2.1 Bordeaux Quizzy Stuff Flashcards
What aromas and flavours would you expect from wines of Haut-Medoc?
A core of blackcurrant fruit with cedar notes from Oak. Grippy Tannins
Put the following wines in order of price and quality, lowest to highest
St Emilion,
St Emilion Satellites,
St Emilion Grand Cru Classé ,
St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A,
St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B
St Emilion Satellites,
St Emilion,
St Emilion Grand Cru Classé,
St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B,
St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A
How many chateaux are currently ranked as St.-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A?
What about B?
What about Grand Crus Classé?
4
14
64
How many 3rd growth chateaux are there in Pauillac?
0
When was the first classification of Graves?
1953
What are the 4 satellite appellations of St-Emilion?
Lussac,
St-Georges,
Montagne,
Puisseguin
Which grape is trypically the last to ripen in Bordeaux?
Petit Verdot
Name the two main and one minor grapes used for Sweet wine production in Bordeaux:
Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc
Minor - Muscadelle
Traditional Method sparkling wines from Bordeaux are labeled as ___
Crémant de Bordeaux
What IGP encompasses Bordeaux and nearby regions?
Atlantique IGP
3 sweet white wine appellations on the eastern side of the Garonne?
Loupiac, Ste-Croix-du-Mont, and Cadillac.
In which recent vintage did Chateau d’Yquem choose not to produce any wine?
Why?
2012
A poor vintage in Sauternes, particularly in October, proved too much for the grapevines, and the wines did not pass the house’s strict taste tests for quality.
From north to south name the 8 appellations of the Left Bank
Medoc
Haut-Medoc
St.-Estephe
Pauillac
St.-Julien
Listrac-Medoc
Moulis-en-Medoc
Margaux
What is the appellation located at “A”?
Pessac-Leognan
Name the two leading appelations of the ‘right bank’.
St. Emilion and Pomerol
What kind of wine is produced under the Graves Superieur AOP?
Sweet white wines.
Where is Loupiac AOC located, and what kind of wine is produced there?
Entre-Deux-Mers, Bordeaux.
Sweet white wines.
What is “en primeur”?
An annual event where Bordeaux wines are offered as futures.
5 Top Producers in Pomerol?
Chateau Pétrus
Chateau Le Pin
Chateau Lafleur
Vieux-Chateau-Certan
Chateau Trotanoy
What two rivers border Sauternes AOC?
The Garonne
The Ciron
What does Cabernet Sauvignon add to a Bordeaux blend?
Color, Tannins, Power, structure and longevity.
What name is given to the most northerly part of Medoc?
Bas-Medoc
What types of wines are produced in Blaye AOP and Cotes de Blaye AOP, and what are the predominant grapes used?
Blaye: Red wines only, at least 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot
Cotes de Blaye: White wines only, mostly ugni blanc and colombard.
Who produces the wine below?
Chateau Angelus
When was the first classification of St-Emilion?
1955
Match the following châteaux with their respective classification/Growth and commune.
Clerc-Milon
Lascombes
Talbot
Palmer
Clerc-Milon: 5th Growth, Pauillac
Lascombes: 2nd Growth, Margaux
Talbot: 4th Growth, St-Julien
Palmer: 3rd Growth, Margaux
Describe a high-end wine from St. Emilion
Full-bodied red wine based on Merlot w/some Cabernet Franc.
Med-High tannins
Soft, rich mouthfeel
Complex red berry fruit/plum aromas that evolve into tobacco/cedar.
What are “jalles”?
Drainage channels, like those found in Bordeaux.
What are the 3 grapes used for Sauternes production and what do they contribute to the wine?
Semillon: thin-skinned, susceptible to Botrytis, ages well.
Sauvignon Blanc: acidity and flavors.
Muscadelle: aromas of exotic perfume.
Which commune in the Médoc has the most classified growths?
Which has the most First Growths?
Margaux
Pauillac
Where are you likely to find the very best white wines in Bordeaux?
Pessac-Leognan
As of 2008, what are the 5 communes that may list their name in the Cotes de Bordeaux appellation?
Blaye, Francs, Castillon, Cadillac, Sainte Foy
In what year did Chateau Laville Haut Brion stop producing wine?
Who does it now sell its grapes to?
2009
Chateau La Mission Haut Brion
In what, and for how long, are the best sweet wines of Bordeaux fermented and matured?
In a moderate-high % of new oak barrels for up to 2 years.
Name two benefits of Gravel soil
Good drainage, so water isn’t retained.
Gravel soils tend to be warming.
Name the 4 “Premiers Grands Crus Classé A” of the 2012 St. Emilion Classification
Chateau Ausone
Chateau Cheval Blanc
Chateau Pavié
Chateau Angelus
What style of wine is produced in the following appellations:
Margaux
Pomerol
Sauternes
Pessac-Leognan
Entre-Deux-Mers
Margaux: Dry Red
Pomerol: Dry Red
Sauternes: Sweet White
Pessac-Leognan: Dry Red/White
Entre-Deux-Mers: Dry White
What does Cabernet Franc add to a Bordeaux blend?
More tannic than Merlot, less muscular and assertive than Cabernet.
Herbal spice and red fruit aromatics.
Which Ocean Current warms Bordeaux?
The Gulf Stream
Who is the producer of “Creme de Tete”?
Where are they based?
What is unique about this wine?
Chateau Gilette.
Sauternes.
It is aged only in concrete, no oak.
Name the most highly rated area in Graves
Pessac-Leognan
“Pavillon” is the Second wine of which chateau?
Chateau Margaux
The Atlantic brings high levels of rainfall and humidity to Bordeaux, what 3 risks does this bring?
What helps to protect the vineyards from these rains?
- Rain can disrupt flowering and fruit set
- Dampness can promote rot
- Rain at harvest time can dilute flavours
Coastal pine forests.
Who produces the wine below?
Chateau Palmer
Where does Chateau Roc des Cambes produce wine?
Cotes de Bourg.
What are “croupes”?
Gravel mounds in Bordeaux uncovered by the Dutch during their drainage work in the 1600’s.
Put the following appellations in order from North to South:
Sauternes
Médoc
Barsac
Pomerol
Fronsac
- Medoc
- Fronsac
- Pomerol
- Barsac
- Sauternes
Sauternes AOP covers which 5 villages?
Sauternes, Barsac, Fargues, Preignac, and Bommes.
What are the 2 broad categories of soils on the Right Bank, and what are they made of?
The Côtes: Steep, limestone slopes.
The Graves: Gravelly, limestone plateau similar to Medoc.
What is the soil composition in Graves and what is it known as?
A mixture of sand, gravel and light clay is known as “boulbenes”.
Who ruled Bordeaux between 1152 and 1453
England
What are the 3 major and 3 minor white grapes allowed in Bordeaux?
3 Major: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle.
3 Minor: Ugni Blanc, Merlot Blanc, Colombard.
Generally speaking what is the main difference between the soils of the left bank and the right bank?
Left bank predominately gravelly
Right bank predominately clay / limestone with gravelly outcrops
Who produces the wine below?
Chateau Petrus
What does Merlot add to a Bordeaux blend?
Adds softness and fleshy, juicy texture.
How are the best Bordeaux red and white wine aged?
In 225 ltr Barriques, usually a mix of new and old oak.
Red: Up to 2 years in barrel.
White: 12-16 months in barrel.
How is Rosé wine labelled in Bordeaux?
Bordeaux Rosé or Bordeaux Clairet
What is the “microchateau” or “garagiste” movement in Bordeaux?
Name 3 examples and where they produce wines.
A group of small châteaux making powerfully ripe and polished modern wines from just a handful of acres.
Le Pin in Pomerol.
Valandraud and La Mondotte in St-Émilion.
What is the minimum alcohol level for St-Emilion Grand Cru AOP?
11.5%
Which is the only Medoc First Growth not to sell its wines “en primeur”?
Chateau Latour
The climate in Bordeaux is maritime. What does that mean?
Low continentality, low diurnal, rain all year long
In Bordeaux, what are “Courtiers”?
Brokers of wine who supplied the chateaux with financial backing in exchange for control over the actual trading of wine.
How would you describe Bordeaux climate?
What parallel is it located on?
Moderate Maritime
45th Parallel
Which grape is trypically the first to ripen in Bordeaux?
Merlot
When was the last classification of St-Emilion?
2012
What are the 2 parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon?
Sauvignon Blanc
Cabernet Franc
What is ‘Clairet’?
A deeper coloured Rose wine with fuller body made by longer maceration.
a darker, more aromatic style of rosé that evokes the original claret wines shipped to England in the Middle Ages.
In what year did Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion stop producing wine?
Who do they now supply grapes to?
2006
Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion
How are wines from Pauillac generally characterized?
Which 3 First-Growths are found there?
Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines that are structured and long-lived.
Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.
What is the minimum acquired alcohol level and sugar in g/L for Sauternes?
12% abv
45g/L
Which wine region in France has the most hectares under vine?
Bordeaux
Name the 3 Sweet Wine appelations within Graves Superieur.
Sauternes
Barsac
Cerons
Chateau Lafite is associated with which wine/vineyard area?
Bordeaux/Medoc
What is the difference between “coulure” and “millerandage”?
What are they caused by?
Coulure: Uneven set. Occurs when a significant number of berries do not set after flowering. Caused by cold weather during flowering or mineral deficiency.
Millerandage: “Hens and Chicks” or Uneven ripening. Grape clusters with berries that vary in size and number of seeds. Caused by cold weather at flowering, mineral deficiency, or disease.
What is “Bouchet”?
A synonym for Cabernet Franc on the Right Bank
What are the 6 red grapes allowed in Bordeaux?
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot,
Cabernet Franc,
Petit Verdot,
Malbec,
Carmenére.
Chateau Lynch-Bages is a ___ Growth in which commune?
5th Growth, Pauillac.
Traditional barriques in Bordeaux contain how many liters?
225
What is the main taste difference of Pomerol Vs Saint Emilion wine?
Pomerol tends to be richer with a spicier blackberry fruit character
What was the Médoc like before it became a renowned wine area, and who was responsible?
It was a salt marsh and pine forest.
Dutch engineers drained the marshes in the mid-17th Century and discovered beds of gravel underneath.
What is the “Bordeaux Mixture” and what are its ingredients?
A spray applied to vines in oder to prevent fungal disease.
Lime, copper sulfate, water.
What are the 5 villages of Margaux?
Soussans, Margaux, Cantenac, Labarde and Arsac.
What is the name of the original classification of the best red and white wines of The Medoc and Sauternes?
How are wines in this classification referred?
Who commissioned this ranking?
What data did they use to structure the rankings?
1855 classification
Crus Classé
Napoleon III
Record of the prices each property’s wine commanded; the higher the price, the higher the ranking.
What are 3 synonyms for Malbec, and where are they used?
Côt: Cahors
Pressac: Bordeaux Right Bank
Auxerrois: Loire Valley
Which river does St-Emilion border?
The Dordogne
What is the process of ‘Passerillage’?
French term for leaving grapes on the vine past normal harvest so that they dry up and concentrate their flavours
What is Malbec known as in the Right Bank?
In Cahors and the Loire Valley?
Right Bank: Pressac
Cahors: Côt
Loire Valley: Auxerrois
What type of soil would you expect in Haut-Medoc and Pessac-Leognan?
Gravelly, slightly more sandy towards the south.
Chateau Petrus is associated with which region/vineyard area?
Bordeaux/Pomerol
Match the following châteaux with their respective classification/Growth and commune.
Château Léoville Las Cases
Château Cos d’Estournel
Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild
Château Léoville Las Cases: 2nd Growth, St-Julien
Château Cos d’Estournel: 2nd Growth: St-Estephe
Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild: 4th Growth, Pauillac
From which region does Chateau Cheval Blanc come?
Bordeaux - St. Emilion
How many “Growths” in the historical 1855 classification of Bordeaux Red wine?
White wine?
Red - 5 White 3
What does Petit Verdot add to a blend?
Color, depth and exotic perfume;
Where is Chateau Trotanoy located?
Pomerol
In which commune of the Médoc is Chateau Lafite produced?
Pauillac
Top 5 recent vintages of the Médoc?
2005
2009
2010
2015
2016
What is the main difference between Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur?
Superior has slightly stricter appelation rules and has a higher alcohol content than plain Bordeaux
What style do wines from St-Julien generally deomstrate?
A more elegant style.
How are wines from Margaux generally characterized?
Often described as feminine, with an emphasis on floral bouquet, exotic character and finesse.
How are wines from St.-Estephe generally characterized?
Sturdy and full-bodied, with a slightly higher percentage of Merlot.
What are the 5 First Growths of Bordeaux?
Which Chateau is unusual and for what reason?
