Wine region
Bordeaux
Bordeaux: about 90,000 hectares near the Atlantic, Merlot and Cabernet, Médoc, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Sauternes and the 1855 classification.
- Vineyard area
- about 90,000 hectares, reduced in recent years by vine-pull schemes
- Main grapes
- red: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc; white: Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle
- Climate and soils
- oceanic, tempered by the Atlantic and the Gironde; gravel in the Médoc, clay and limestone on the right bank
- Signature wines
- Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes
- Classification
- 1855: five growths for the red Médoc, three levels for Sauternes and Barsac; Saint-Émilion since 1955
Bordeaux in south-western France is one of the world’s largest fine-wine regions: about 90,000 hectares of vines, well down on the more than 110,000 of earlier years after the vine-pull schemes of recent seasons. The Garonne and the Dordogne meet north of the city to form the Gironde, a broad estuary that organises the vineyard: the left bank with the Médoc and Graves, the right bank around Libourne with Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, and the Entre-Deux-Mers between the two. The Atlantic tempers the climate and pine forests to the west shield the vines from the wind, but rain and rot make every vintage different.
Bordeaux is the home of the blend. On the left bank, gravel stores heat and late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon gives structure, tannin and ageing potential; on the right bank, on clay and limestone, Merlot ripens more reliably and brings fullness and soft fruit. Merlot covers about two thirds of the red vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon about a fifth, Cabernet Franc just under a tenth; Petit Verdot and Malbec play small parts. The whites come from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, dry in Pessac-Léognan and the Entre-Deux-Mers, sweet in Sauternes. From here Cabernet and Merlot have travelled the world, to Napa Valley, Chile and Margaret River.
Bordeaux is famous for its classifications. For the Paris Exposition of 1855, Napoleon III had the best wines ranked; brokers placed the reds of the Médoc, plus Château Haut-Brion from Graves, in five levels by reputation and price, and the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac in three. The list still stands and has barely changed: in 1973 Mouton Rothschild rose to first growth. Saint-Émilion has had its own classification since 1955, revised about every ten years. Pomerol, with about 800 hectares one of the smallest major appellations and about 80 per cent Merlot, has none at all. A large part of the vineyard carries the regional appellations Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur, which give reliable everyday wine.
In the glass, red Bordeaux is dry, medium to full in body, with blackcurrant, cedar and tobacco, firm tannin and fresh acidity; the great wines need years. Sauternes is golden and honeyed, with apricot and saffron, concentrated by noble rot. Red Bordeaux suits lamb, entrecôte, duck and mature hard cheese, Sauternes Roquefort or foie gras. The Swiss link lies in Ticino: the Merlot that covers about three quarters of its vineyard came from Bordeaux from 1906 onwards, when, after phylloxera, growers looked for a variety that copes with a damp climate.