France - Bordeaux Flashcards
What region of France has the most acres under vine?
Bordeaux
What is the climate of Bordeaux?
Atlantic influenced, the Gironde estuary acts as a funnel, rain throughout the year, more consistent/fewer spikes of temperature within each year - but year to year can vary hugely. No large diurnal shift.
What ocean current affects Bordeaux weather and climate
Atlantic Gulf Stream, brings warm water direct from the Caribbean.
What red grapes are authorized for basic Bordeaux AOP?
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carmenère
What white grapes are authorized for Bordeaux AOP?
Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc (and Gris), Muscadelle, Ugni Blanc, Merlot Blanc, and Colombard
What is Bordeaux’s most planted white grape?
Semillon
What is a typical right bank red cepage?
70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc
What three diseases arrived to Bordeaux from America in the late 19th C?
oidium, phylloxera, and peronospera
What is oidium and how is it treated in Bordeaux?
powdery mildew - treated with sulphur
What is peronospera and how is it treated in Bordeaux?
Downy mildew - treated with copper sulphate
What is Bordeaux mixture and what does it great?
Copper sulphate-lime mix, treats oidium and peronospora
When did plantings of Carmenere and Malbec diminish in Bordeaux?
Post-phylloxera, these grapes were difficult to graft on the new rootstock
What are 3 great mid-century vintages in Bordeaux?
1945, then 1947 and 1949
What was the first Bordeaux chateau to estate-bottle its entire production? When?
Mouton-Rothschild, in 1924
When did estate bottling become widespread in Bordeaux?
1960s
When did estate bottling become compulsory for Medoc classified estates?
1972
What role does the courtier serve in Bordeaux?
Acts as intermediary between the producers and the negociants
What was the first notable Chateau to opt out of the en primeur system?
Chateau Latour, in 2012
What trellising system is most often found in Bordeaux’s left bank?
Guyot - double
What trellising system is most often found in Bordeaux’s right bank?
Guyot - simple
What trellising system is found in Sauternes? Why?
Cordon - helps produce smaller berries that will attract botrytis
What is minimum vine spacing for Medoc?
7000 vines/hectare (though 1 x 1 spacing is often found at top properties)
What is minimum vine spacing for St. Émilion and Pomerol?
5500 vines/hectare
Why are spacing requirements typically lower on the right bank than on the left?
Soils are often shallower, so vines spread outward instead of down
What Bordeaux region has the lowest mandated vine spacing?
Entre-Deux-Mers - 2.5 m
What was the first certified biodynamic producer in the Medoc?
Chateau Pontet-Canet
What Sauternes producer has embraced biodynamics?
Chateau Climens
What are three types of sorting tables found in Bordeaux?
optical, density, and hand sorting
When is micro oxygenation used?
First developed in Madiran, this introduces oxygen during fermentation, and will help soften tannins
What is cliquage?
Micro oxygenation that takes place in barrel during elevage. Controversial, as it potentially sacrifices long term stability.
What are the 8 appellations of the Medoc?
Medoc, Haut-Medoc, Margaux, Pauillac, St. Estephe, St. Julien, Listrac-Moulis, Moulis/Moulis en Medoc
Name a quality producer labeled as “Medoc”
Chateau Potensac, far north in Bas-Medoc
Name a quality producer labeled as “Haut-Medoc”
Chateau Sociando-Mallet, just north of St Estephe
What is the northernmost commune AOP in the Medoc?
Saint-Estephe
What is a jalle?
Drainage canal
What marks the southern border of Saint Estephe?
Jalle de Breiul
What two properties does the Jalle de Breiul divide?
Cos d’Estournel (St Estephe) and Laftite-Rothschild (Pauillac)
What are the leading estates of Saint Estephe?
Cos d’Estournel and Montrose
What is the most planted wine region of France?
Bordeaux - 117,500 ha in 2011
Great Bordeaux vintages of the 40s
1945, 1947, 1949
Why is Cordon training used in Sauternes?
cordon-training produces smaller berries that attract botrytis
How long does a BDX grand vin usually spend in barrel?
18-24 months
describe elevage for a Medoc grand vin
18-24 mo. in oak, usually 100% new, racking every three months, Malo unusual for whites
When did the practice of producing a second wine become popular?
1982 vintage
Name a commune the Medoc where Merlot is seeing increased plantings. Why
St-Estephe, higher proportion of clay
Does Cabernet or Merlot ripen first?
Merlot
In a warmer vintage in Pauillac, will percentages of Cabernet go up or down?
Cabernet percent will likely increase, as the berries have a chance to ripen thoroughly
What are the 5 communes in Margaux AOP? Which have the most Chateaux?
Margaux and Cantenac, then Soussans, Arsac, and Labarde
Two cru bourgeois producers of Moulis
Château Chasse-Spleen and Château Poujeaux
What was the last Medoc commune to reach AOP status?
