Wine 101: Understanding the wines of Bordeaux

Ah, the wines of Bordeaux! A common sight in stores and wine boutiques, Bordeaux wine is a popular choice but isn’t always understood. Starting with the basics, Bordeaux is pronounced bore-doh and is a port city in southwestern France. It’s been known that vines have been growing in Bordeaux for over two thousand years, probably having started their roots before the Romans in year 56 or well, before J.C!

The thing about Bordeaux is that unlike many of the other French wine regions, the wine business in Bordeaux was developed by merchants, rather than simply coming directly from the wineries. At the beginning of the second millennium, the Bordeaux region was under English domination and hundreds of boats loaded with barrels of ‘Claret’ were leaving yearly for England. The ‘Claret’ was a light red wine which Englishmen loved; the word is still used to refer to Red Bordeaux. By the 14th century, half of the wine production was boarded on ships mainly to England.

Bordeaux is probably the most well-known wine region in France. It counts for one third of the quality French wine (AOC, crus bourgeois, Crus Classés), and host about 7,000 ‘Chateaux’, not all of those being fancy proper castles, but it must represent an estate which produces wines solely with estate-grown grapes.  Wines bottled using more generic names are mostly made from grapes coming from across the region, generally purchased for growers. The region is spread out across different appellations, depending of the location of the vineyards.  The higher the classification is, the higher the requirements are (volume of grapes produces per hectares, work in vineyards, etc). 

Here’s a quick lesson based on regions and grapes to fatten up your wine knowledge palette. Are you ready? Let’s go!

First, there’s Bordeaux. Bordeaux AOC wines can come from anywhere within the Bordeaux wine region, which covers most of the Gironde department. The quality of both red and white wine depends very much on the wine makers talent and on the quality of the grapes. This means that the quality goes from very disappointing wines to excellent bargain chateaux.

Then comes Bordeaux Superieur. The Bordeaux Supérieur appellation grows on the same part within the larger area which has similar characteristics than classic Bordeaux, but has better soil quality and tends to offer wines better quality wine which ages better..

Are you still with me? Moving on there are the Sub-region appellation. These appellations represent a great introduction to the area, showcasing the different characteristics of each zone, due to different soil types. They produce wines that are more affordable than say, villages wines. Some examples of these would be Medoc, Haut-Medoc, Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers.

And finally, Villages Appellations. These are the most covered wines, with drastic restrictions on volume, winemaking and ageing methods.  The wines would be much more complex than regular Bordeaux, and have very good ageing potential – the more premium ones would actually require 10-15 years of ageing before reaching a good enjoyment level. Examples of villages appellations are St Julien, Margaux, Pauillac, St Estèphe, Listrac, Moulis (all in Medoc); Pessac-Leognan, Sauternes (Graves); Pomerol, St Emilion, Bourg (Right-bank);  Loupiac, Cadillac (Entre-Deux-Mers)

Now let’s take a look at grapes!

Red wines: There are 6 varietals which are allowed within the region, with the top 2 being the most popularly planted and used, creating a classic Bordeaux blend. These 6 are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carmenère & Petit Verdot. Due to soil specificity, the left banks are dominated by Cabernets, while the right banks have a majority of Merlot.

White wines: Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon are the large dominants for both ‘classic’ and sweet wines but there are a handful of others that are allowed within the region. These are Sauvignon gris, Ugni blanc, Colombard, Merlot blanc, Ondenc and Mauzac.

My recommendations? Check out the following wines:

• White Bordeaux: Cheval Quancard 'Cuvee Clemence' Entre-Deux-Mers
• Sweet Bordeaux: Chateau Les Arroucats, St Croix Du Mont
• Bordeaux Superieur: Chateau De Terrefort-Quancard
• St Estephe: Chateau Bel-Air Ortet
• Lussac St Emilion: Chateau Moulin de Lussac
• St Emilion Grand Cru: Chateau Franc-Pipeau