France’s biggest and possibly the most famous appellation Bordeaux enjoys a worldwide reputation for quality, but not consistency. Vintages change from year to year. While in the past century approximately three out of a decade yielded outstanding quality, now, many more vintages result in extraordinary wines mostly due to global warming, and reduced yields.
Previously alcohol levels in Bordeaux wines reached a maximum of 12.5 ABV. Now 13 even 13.5 ABV are routinely achieved mostly due changing weather patterns, also because of lower yields from more severe pruning and more efficient cultivated yeast strains winemakers employ.
Bordeaux, located in sotherwestern France, enjoys mild winters (except that of 1956), humid springs, hot summers and sunny fall seasons.
The 45° north latitude bisects Bordeaux, but the vicinity of the Atlantic ocean, Gulf Stream and rivers Ciron, Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde Estuary contribute greatly to the mild climate.
Bordeaux has more than 50 appellations but can be grouped into three categories the left bank (Medoc) of the Gironde Estuary is composed of pebbles, gravel and sand, washed down from the Pyrenees millennia ago; the right bank a.k.a Libourne is composed of clay, limestone, sand and a little gravel, all of which drain well.
Between the rivers Garonne and Dordogne, soils contain clay-lime, are stony and “cool”.
In each type of soil certain grape varieties thrive, and thus the red wines of the left bank contain mostly cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, malbec and carmenere, while those of the right bank are mostly composed of merlot, little cabernet franc and very little cabernet sauvignon.
Merlot manages to ripen in “cool” (clay) soils, whereas cabernet sauvignon needs more heat and the pebbles retain the heat during the day and give it off during the night, and help ripen the fruit.
Entre-deux- mers, the region between Dordogne and Garonne produces mostly white wines using sauvignon blanc, semillon and muscadelle.
Cabernet sauvignon is flavourful, yields fine wines, and tannic. Tannins are bitter when the wine is young, therefore winemakers blend it with softer and fruitier merlot, and cabernet franc, at least in the Medoc sub-region contributes to “spice”. Petit verdot, malbec contribute to dept of colour texture and overall appeal.
On the right bank, merlot plays a much larger role than on the left bank. In the right bank the earlier ripening merlot yields wines of fine fruitiness, depth and elegance, cabernet sauvignon provides the “backbone” and cabernet franc “spice”.
The white wines can be sweet or dry.
Sweet wines originate in Sauternes, Barsac, Loupiac, St. Croix du Mont, and Ste.Foy de Bordeaux. Most are luscious and long lasting. They are created because of botrytis and air-borne miniscule insect that thrives in humid environments. Botrytis attacks ripe grapes when early mornings are humid and foggy, and later in the day the sun dries the fruit. These insects drill tiny holes in the fruit, thus desiccating berries, rendering them lusciously sweet. This condition is called pourriture noble (noble rot, edelfaule in German, muffa nobile in Italian).
If botrytis occurs before the fruit is ripe it is called grey rot, and highly undesirable.
Harvesting botrytis-affected grapes is a time-consuming and arduous task, as not all the grapes in bunch are equally affected. Pickers must select those that are affected, and almost always revisit each vine to ensure that all grapes are harvested.
In successful vintages, Sauternes or all sweet wines of Bordeaux are delightful and cellar worthy.
Bordeaux’s dry wines come mostly from Entre deux mers, and Graves. Generally sauvignon blanc and semillon are used to produce them. They are fragrant, light, and suitable for light meals, sandwiches, poultry in cream sauces, fried, or poached, or sautéed seafood.
Bordeaux labels provide sufficient information to make intelligent purchasing decisions.
All labels contain at minimum the following information:
The name of the estate (picture optional)
Region or sub-region of provenance
Vintage
Batch identification number
Volume of liquid in the bottle
Alcohol level in percentage
Address of the producer or bottler or negociant
Researcher determined that approximately ten brands or estates are well recognized by Bordeaux consumers in export markets, while a very large number of consumers in Bordeaux and France know about them. The most famous appellations are Medoc, Pessac-Leognan, Graves, Sauternes, Barsac, Loupiac, Entre deux mers, St. Emilion, Pomerol, and Bergerac.
For this reason the following appellations agreed to form a new entity: Cotes de Bordeaux, which incorporates Cotes de Blaye, Cotes de Castillon, Cotes de francs, and Premiere Cotes de Bordeaux.
Cotes de Bourg, a large appellation in the right bank, has not joined, but may soon. As of 2009, all wines from the above sub-regions will be labelled as Cotes de Bordeaux.
Bordeaux produces red, white, sweet, rose and sparkling wine.
While famous estates like Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite, Chateau Haut Brion, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and Château Latour and most the classified Medoc estates, Chateau Petrus, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Chateau Ausone and a few others in St. Emilion and Pomerol enjoy worldwide popularity and sell at very high prices, small estates encounter severe problems in selling their products even at considerably lower prices than their high- end competitors.
The gap between the two groups is the result of the high number of small producers (10,000) and the small number of negociants (400) and the way marketing functions. Traditionally negociants bought young wines in bulk, often through brokers (courtiers), and aged them at their expense in their cellars and bottled.
Now that most of the producers bottle their wines, this traditional system works to the advantage of famous estates only.
In successful vintages all Brodeaux wines represent good value, but in lesser vintages the classified and better-known chateau still produce considerably higher quality partially because of highly sophisticated selection of bunches before crushing, terroir, advanced winemaking technology and know how.
Bordeaux reds, like all other reds, should be serves at approximately 16 – 18 C, rose 10, whites 9 – 10 and sweet at 14- 15.
If the wines are served too cold, aromas and bouquet cannot be appreciated fully, and too warm causes volatilization of alcohol, and loss of flavour.
Recently small Bordeaux estates poured their wiens for the trade and wien writers in Toronto for a tasting.
The following stood out:
Whites:
Chateau Ducla, 2008
Excellent fruit, balance and depth
$ 14.95 Available at Vintages
Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Dourthe Freres
Gentle aromas of gooseberries, smooth and appealing
$ 15.85 Will be available in 2010 as a general list wine
Rose:
La Croix de Queynac, 2008
Fresh strawberry aromas, light and refreshing
$ 25.00 Vintages February 2010 release
Reds:
Reserve Mouton Cadet, 2007
Aromas of ripe berries, full-bodied, well balanced and smooth.
$ 17.00
Chateau Roquetaillade La Grange, 2005
Full bodied, fruity, offers good depth and length
Chateau Grolet, 2005
Aromatic, appealing flavours, full bodied and with a long aftertaste.
$ 24.95 Available at Vintages
Chateau Belair, 2007
Medium bodied, fruity, brilliant colour and good balance
$ 11.45 Available as a general list wine