Listrac, in 1957
What are challenges to viticulture in Listrac and Moulis?
Lack of proximity to the Gironde, more difficult to ripen grapes, especially Cabernet. Merlot plantings on the rise
What are Cru Artisan producers?
Officially recognized in 2002, after more than a century of use - they are small estates (average 6 ha.) that are noted stewards of the land and craft of winemaking, without the financing or apparatus of large-scale operations
Why have planted acres shrunk in the northern parts of Graves (typically high quality area)?
The expanding suburbs of Bordeaux
What is the only major region of Bordeaux to produce dry red, white, and sweet white wines?
Graves
How does the terroir of Graves differ from N to S?
More gravel deposits (croupes) in the north, left behind from the Garonne river over millennia. In the south, more clay and limestone is found.
Graves Supérieures AOP
only sweet white wines from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Muscadelle
Graves AOP
only dry red and white wines, from the classic complement of BDX grapes
What are the two regional Graves appellations and how do they differ?
Graves Supérieures AOP and Graves AOP. Superieures is for sweet white wines, Graves AOP is for red and white dry wines.
When, and why, was the Pessac-Léognan AOC created?
1987, under efforts led by André Lurton, to define the northern communes from Graves, with their predominance of gravel soils and all the classed chateaux, as separate from the south.
Pessac-Léognan AOP
dry reds (accounting for 80%) of production and dry whites from the standard complement of BDX grapes. higher vine planting density and lower yield requirements than Graves AOP
Two top quality white wine producers in Pessac-Léognan AOP
Haut-Brion and Domaine de Chevalier
What winemaking processes are allowed in Sauternes to increase must concentration?
Cryoextraction and chaptalization
Producers in Barsac have the choice of what two appellations for their sweet wines?
Barsac AOP and Sauternes AOP
What appellation is Chateau d’Yquem’s Ygrec entitled to?
Bordeaux AOP - Graves AOP does not cover the territory, and Sauternes AOP allows only sweet wines
Minumum rs for Cerons, Barsac, and Sauternes AOPs
45 g/l - for all
Cérons AOP allows what style of wine
sweet white wine
Producers in Cérons may use what AOPs?
Cérons AOP for sweet white, or Graves AOP for dry red and white
What is Chateau Palmer’s “Historical XIX Century” wine?
blend of 85% cabernet with 15% Rhone Syrah, produced in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013, 2014, 2016
Laville Haut Brion (blanc) is now called what?
La Mission Haut Brion blanc - as of 2009
What was the final vintage of Chateau La Tour Haut Brion (rouge) and where does the wine now go?
- The wine is now incorporated in the La Chapelle de La Mission Haut Brion.
Name three Barsac producers
Climens, Coutet, Doisy-Daëne
Name three Sauternes producers
Yquem, Suduiraut, Lafleurie-Peyraguey, Rieussec, Chateau Gilette (unoaked example)
5 Pessac Leognac red wine producers (other than Haut Brion and La Mission)
Smith Haut Lafitte, Malartic Lagraviere, Haut Bailly, Pape Clement, Château La Louvière
Does Medoc or Haut Medoc have a higher minimum planting density?
Haut Medoc (6500 vines/ha vs. 5000)
What is the large co-op in Listrac?
Cave Grand-Listrac
Name 2 high quality producer in Listrac
Château Bellegrave, Chateau Clarke
Which is the smallest of the Medoc appellations?
Moulis-en-Médoc
Min alcohol for all Medoc AOPs
11%
Does Pichon Baron or Pichon Lalande have more structure?
Pichon Baron - higher use of Cabernet Sauvignon; Pichon Lalande is quite high in Merlot for Pauillac at 30%
Two leading cru bourgeois producers of St-Estephe
Chateau Les Ormes de Pez, Phelan Segur
Are there any Médoc appellations for white wine?
Only generic Bordeaux AOP covers white wine production in the Médoc
Which river separates Pomerol from Lalande-de-Pomerol (and St. Emilion from its satellites)?
The Barbanne
Describe the terroir of St. Emilion
Center is a limestone plateau, and the growing areas are famously the hillsides (or cotes) that feature cool clay soils. There are gravel (graves) sections found to the northwest - approaching Pomerol - where Cabernet is more dominant (as in the Cabernet Sauvignon heavy wines of Figeac and the Cab Franc dominant wines of Cheval Blanc)
What are the two red wine only appellations for St. Emilion? What are the differences?
Saint-Émilion AOP (1936) and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru AOP (1954) Grand Cru wines must be estate bottled, have lower yields, and longer elevage (an additional year).
What does Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé mean vs. Saint-Émilion Grand Cru?
Classé is the classification, the other the AOP
Is Carmenere allowed in Pomerol AOP wines?
