Bordeaux Flashcards
Why was the peninsula of Médoc unable to do agricultural practises before the 17th century - who and how was it made possible and the centuries after?
The peninsula was marshy and unsuitable for agricultural practises, the Dutch residents of the city of Bordeaux drained the Peninsula during the 17th and 18th century and made vine-plantings possible.
What happened in 1855?
The Exposition Universelle de Paris (Verdensudstillingen) was to take place, and therefore the brokers of Médoc was asked to do a classification-system of the wineregion, this classification is still active today.
Name the important rivers and describe how they divide the region.
West of Garonne and Gironde lies the West-bank
East of Gironde and Dordogne lies the East-bank
In-between the rivers lies the Entre-Deux-Mers
How is the wine-production in percentage divided between red, white, rosé and sweet wines?
85% red * 10% white * 4% Rosé * 1% Sweet white
What is the size of the vineyards-plantings in Bordeaux?
111.000 hectares (70% inexpensive-mid-priced, 30% premium-super-premium-priced)
By what is the region of Bordeaux influenced and how is the influence?
By the Cool Atlantic sea. This makes Bordeaux a Moderate Maritime Climate. Moderations comes from protection of pine-woods to the west. The west-bank (particularly the northern part) is mainly influenced by the Atlantic, as the East-bank is protected by the West-bank and the Entre-Deux-Mers.
What are the heaviest climate hazards?
Rain and hail. Storms coming from the Atlantic can influence the fuitset, the disease-pressure, the Véraison and the harvest. Hail can occur in heavy format and destroy large parts of the vines and grapes.
Drought can also have an effect, it’s more rare but does happen; E.g. 2003, 2005, 2010 - gravel-based vineyards may struggle to retain the water and therefore be hit by drought-stress.
Frost happens aswell although severe frosts are quite rare, especially in newer times - 1956, 1991 and 2017 was hit bad.
What is the general soil of the west-bank composed of and why is this?
The soil is generally made up of gravel mixed with sand and clay. The Medoc-parts just north of the city of Bordeaux and the Graves just south of the city is more gravel-heavy whereas the parts south of Graves and in the most northern part of Medoc tends to have a higher amount of clay and sand. The soil comes from the Pyrenees and the Massif Central and was transported there thousands of years ago.
How does the soil affect the varieties planted on the west-bank, in regard of climate and style.
Gravel benefits of good drainage, making the soil suitable for Cab. S and Cab. F, whereas the parts with heavier amounts of sand and clay will benefit Merlot. The gravel can be helpful in wetter years due to the drainage but a liability in warmers years as the wines may suffer of drought-stress.
What is the general soil of the west-bank composed of and why is this?
The soil is generally composed of more clay-heavy soil, even mixed with chalk e.g. in Pomerol where the soil is composed of Limestone. The soil is more suitable for Merlot and combined with the slightly warmer climate will make more dense and alcohol-heavier wines compared to the west-bank.
What is the typical planting-density and why?
Traditionally Vines are planted quite close, 10000 vines pr. Hectare, one meter apart and one meters between rows - this will only enhance moderate vigour in the given environment - this is very efficient given the high price of the prestigous and expensive land.
Less prestigous regions often plant at lower densitiy - 3-4000 vines per hectare.
What is the most traditional system of managing your vines? and why would some estates differ from this procedure?
Head-trained, replacement cane-pruned, canes trained along wires is generally the most used
On the left-bank it is tradition to do Double-Guyot
On the right-bank it is tradition to do Single-Guyot
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Cordon-trained, spur-pruned is less seen, but some of the most prestigious estates favor it, arguing that it reduces yields naturally and gives better aeration to the bunches
What are the most important reason to do canopy-management in Bordeaux? What is the new big challenging diseases?
Extremely important due to the damp and humid conditions - leaf-removal takes place during the summer, the grapes and the vine needs to be exposed to light to some extend, to dry up the vine to avoid mildews, and to aid the grapes ripening.
* Leaf removal needs to be done carefully and as late as possible, otherwise the grapes may be too exposed and sunburned; e.g. 2003, where many producers removed leaves too early and grapes would raisin. * Eutypa and Esca have become major problems in recent times (rotting of the vines from the inside) * A relatively new treatment called "soft pruning" is used, to some extend, to treat the vines. Leaving cuts in the wooden parts, can help dry up the vine, and stop the rotting.
In regard of yields, what has change throughout the last 20 years?
20 years ago it was common practice to remove bunches “Bunch-thinning” during maturation-period, to lower the yield and increase the intensity of the left of bunches - now a days this is less common, as canopy management and winter pruning will help control the yields and give the grapes a more natural maturation-period, creating healthier and higher quality-grapes with still lower yields.
Average yields are around 50 hectolitres per hectare - to lower the yields even more, needs to be done with caution as grapes can otherwise become too intense with jammy and cooked flavors.
What are the challenges in regard of harvesting? Manual / Machine
As the northern part of Médoc is 2,5 hours drive away from Bordeaux city, hired help can be hard to find and therefore it is more common to use machinery up there.
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It takes time and money to hire large groups and have them harvesting at the exact right moment, therefore several estates use machinery, it is cheaper and can be more precise if storm/rain is forecasted.
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Most prestigious estates use hand-harvest always - quality-control is still best this way.
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Harvesting plot-by-plot has become more of a general trend, as this allows for proper ripeness of the grapes.
Briefly explain how high quality wines are made
High quality wines meant for long ageing:
* mid-range to warm temperature, 14-30 days on the skin, for long extraction * Fermented in 225 litres barrique, traditionally new, 1 year and 2 year old wood. Some modern wineries use cement or steel for fermentation, before transferring to ageing in Barrique. * 18-24 months of ageing is tradition - some use more, some less. * Some top-estates use 100% new oak, though the percentage of new oak has decreased throughout the last years - fashion. * By tradition wines are racked every 3 months - to soften tannins
