Bordeaux wines

The Bordeaux vineyards stretch across the Gironde department in southwestern France. This vineyard is a world reference thanks to its exceptional terroir and climate, which enable it to produce some of the most prestigious wines in the world (including the first growths of the Bordeaux wine classification of 1855 and those of the Saint-Emilion wine classification of 1955).

Most of these are red wines (80% of production), made from grape varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. White wines (around 20% of production) are made from grape varieties such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

The Gironde terroir can be broken down into three geometric groups. This gives :

• Blayais, Libournais and Entre-deux-Mers. Here, clay-limestone soils with neutral or alkaline pH are generally found, favoring the cultivation of Merlot.

• Sauternes, Graves and Médoc. Here, the soils are predominantly gravelly and acidic, ideal for growing Cabernet Sauvignon.

• The Landes de Gascogne to the south and west. Here, sand dominates, and today few (if any) vines are grown on this terroir.

The best vintages

The best vintages of Bordeaux wines are those in which the climate has been ideal, with constant sunshine without excessive heat, low rainfall and few cool nights.

This climate enabled the grapes to ripen slowly and concentrate a large quantity of sugar and aromas. If heavy rains hit the vines during the year, or even during the harvest, the grapes dilute and lose their flavor. This phenomenon is even more cruel for sweet wines, which require excessively sweet grapes and develop botrytis.

For red wines, the best years were 1982, 1989, 2000 and 2005, all of which scored 19/20 on many French wine vintage tables.

For white wines, 1989, 1990, 1995 and 2010 are among the best vintages (in truth, the most successful date from the 19th century or from 1929, 1959 and 1971… but that’s not what you’ll find in the shops).

The best sweet white wines are from vintages such as 1989, 1990, 1995, 2001, 2009, 2010 and 2015, to name but a few (here, too, we can venture into the distant 20th or 19th century with vintages such as 1870, 1875, 1900, 1949 or 1955).