Jay-Z's tour of the Bordeaux cellars for his 54th birthday

Jay-Z, the famous rapper and producer, recently celebrated his 54th birthday with an exclusive trip to the Bordeaux wine region of France. This private celebration, which also included the 50th birthday of Jay Brown, co-founder of the Roc Nation label, featured high-profile guests such as Beyoncé and Rihanna.

Jay-Z's celebrations in Bordeaux included a visit to famous wineries in the area, although the exact details of the tour remained shrouded in some mystery. A photo posted on Instagram by Lenny Santiago, a senior Roc Nation executive, appeared to show Jay-Z with a glass of red wine at the famous Pomerol estate, Petrus, with the message “Brooklyn to Bordeaux.” Other social media sources suggested visits to the Châteaux d'Yquem, with images showing bottles of Yquem from 1969 and 1973, the birth years of Brown and Carter respectively.

Beyoncé, married to Jay-Z since 2008, and Rihanna were among the high-profile guests who visited the region. Jay-Z's birthday party was held at an organic winery in Pessac-Léognan, followed by a tour of some of Bordeaux's best producers. Jay-Z has privately rented the entire 64-room spa hotel Les Sources de Caudalie, belonging to Château Smith Haut Lafitte, an organic farm founded in the 14th century and acquired by the Cathiard family in 1990. Château Smith Haut Lafitte is considered one of the best producers of Pessac-Léognan, with 67 hectares of vineyards and produces its grand vin, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Over the course of the multi-day event, guests were able to visit some of the region's most celebrated wineries, including Château d'Yquem in Sauternes on the Left Bank, Château Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion and Château Petrus, where bottles from the 1969 vintage (Jay-Z's birth year) were served. Both Château d'Yquem and Château Cheval Blanc belong to the luxury goods group LVMH, to which Jay-Z sold 50% of his Armand de Brignac Champagne brand in 2021.

This trip by Jay-Z to Bordeaux highlights his continued interest and involvement in the world of wine, demonstrating a passion that goes beyond mere celebrity.