Bordeaux Flashcards
Breakdown of red, white and rosé in Bordeaux?
85% red
10% dry white
1% sweet white
4% rosé
Most widely planted grape in Bordeaux?
Merlot (almost 60% of plantings)
Cabernet Sauvignon what % of plantings in Bordeaux?
20%
(Merlot nearly 60%)
Bordeaux climate
Moderate maritime
Recipe for successful vintage in Bordeaux? Climate etc.
Gentle heat through growing season
Enough rain for growth adn ripening
Fine, dry, warm early autumn
Steady adn complete ripening
Excellent balance of tannins, sugar and acidity
Why is Domaine de Chevalier more marginal climate than others?
Beside the Landes forest
Rainfall in Bordeaux
Variable
950mm a year
Impact of excessive rain at key moments in Bordeaux?
At flowering: poor fruit set
Through season: disease pressure increase
At and after veraison: unripe fruit, fungal
At harvest: dilute flavours
Impact of rain at/after veraison in Bordeaux?
Can lead to unripe fruit, fungal diseases
Hot dry years in Bordeaux do what to grapes?
In extreme cases (eg 2003): low acidity, lack balance
Can also lead to wines being more alcoholic - growers waiting for phenolic ripness
Maritime influence more pronounced on Left or Right Bank Bordeaux?
Left Bank
Less pronounced but still a factor in RB
Examples of frost years in Bordeaux
1956, 1991, 2017, 2021
How does Gironde help in frost years?
Moderating influence on the climate, protecting from forst
Impact on yield of 2017 frost in Bordeaux?
33% less wine made than 10-year average
40% less than 2016
Source of gravels on Left Bank?
Deposits of gravel and stony soils carried by floodwaters from Pyrenees and Massif Central, thousands of years ago
Highest gravel mound in Medoc?
32m, Margaux
Croupes
Gravel mounds in Bordeaux
What drains better, gravel or clay?
Gravel
Even after showers and storms on Left Bank, roots of vines soon dry out
Risk of Medoc gravels in a very hot year?
Eg 2003, 2005
Excellent drainage = risk of drought stress
particularly for shallow soils
What happened in Pomerol in 2016 (re shallow soils)?
Some drought stress
Gravel soils drain well, soil less than a metre deep
What do gravel soils do re: heat?
Retain heat
Pebbles and stones retain warmth after hot summer day, release it upwards to vines gradually = aid slow ripening
Soils in St Estephe?
Gravel
Pockets of clay
Reputation of clay soils in Medoc?
Can make robust and charactful wines
Not as prestigious as gravel
Best soils in Right Bank Bordeaux?
Limestone plateau St Emilion
Gravel in pomerol
lots of clay for the most part
Merlot on clay in Bordeaux: how does it perform?
Very well!
Ripens fully in most vintages
Accumulates more sugar (and thus alcohol) than Cab S/F
Merlot early or late budding?
Early budding
Prone to spring forst
Merlot early or late ripening?
Mid ripening
Grapes picked before autumn rain
Merlot susceptible to what ailments? (and so what?)
Coulure, drought and botrytis bunch rot
= sorting is necessary to maintain quality
all can reduce yields
Key benefit of Merlot in Bordeaux?
It can ripen fully in cooler years
(vs later ripening Cab Sauv)
Benefit of clay’s water-holding capacity for Merlot?
Enables it to produce large berries
Merlot flavours and aromas Bordeaux
Medium to pronounced intensity
Strawb, red plum, herbaceous (cool years)
Cooked blackberry, black plum (hot years)
Merlot tannins and alcohol in Bordeaux
Medium tannins
Medium to high alcohol
Cabernet Sauvignon early or late budding?
Late budding
Some protect from spring forst
Describe Cabernet Sauvignon berries?
Small berries
Thick skins
High tannin
Cabernet Sauvignon ailments
Fungal (pwodery)
Trunk (Eutypa dieback and esca)
Cabernet Sauvignon ripens early or late?
