Bordeaux chateaux open gates to Google Streetview

Wine enthusiasts will soon be able to go behind the scenes of Bordeaux chateaux via the internet, thanks to a deal with Google Streetview.

The technology within Google Maps, which has taken ground-level 3D images of 5m miles of roads in 39 countries and 3,000 cities since its launch in 2007, is starting a partnership programme with several Bordeaux chateaux.

The first of these is with Chateau Lafon Rochet in Saint Estephe. Google Streetview users will be able to see inside the winery and cellars of the estate, as well as outside views of the chateau building.

A similar partnership with the town of Saint Emilion will be launched in the next month.

‘I’m happy to be among the first chateaux in Bordeaux to use this technology,’ Lafon Rochet’s managing director, Basile Tesseron, told decanter.com.

‘The first contact with Streetview was made back in July, and the photos taken two weeks ago for launch this week, so it’s been quick. Google is the most used search engine globally, and if Streetview helps our clients get closer to us, then that’s great.’

Anne-Gabrielle Dauba-Pantanacce, spokesperson for Google France, told decanter.com that the service has been increasingly rolling out interior and exterior views of key global heritage sites, from the Eiffel Tower to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, to mountain ranges in Nepal.

‘Working with Bordeaux chateaux brings a part of French heritage closer to the consumer,’ she said.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux