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.
Listrac-Medoc and Moulis
Type of wine produced?
Location + effects?
- red wines only for both
- further from the river than super-communes just
=> less benefit of the moderating influence of the estuary
+ less gravel in the soils
Listrac-Medoc and Moulis
How do AOC rules differ from those for the super-communes (2)?
Typical Quality + Price point?
- wines can be released for consumption slightly earlier
- all other AOC requirements = the same
- good to very good
- mid-priced to premium
Graves AOC
Types of wine produced (2)?
Location?
Max. Yields for white + red?
Typical quality + price point?
- large appellation for white + red wines
- 85% = red.
- stretches from the city of Bordeaux southwards.
White: 58 hl/ha
Red: 55 hL/ha
- acceptable - good quality
- inexpensive - mid-priced.
Graves Supérieures AOC
Type of wine produced?
Max. Yield?
- late picked and/or botrytis-affected sweet wines
- higher yields (40 hL/ha) than Sauternes.
Pessac-Leognan
Location
Similarities to the super-communes of Medoc (2):
Types of wine produced + specialty (4)?
- compact appellation = a sub-region within northern Graves AOC
- gravel soils
- moderating effect of the Garonne
- known for high quality, often barrel- fermented + aged white wines
- reputation for producing best white wines of BDX
- high-quality red wines
- red/white split is 80/20%
Pessac-Leognan
Level of wines produced here (2)?
Max yields
- 1 First Growth (Haut-Brion)
- all of the Graves cru classé properties
Max. yield = 54 hL/ha for both red and white
Pessac-Leognan White Wine
Grapes
Typical characteristics of wines: Flavors + Aromas Body Acidity Alcohol
Typical Quality + Price point?
- typically a blend of Sauvignon Blanc + Semillon
- pronounced aromas of gooseberry, lemon and grapefruit
- vanilla and clove oak notes
- medium (+) body
- medium (+) - high acidity
- medium - high alcohol.
- very good - outstanding
- premium - super-premium
General characteristics of Pessac-Leognan red wines?
- similar in style + price to red wines of the four super-communes.
Entre-deux-Mers
Location + size?
What types of wine is produced (2)?
Max. Yield
Typical Quality + Price point?
- literally ‘between 2 seas’; large appellation btw/ the Dordogne and the Garonne.
- second largest appellation in hectares, after Bordeaux AOC
- only white wines
- (Red wine produced but bottled as Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur.)
- max yield 65 hL/ha
=> resulting in some wines of light flavor intensity - acceptable - good
- inexpensive to mid-priced.
How does the Right bank of BDX differ significantly from the Left (4)?
- many small estates (some = 1 hectare)
- dominance of Merlot (60% of plantings)
- followed by Cab Franc and small plantings of Cab Sauv.
- cool, clay soils
Similarities (2) and Differences (2) btw/
Saint-Emilion and Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
SIMILARITIES
- cover the same large area
- red wine only
DIFFERENCES
- Grand Cru = lower max yields (46 hL/ha vs 53 hL/ha)
- Grand Cru = longer min. maturation time (20 months vs 6 months).
How does quality in Saint-Emilion vary (3)?
Typical characteristics of top quality Saint-Emilion wine? Flavors + aromas Body Alcohol Acidity Tannin
Ability to age?
- huge range of quality
- simple wines made for early drinking
- through to the top grand cru Classé (comparable to LB First Growths)
- pronounced red + black plum fruit
- noticeable vanilla + clove (new oak)
- full body
- high alcohol
- medium (+) - high acidity
- medium (+) to high tannins.
- can age many years in bottle (intense fruit concentration, high acidity + tannins)
Lalande-de-Pomerol AOC
What is it (2)?
- larger satellite appellation, north of Pomerol
- allows slightly higher yields vs Pomerol AOC.
What are the 4 Saint-Emilion satellite appellations?
2 biggest + 2 smaller
2 largest = Montagne Saint-Emilion AOC Lussac-Saint-Emilion AOC 2 smaller = Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion AOC Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion AOC
Where are the Saint-Emilion Satellites located?
How do laws + wines compare to Saint-Emilion
- 4 AOCs that are close to Saint-Émilion but further away from Dordogne
- Similar wines to + same rules as Saint-Émilion AOC.
Pomerol AOC
Size
Wines produced + grapes planted:
Max. Yield
- small (~800ha) but very prestigious appellation
- red wines only
- Merlot (around 80 per cent) / Cabernet Franc
- max. yield 49 hL/ha.
How are Pomerol AOC wines classified?
Typical Quality + Price Point
Similar in style to:
no classification system but many top-quality estates
- very good to outstanding
- premium to super-premium
- top wines similar to top Saint-Émilion
How do estate sizes in Pomerol compare w/the rest of BDX (2)?
specific eg?
How does this affect wine prices?
Pomerol estates = quite small
=> consequently small production
eg. Petrus (< 12 ha) vs LB 1st Growths (80–100 ha each)
=> small supply = top properties = some of the highest $$ in the world per bottle
Typical wine characteristics of Pomerol AOC:
Flavors + Aromas Body Alcohol Acidity Tannins
Aging capability + why?
- pronounced red + black plum fruit
- noticeable vanilla and clove (new oak)
- full body
- high alcohol
- medium (+) - high acidity
- medium (+) - high tannins.
Long aging capability (high fruit concentration, high acidity, high tannins
What is the Côtes de Bordeaux AOC + when was it created?
Which communes can append their name to the AOC (5)?
Max. Yields (2)?
- umbrella appellation for a group of appellations on the RB (red + white wines)
- created in 2009
Blaye Cadillac Castillon Francs Sainte. Foy
RED
- max yield 55 hL/ha
- 52 hL/ha if commune
Côtes de Bourg AOC
What + Where is it?
Grapes planted (2)
Wine style + price
- similar appellation to Côtes de Bordeaux (not under same umbrella)
- located across the Gironde E. from Médoc
- Merlot dominant
- specific focus on Malbec (10% of plantings) = highest % of any BDX appellation
- wines = similar in style + price to Médoc AOC