Ripens late
Needs to be grown on warmer soils
Vulnerable to early autumn rains
Where is Cabernet Sauvignon at its best?
Warm, well-drained (gravel) soils
Medoc croupes
Cabernet Sauvignon flavours and aromas in Bordeaux
Pronounced intensity
Violet, blackcurrant, black cherry, menthol, herbaceous
Bdx: what’s unripe Cabernet Sauvignon like?
High acidity, unripe tannins, little fruit
Cooler seasons where it struggles to ripen
blended with Merlot and CF for balance
What does Cab Franc bring to Bdx blend?
Red fruit
High acidity
Medium tannins
Malbec replanted in Bordeaux after when? Replaced with what?
Replanted after hard frosts of 1956
Replaced with Merlot (easier to grow)
Petit Verdot buds early or late?
Buds early
Spring frost
Petit Verdot ripens early or late?
Late
Even later than Cab Sauv
Reason for Petit Verdot unpopularity among Bdx growers?
Late ripening, even later than Cab Sauv = struggle to ripen in cool years
Susceptible to rain at harvest
Also, buds early: spring frost risk
Best spots for Petit Verdot in Bordeaux?
Warmer parts of the Medoc
What does Petit Verdot bring to Bordeaux blend?
Power
Deep colour
Spice
High tannin
Why is Petit Verdot increasingly valued by Bdx growers?
Warmer climate = more likely to ripen most years
Semillon ripens early or late?
Mid ripening
Susceptible to botrytis bunch rot, noble rot
Yields for Semillon?
Can carry high yields
Semillon flavours
Low intensity
Apple, lemon
Grass (if under-ripe)
Semillon structure
Medium body
Medium alcohol
Medium to medium (+) acid
What does Semillon bring to high quality dry white Bordeaux blend?
Low to medium intensity aromas, weight and body
Medium acidity
Softens SAuvignon Blanc’s intensity and acidity
Vanilla and sweet spice from new French oak
What does Semillon bring to botrytis wines?
Pronounced honey and dried lemon, peach
Waxy texure
Which is more susceptible to noble rot: Semillon or Sauvignon Blanc?
Semillon
Two examples of Sauternes with high % of Semillon
Climens
Yquem
How does Semillon age?
Very well
Toast and honeyed notes with age
How does Sauvignon Blanc age?
It can hold but its flavours don’t evolve
What does Sauvignon Blanc bring to white Bdx blend?
Grassy, goosberry
High acidity
Bdx: Muscadelle info
Needs to be planted on well exposed site
Prone to botrytis bunch rot
Mostly sweet wines
Flowery and grapey notes
What does Muscadelle add to blend?
Flowery and grapey notes
Costs associated with high-density planting in Bdx?
More plants and trellising required
Specialist over-the-row tractors
More (labour) time for vine training, ploughing, spraying etc
Vine density in basic Bordeaux AOC?
Low density
3,000-4,000 vines per hectare
(vs 10,000/ha for Pauillac etc)
Most common way to manage vine in Bdx?
Head trained
Replacement cane pruned
Canes trained along wires
Left Bank: two canes (double Guyot)
Right Bank: one can (single Guyot)
Different Guyot Left vs Right Bank
Left Bank: double Guyot, ie two canes
Right Bank: single Guyot, ie one cane
Second most common way to manage vine in Bdx (after Guyot)
Cordon-trained, spur-pruned
Rare but some estates use it, prestigious
Reduces yields naturally, better aeration
Moderate damp climate in Bordeaux leads to what problems
Downy mildew
Powdery mildew
Botrytis bunch rot
How to fend off mildew pressure with canopy mgmt?
Leaf removal during summer = improve aeration, deter rot
Exposes grapes to UV light = aid ripening
What is soft pruning?
Response to esca and eutypa dieback
Make only small cuts if possible, leave extra wood at cut site, allow wood to dry out
Maximise sap flow