- Latour
- Lafite-Rothschild
- Mouton-Rothschild (not originally classified as a First Growth in 1855, later added in 1973)
- Margaux
- Haut-Brion
Where does Chateau Rieussec produce wine?
Who owns this property?
Sauternes.
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
What 2 terms can be applied to wines outside the Crus Classé classification?
What are the differences bewtween them?
Cru Artisan and Cru Bourgeois.
Cru Artisan: Reserved for smaller estates (smaller than 5 ha), the list is reviewed every 10 years. Wines must be from 1 of the 8 Medoc communes.
Cru Bourgeois: A superior designation that must be applied for each year; applies only to the individual wine and not the entire estate. Wines must be from 1 of the 8 Medoc communes.
Within the context of Bordeaux, what is unique about the classification system in St-Emilion?
It forms part of the appellation system.
What 3 components dominate the soil of Pomerol?
What is the subsoil made from?
What is the French term for this specific subsoil?
Clay, Sand and Gravel.
Subsoil: Iron pan and Rich Clay (Crasse de Fer / literally “Iron Dirt/Grime”)
Chateau Lynch-Moussas is a ___ Growth in which commune?
5th Growth, Pauillac
Cabernet Franc is most associated with which appellation in Bordeaux?
St. Emilion
What is the most planted grape in Bordeaux?
Merlot
Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou is a ___ Growth in which commune?
2nd Growth / St.-Julien
Chateau Marquis D’alesme Becker is a ___ Growth in which commune?
3rd Growth / Margaux
Chateau Montrose is a ___ Growth in which commune?
2nd Growth / St.-Estephe
Chateau Pape-Clement is located in which commune?
What is significant about this estate?
Pessac - Leognan
It is the oldest Chateau in Bordeaux, celebrating its 700th harvest in 2006.
Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron is a ___ Growth in which commune?
2nd Growth / Pauillac
Where, specifically, is the Lafite-Rothschild estate situated?
What are the 3 major vineyard areas?
- The northern end of Pauillac, close to Cos d’Estournel in St-Estephe.
1. Hillsides around the chateau.
2. “Les Carruades” plateau to the west.
3. 4.5 ha in St-Estephe (technically entitles to the Pauillac appellation.)
How are Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Chateau Latour geographically situated in Pauillac?
How do the wines differ stylistically?
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild: Very northern end of Pauillac, near St-Estephe.
Chateau Latour: Very southern end, near St - Julien.
Wines from Lafite-Rothschild tend to be smooth, finessed, perfumed, polished.
Those from Latour trend towards firmness, solidity, power.
Identify 9 superior vintages of Bordeaux between 1950 and 1990:
1990 / 1989 / 1985 / 1982 / 1970 / 1966 / 1961 / 1959 / 1953
Why is 1982 such a historically significant vintage in Bordeaux?
What was the vintage like, on the whole?
- Rise of Robert Parker as an unequivocally influential critic. Identified the importance of the vintage, encouraged people to buy as much 1982 as they could.
- This brought a huge cash-flow into Bordeaux, marking the end of the “Old Era” and the beginning of Modern Bordeaux; producers began focusing on power and richness, leading to more manipulation of the wines and attempts to recreate this historic vintage.
- Long, hot, dry year yielding rich, ripe, opulent wines.
Who was Émile Peynaud, and why was he so significant?
- A French oenologist known as the “forefather of modern oenology.”
- Encouraged winemakers in Bordeaux to harvest later (they had been harvesting earlier to avoid rot), limit yields, use only the best fruit and pursue a richer, riper style of wine that elevated quality over quantity.
- Also encouraged winemakers to create 2nd and 3rd labels, made with grapes that were of lesser quality.
What are 2 hallmarks of wines from Chateau Latour?
- Very slow to mature; highly tannic in youth.
- Remarkably consistent, equally impressive in vintages considered great, average or even disappointing.
Describe the soil and topological factors that contribute to Petrus’ power and opulence:
- Iron-rich clay soils (crasse de fer) give the wines power and structure.
- Clay helps retain water, creates a cooler mesoclimate ideal for early-ripening Merlot.
- Average age of vines = 45 years.
- Located on a gentle slope which aids in draining.
What is unique about the composition of Petrus’ wine?
Almost entirely Merlot, whereas much of Right Bank wine is Merlot blended with Cabernet Franc.