No
How much Petit Verdot may be in a bottle of St-Emilion AOP?
max. 10% Petit Verdot
Name 10 Pomerol producers
Vieux Chateau Certan, Petrus, Château La Conseillante, Château Lafleur, Château Clinet, Château Latour à Pomerol, L’Évangile, Trotanoy, Château Certan de May
Soils of Chateau Petrus
blue-clay
Terroir of Pomerol
Plateau with 3 distinct terraces 1) light sandy soils (lesser wines/terroir) near the Dordogne and Libourne; 2) clay and gravel glacial deposits, mixed with the crasse de fer - iron-rich sands; 3) highest point, in the east - purer, water-retaining clay with some gravel, especially the buttonière with its blue clays
When did the Côtes de Bordeaux AOP debut?
2009 - outlying areas, varying soils/terroirs, united under a unifying marketing banner.
How is most rosé producer in Bordeaux?
saignée
What styles of wines are allowed under Entre-deux-Mers AOP?
Blanc Sec (and Haut-Benauge geographic designation) from Min. 70% combined Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Muscadelle, and Sémillon - at least 2 must be present, varietal wines not allowed. Accessory Varieties: Max. 30% Merlot Blanc; max. 10% combined Mauzac, Colombard, and Ugni Blanc
What are three AOPs for sweet wines in the Entre-deux-Mers
Cadillac, Loupiac, and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont AOPs
Which AOP is directly across the Garonne from Sauternes?
Sainte Croix du Mont
Which AOP is directly across the river from Barsac?
Loupiac
Styles of wine permitted in Côtes de Bordeaux-Saint-Macaire AOP?
Blanc (Sec, Moelleux, and Liquoreux): Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon
Minimum rs in Sainte Croix du Mont, Loupiac, and Cadillac?
51 g/l in Cadillac, 45 in Loupiac and Sainte Croix
Which AOP is situated directly across the river from Fronsac? Which river?
Graves de Vayres AOP. The Dordogne.
Styles of wine permitted in Graves de Vayres AOP?
Blanc, blanc sec, rouge
Bourg AOP grapes and permitted styles
Blanc: Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon, Muscadelle, Colombard
Rouge: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Cot, and Merlot
Blaye AOP permitted wine styles and grapes?
Rouge:
Principal Varieties: Min. 50% combined Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot
Accessory Varieties: Cot (Malbec), plus a max. 15% combined Petit Verdot and Carmenère (max. 10% Carmenère)
Is white wine authorized under Blaye AOP?
no
Which IGP may Bordeaux producers use?
Atlantique IGP - in practice, few do, and more often this is seen in Bergerac, Duras, or Cognac
What does “sur souches” refer to?
Pricing agreed to prior to harvest (via negociants) based on previous year’s pricing
What is the more widespread method of cap management during vinification in Bordeaux?
Remontage (though the gentler, Burgundian pigeage has its defenders)
What was the Jurade of Saint-Émilion?
In 1199, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s son granted Saint-Émilion autonomy as a free “jurisdiction” effectively independent of English rule, establishing the Jurade, or regional administration, to oversee governance.
What are the factors that moderate the strong Atlantic influence in Bordeaux?
Moderating factors:
Coastal Landes forest
Gironde estuary
What are the sources of the alluvial soils prevalent in Bordeaux?
Pyrenees and the Massif Central; Dordogne originates in the Massif Central, Garonne from the Pyrenees
When did Merlot become prominent on the Right Bank?
after the 1956 freeze because Malbec and Cabernet Franc-less hardy and later ripening
What are some viticultural challenges (and benefits) of Merlot?
Can overproduce sugars in hot vintages. Thin skinned and susceptible to rot (downy mildew), coulure if weather is poor during flowering. Vigorous vine and long lived - up to 100 years. Early ripening.
What are three (unofficial) subzones of St. Emilion?
1) Gravel border with Pomerol
2) Limestone plateau, village of St. Emilion and stretching out to the east
3) Cotes-Hillsides around the village of St. Emilion
Describe the terroir of Lussac- St Emilion?
Most northerly of satellites - Cooler, higher elevation
Varied soils – clay/gravel & silt in the valleys, clay/limestone on slopes, clay/sand on plateau
Bands of limestone throughout the region are where the best estates are
60% Merlot, 30% CF
Describe the terroir of Saint Georges St Emilion?
most uniform soils of limestone, smallest satellite, may also use the Montagne AOP designation
Describe the terroir of Montagne St Emilion?
clay limestone soils
high proportion of Merlot
Largest producer of St. Em Satellite wine
Describe the terroir of Puisseguin Saint-Émilion AOP
High, coolest site, clay limestone soils
Which grapes were approved in June 2019 for use in Bordeaux (pending INAO approval)?
Arinarnoa, Touriga Nacional, Marselan, and Castets for reds, and Alvarinho, Petit Manseng, and Liliorila for whites
What is Bordeaux’s most expensive bottling?
Liber Pater - own rooted, ancient varieties
