Bordeaux - Appellations, Wine Laws and Regulations Flashcards
What AOC rules are in place for most Bordeaux wines?
What grapes are permitted (6)?
Using 2 egs., illustrate What similarities / differences exist between different appellations in practice (5)?
- Most regulations simply list permitted Bordeaux varieties w/out rules regarding proportions / aging.
Cabernet Franc / Cabernet Sauvignon / Carmenère / Malbec / Merlot / Petit Verdot
eg. Pauillac AOC vs Pomerol AOC
- same varieties allowed
however:
Pauillac = dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon
Pomerol = Merlot
=> reflects traditional plantings on the Left and Right Banks.
Generic Bordeaux AOCs
Bordeaux + Bordeaux Supérieur similarities (2)
Proportion of Bordeaux production?
Max Yield differences?
- both apply to same geographic area (vast area of Bordeaux)
- both can be white / rosé / red wines
- together = 50% of all Bordeaux wine produced
Bordeaux AOC max. yields: WHITE: 67 ROSÉ: 62 RED: 60 => some wines of low flavor concentration.
Bordeaux Supérieur AOC:
RED: 59 hL/ha (barely lower)
Generic Bordeaux / Supérieur AOC wines
RED grape / general wine characteristics?
White grape / general wine characteristics?
Typical quality + price point?
RED:
- mainly Merlot
- medium intensity red fruit
- high acidity
- medium (+) tannins
- medium body
- medium alcohol.
WHITE:
- mainly Sauvignon Blanc
- medium intensity gooseberry + lemon fruit
- medium body
- high acidity
- medium alcohol
- acceptable - good quality
- inexpensive to mid-priced.
Médoc AOC and Haut-Médoc AOC
Location (4)?
Types of wine + max. yield
When may wines be released?
- left bank of the Gironde
- N of the city of Bordeaux.
- Médoc AOC = northern end of the area
- Haut-Médoc AOC = area closest to Bordeaux city + individual Left Bank communes
- red wine only
- maximum yield is 55 hL/ha.
- wines may be sold mid-June of year after harvest
Médoc AOC and Haut-Médoc AOC
grapes planted
soils
Quality + Price point
Medoc = nearly equal proportions of Merlot + Cab Sauv. Haut-Medoc = 50% Cab Sauv / 44% Merlot
Haut-Medoc soil include warm, gravelly sites
v. large areas
=> wines = wide range of prices and quality levels.
What are the 4 famous single communes in the Haut-Médoc (north to south):
What type of wine is made in these communes?
How is their location / soil conducive to the ripening of______ (3)?
- Saint-Estèphe
- Pauillac
- Saint-Julien
- Margaux.
Red wine only.
- adjacent to the Gironde estuary + moderating influence - high proportion of warm gravelly soils
=> enabling Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen.
Max. Yields for the 4 super communes in the Haut-Medoc?
Typical characteristics of these wines? Flavors / Aromas Alcohol Tannin Body
Typical Quality + Price point:
- 57 hL/ha.
- pronounced intensity blackcurrant, green bell pepper (especially in cooler vintages) + red plum fruit
- vanilla and cedar oak notes.
- medium - high alcohol
- high tannins
- medium (+) bodied.
- very good - outstanding
- premium - super-premium
Saint-Estephe
Location + climate + why?
What % of Cab Sauv / Merlot are planted, and where + why do they perform well?
- most northerly + coolest of the four Médoc communes
- closest to the Atlantic Ocean
- 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
=> performs best on the gravel banks close to the estuary. - 40% Merlot (more than other 3 communes)
=> can ripen successfully here
=> well suited to the clay soils away from the estuary.
Saint-Estephe
How are these wines often characterized + why?
Exceptions (3)?
- reputation for rustic wines that need many years in the bottle to soften the tannins
=> has a cooler regional climate - wines made from grapes from warmer gravel soils
- or significant proportion of Merlot
=> wines are softer + more accessible
Saint-Estephe
How are soils slightly different from the other Haut-Medoc communes?
How has this been advantageous?
What level of estates are located here (3)?
- soils have a higher proportion of clay
- water retaining capacity = advantageous in recent dry, hot summers.
- no First Growths
- a number of prestigious second growths (eg. Ch. Montrose)
- many Cru Bourgeois.
Pauillac
What is the importance of Cab Sauv in this commune + how does this affect the wines?
Where is it typically planted and why?
- high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon planted (~62%)
- Many top estates = even higher proportion of Cab Sauv in blend (70-80%)
=> resulting in wines of high concentration + great longevity. - CS often planted on gravel banks close to the estuary
=> enabling the variety to ripen fully in most years.
Pauillac
How is this wine often characterized + why (3)?
What level of wine is produced here (2)?
- regarded as the most structured wine of the Left Bank
- v. high proportion of Cab Sauv used (70-80%)
=> high tannins, high acidity, capacity for long ageing - 3 of the 5 first growths
- highest proportion of production of cru classé wine
(~85% of production) vs other communes
Saint-Julien
Similarities to Pauillac (2)?
Soils?
How is it described characteristically?
What level of wine is produced here?
- also has a very high proportion of Cab Sauv. planted
- also a high proportion of cru classé production.
- very homogenous gravel soils
- often regarded as a mid-way point btw/ powerful structure of Pauillac + finesse of Margaux.
- no first growths but five second growths.
Margaux
What level of wine is produced here?
How do proportions of Cab Sauv and Merlot compare to other communes?
Soils (2) + cost implications?
How are Margaux’s wines characterized?
- high proportion of cru classé production + 1 first growth
- slightly less Cabernet Sauvignon + slightly more Merlot compared to other communes.
- stony, gravelly soils
- w/clay seams running through some areas
- clay seams = can require supplementary drainage ($$$)
-reputation for perfumed wines with silky tannins.
Margaux
How does its position affect grape-growing (3)?
What is an advantage to this?
- further south than other communes
=> grapes ripen a few days earlier vs Pauillac
=> 7–10 days earlier vs northern Medoc appellations - can be an advantage in cool years or if rain threatens.
