The "art de vivre" is taken so seriously in Bordeaux, that any meal without foie gras and at least three vintage wines is considered Spartan. This is, after all, the land of Bacchus. Oh, the torture of such a trip.

A wine tasting tour of Bordeaux allows you to indulge either a passing fancy or a passion for fine wine and cuisine in a relaxed way, consuming oodles of the best Bordeaux in ancient 17th century chateaux, which once belonged to Irish families. Alternatively, you can just take time out from the tyranny of eating and drinking to wander around the old city of Bordeaux.

The package offered by Atlas Travel takes the path of the Irish wine geese -- families such as the Lynchs, Dillons, Bartons, Phelans, Kirwans, Clarkes, and MacCarthys -- who left Ireland to set up vineyards in Bordeaux. Some were supporters of James II, who fled after the Battle of the Boyne in 1691.

Some of the most highly rated Bordeaux wine is linked to Irish families, and the tour includes trips to the Lynch Bages estate in Pauillac, Chateau Dillon in Haut Medoc, Chateau Léoville Barton in Saint Julien de Beychevelle, Chateau Phélan Segur in Saint-Este phe, and Chateau Kirwan in Margaux.

Chateau Dillon Blanquefort was our first stop on a cold, bright January morning. Eight eager wine tasters were lined up like troops before three vintages of Chateau Dillon and an array of gleaming wine glasses. It was 11am, and still four other chateaux to visit that day.

In January, the vineyards were completely bare, with little white crosses supporting the vines stretched out for miles like a huge graveyard. But even if you travel to Bordeaux mid-summer when it hits the mid-30s, bring something warm: descending into the bowels of the cellars for the mandatory tour of the vats can be icy.

The vineyards of the Pauillac, St Este phe, St Julien and Margaux are all within one hour's drive. But the most outstanding memory was a tour of the beautiful medieval town of Saint Emilion, and home to the Ursuline sisters who are believed to have been the first to bake the now famous French macaroons.

Our tour guide, Norman Mongan, wine buff, historian and eminent Francophile, carried an extraordinary encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of the Irish chateaux families, most of whom managed to keep their heads during the French Revolution.

These days, a wealthy new flock of Irish wine geese is purchasing vineyards in Bordeaux, including the esteemed chairman of AIB, Lochlann Quinn. The trip included a visit to Quinn's vineyard, Chateau de Fieuzal, in the Pessac-Léognan region.

A modern building with very little of the ancient beauty of Lynch, Barton or Phelan, Quinn's estate comprises a total of 169 hectares, including 90 hectares of some of the oldest vines in the region. The chateau, which has five private apartments, was under refurbishment to include an extensive new wine cellar when we visited. The swimming pool at the front will undoubtedly be dipped into this summer by Quinn's nippers.

Visitors to Bordeaux should come equipped in the mysterious science of the French Paradox. An inspired medical study, the French Paradox, apparently proves that a glass of vin rouge counters the worrying effects of high-cholesterol diets, namely a thickening of the arteries in the heart.

The joy of the French Paradox is that it promotes the illusion that a rich four-course meal can be expunged by guzzling red wine in equally good measure. Not surprisingly, this is warmly endorsed by the French tourist board.

In fact, a wine trip to Bordeaux can easily fall into the category of a healthy, therapeutic holiday, as long as you repeat the mantra: "The polyphenols found in wine help combat the free radicals responsible for 80 per cent of ageing."

Once the mantra ceases to convince, you can do the real thing and take a few days of absolute calm at the exclusive health spa, Les Sources de Caudalie, on the estate of Chateau Smith Haut Lafite, in the Pessac-Léongan region of Bordeaux.

Forget Cleopatra's penchant for goats' milk. The Caudalie offers a vinotherapy spa -- where you bask in a bubbling barrel of crushed grapes: seed, skin and stalk, the lot -- all apparently an excellent exfoliant for the skin.

In true French fashion, both men and women are unashamedly pampered at the Caudalie. The spa offers everything from merlot wraps, to sauvignon massage, crushed cabernet scrub, pulp friction massage, honey and wine body wrap, as well as anti-ageing packages based on ... you've guessed it, grape seeds.

After a thorough scrub down, the most exertion required is a 20-step amble through a beautiful garden to the spa's gastronomic restaurant. Needless to say, it overlooks a lake.

Headed up by chef Didier Banyols, who has two Michelin stars in his past, the food is based on low fat ingredients and includes delicious desserts.

Where else but Bordeaux would a health spa actually recommend drinking under the ruse of vinotherapy?

Afterwards, there are cigars and cognac in the impeccable relaxation room, furnished with leather armchairs. (Cognac and cigars in a health spa? Only in France).

If you travel in the harvest months of September and October, you can go on a three-day grape regime.

We spent three nights at the three star Hotel Sainte Catherine in Bordeaux, which was not swanky but adequate for our needs, particularly when most of the time was spent visiting chateaux and restaurants.

A fabulous meal is to be had at Le Chapon Fin in Bordeaux town centre, and you must not leave the region without sampling the region's lamb which is probably the most succulent piece of meat in the EU.

Vegetarians beware: Bordeaux is brimming with lamb, duck, foie gras and lots of other fare to gladden the carnivore.

Factfile

Niamh Connolly travelled to Bordeaux courtesy of Atlas Travel and Aer France.

The New Irish Wine Geese tour price and schedule is available from tomorrow, from Atlas Travel, 9 College Green, Dublin 2, 01 241 2325.

The special two-night short break, including Aer France flight, available from €345 to €475 (September).

Atlas Travel is offering a four-day package to the Source de Caudalie vinotherapy spa, including some treatments, from €979 to €1,125 per person. Six-day package costs from €1,839, including treatments.