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.
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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:
