more visible by appealing to a wide audience, including amateurs, professionals, families, young people, businesses, and both French and international visitors. Through this sensorial experience, we invite people to discover the unique characteristics of wines from the Tokaj region, including lesser-known styles like Szamorodni. Through this unique immersive experience, the tasting draws international attention to the quality, diversity, and versatility of Tokaj wines, showcasing their many potential pairings. At the end of the journey, visitors can experience an example of this versatility with a pairing of Tokaj wine and orange-flavored chocolate from Mademoiselle Margaux, demonstrating the perfect balance between the wine’s complexity and the chocolate’s vibrant flavors.
Photo: Cité du Vin / XTU-architects
Cover Photo: Cité du Vin / XTU-architects
Photos: Cité du Vin / XTU-architects, Cité du Vin / DBY-Photographie / GEDEON Programmes / Atelier Sylvain Roca,
www.laciteduvin.com and Hungarian Wine Marketing Agency
