Bordeaux wine

History

The Romans probably brought the vine to Bordeaux in the middle of the 1st century CE. The decisive turn came in 1152, when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry II of England: the marriage opened the English market, and claret became a staple across the Channel until the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) disrupted the trade. In 1855 brokers ranked the leading estates for the Exposition Universelle in Paris, a list still in force today. Phylloxera ravaged the vineyards between 1875 and 1892, and the region recovered by grafting its vines onto American rootstocks. Later classifications followed for Graves (1953, revised 1959) and Saint-Émilion (1955).

Terroir and appellations

Bordeaux counts 65 appellations, grouped by the rivers. The Left Bank lies west of the Garonne and the Gironde: the Médoc, with the communes of Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estèphe, and Graves to the south, home to Pessac-Léognan and the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. The Right Bank, around Libourne on the Dordogne, includes Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac. Between the two rivers sits Entre-Deux-Mers, known for dry whites. The Atlantic climate, moderated by the estuary and rivers, is mild and humid, so vintages vary.

Grapes and wine styles

Red wine dominates. Merlot is the most planted grape, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with small amounts of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenère. Left Bank estates such as Château Latour lean on Cabernet Sauvignon, while Right Bank wines such as Pétrus are built mostly on Merlot. White Bordeaux blends Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and a little Muscadelle. In Sauternes and Barsac, grapes affected by noble rot give the sweet wines of estates like Château d'Yquem and Château Climens.

Classifications

The 1855 classification ranked red wines in five tiers, almost all from the Médoc, with Château Haut-Brion from Graves as the only exception. Sweet Sauternes and Barsac were ranked separately, with Yquem alone as Premier Cru Supérieur. The list has changed only twice: Château Cantemerle was added in 1856, and Château Mouton Rothschild was promoted to first growth in 1973. Saint-Émilion revises its own classification roughly every ten years. The 2022 edition lists 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés A (Château Figeac and Château Pavie), 12 classed B and 71 Grands Crus Classés, after Cheval Blanc, Angélus and Ausone withdrew.

Bordeaux wine: questions and answers

Other wine regions of France

• Burgundy
• Champagne
• Alsace
• Rhône Valley
• Loire Valley
• Beaujolais
• Provence
• Languedoc-Roussillon
• South West France
• Jura