Bordeaux Flashcards
% of AOC wine production in Bordeaux?
- 85 % red
- 9 % dry white
- 5% rosé
- <1% sweet white
1855 Classification?
- Exposition Universelle de Paris
- Bordeaux chamber of commerce
- Brokers
- Based on price
- Médoc + Haut-Brion in Graves = 5 bands
- Sauternes = 3 bands
How many hectares planted in Bordeaux?
- 108k ha
- 72% = Bordeaux/Supérieur/Médoc/Cộtes (inexpensive to mid-price)
- 5% = cru classés
Climate in Bordeaux?
- Moderate maritime
- Warm Gulf Stream
- Protection from Landes
- Vintage variation
- Frost, hail, rain
Best conditions in Bordeaux?
- Warm growing season
- Plentiful rain
- Dry and warm first month of autumn
Problems due to rain in Bordeaux?
- Rain at flowering = poor fruit set
- Disease pressure
- Unripe fruit
- Dillution
Climate change in Bordeaux?
- Hot, dry summers
- 2003
- Low acidity
- High alcohol
Frost in Bordeaux?
- 2017
- Loss of crops
- Médoc = closer to Gironde = protection
Vintage variation in Bordeaux?
- 2017 = frost = 33% less than 10-year average
Left Bank soils?
- Gravel mixed with clay and sand
- Top estates = gravel mounds = Croupes
- Drainage + diurnal
- Wines from clay soils = robust and less quality
Drought stress in Bordeaux?
- 2003 and 2005
- Undeep soils
- Drainage of soils
Right Bank soils?
- More clay, some gravel patches
- Limestone plateau
Merlot
- Early budding
- Mid Ripening
- Susceptible to coulure, drought, rot
- Large berries due to water
- High sugar
Cabernet Sauvignon
- Late budding
- Late ripening
- Small-berries, thick-skins
- Fungal disease, trunk disease
Sémillon
- Mid-ripening
- Botrytis
- High yields
Vine density in prestigious regions in Bordeaux?
- High
- 10k vines per ha
- Infertile soils, moderate vigour
Vine density in less prestigious regions in Bordeaux?
- Low
- 3000 vines per ha
Training in Bordeaux?
- Head-trained, replacement cane-pruned
- Double Guyot on Left Bank
- Single Guyot on Right Bank
Canopy management in Bordeaux?
- Leaf removal during summer (disease + shading)
- Soft pruning
- Bunch thinning (but winter pruning is better for balance)
Harvest in Bordeaux?
- Machinal (difficult to find labour)
- Top estates by hand for quality
Sorting in Bordeaux?
- Not for inexpensive
- During harvest by hand
- On a belt/ optical sorting
Fermentation for red Bordeaux?
- Closed vats
- Pump-overs
- Cultured yeast
- Wood, stainless steel and concrete
- Temperature control
Fermentation temperature and maceration time for early drinking red Bordeaux?
- Mid-range temperatures
- 5–7 days on skins
Fermentation temperature and maceration time for high quality red Bordeaux?
- Mid-range to warm temperatures
- 14–30 days on the skins
- Maceration time reduced in poor vintages (unripe fruit)
Maturation for early drinking red Bordeaux?
- Draining
- Gentle pressing
- Stainless steel or large vats
- 6 months
- Oak chips optional
- MLF
Maturation for high quality red Bordeaux?
- Draining
- Gentle pressing
- French oak 225L barriques (100% new, or mixed)
- 18-24 months
- Racking or micro-oxygenation
- Rapid MLF for en primeur (heated cellars)
Blending in red Bordeaux?
- Decide later how much press wine into blend for structure
- Over the winter for en primeur
- Few months before bottling
Generic white Bordeaux winemaking?
- Directly pressed
- Cool temperatures
- Stainless steel tanks
- Few months
- Clarify and bottle
High quality white Bordeaux winemaking?
- Directly pressed for freshness / 24h skin maceration for aroma and phenolics
- Barriques (new or mixed)
- No MLF
- Bâtonnage (but not in hot vintages because balance body/acid)
Grape growing for sweet Bordeaux
- Pruning to low number of buds
- Removal of damaged fruit
- Trained harvesters to see difference with grey rot
- Several passes
- Harvest September to November
- Winemaking as white wine
The level of botrytis in Bordeaux?
- Weather conditions
- Proximity of estate to mist
- Willingness to wait for best harvest time
- Willingness to pay for multiple passes
Saint-Estephe AOC
- Most Northerly = cooler
- 43% Merlot
- Cabernet Sauvignon on gravel close to Gironde
- Rustic wines that need ageing
Pauillac AOC
- 63% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Many top estates have 70-80% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Most structured
- Three of the five First Growths
Saint-Julien AOC
- Mid-way point: structure of Pauillac + finesse of Margaux
Margaux AOC
- Most South
- Slightly more Merlot than Pauillac or Saint-Julien
- Drainage needed due to clay
- Perfumed wines with silky tannins
Pomerol AOC
- 80% Merlot
- Second Cabernet Franc
- No classification
- Petrus = 12 ha vs First growths with 100ha
Côtes de Bourg AOC
- 10% Malbec
Sauternes AOC
- 80% Sémillon
- Sauvignon Blanc + Muscadelle
- Cold Ciron River meets warmer Garonne River (morning mist)
- Mist burns of in middle day
- Afternoon sun to dry the grapes
- 50% of sweet wine production in Bordeaux
- Barsac = labelled either Barsac AOC or Sauternes AOC
- Max 25 hL/ha
- Crisis due to low demand
- Many estates make now dry white instead
Classification of Sauternes
- First and Second growths
- Ch. d’Yquem = Premier Cru Supérieur
Business in Bordeaux?
- Over 7,000 estates
- Consolidation to make viable volumes
- The average estate size is rising = 20 hectares
- 800 million bottle per year
- ¼ of production are co-ops
Production costs for classed growth Bordeaux
- €16 per bottle vs €0.5 for generic
- Vine density (planting material, trelisses, tractors)
- Harvest costs
- Viticultural costs
- Lower yield
- Sorting
- Barrel ageing (new oak + cash flow)
Bordeaux markets?
- Supermarkets
- 45% volume export: China USA Belgium
- 170 countries
La place de Bordeaux?
- Producer (estate, co-ops, wineries)
- Sells wine to +/- 40 merchants (négociant) = Set in place by broker (courtier)
- Merchant sells wine to distributor (importer, wholesaler, retailer)
How much % does each party take in Bordeaux
- Broker 2%
- Merchant 15%
Inexpensive markets for Bordeaux
- Low demand in France
- High competition from Chile, Australia,..
- Co-ops and small producers
- Mostly French supermarkets
High quality markets for Bordeaux
- First growths and other high quality
- En primeur
- Paper transaction in spring,1 year before bottling
- 2012: Ch. Latour no longer en primeur
