History

Question 1

What was the impact from the Dutch in Bordeaux?

Answer 1

• They were big fan of sweet wines, so in the late 1600s witnessed a shift in the areas of Sauternes and Bergerac to sweet white wine production, aided by a Dutch reintroduction of Germanic technique – burning sulfur candles in barrels prior to aging wine.
• In the mid-17th century, Dutch engineers built a system of canals (jalles) to drain the marshy lowlands of the Médoc, reclaiming the gravelly, alluvial lands north of the city of Bordeaux

Question 2

Which year château bottling became compulsory for classified estates in the Médoc?

Answer 2

• 1972

Question 3

Explain the historic concept of buying wine sur souche?

Answer 3

• Buying the wine when the grapes were still on the vines. It fell out of favor after the 1961 vintage, which was sold off so cheap & ended up being magnificent

Question 4

What was the chain of supply in the 18th century in Bordeaux?

Answer 4

• Proprietors (rich dude owner)
• Régisseurs (managers/winemaker)
• Courtier (middleman)
• Négociants (take, store & ship wine)

Question 5

When was the Graves classification officially recognized?

Answer 5

• 1953

Question 6

When was the St-Émilion classification officially recognized?

Answer 6

• 1954

Question 7

What is the first of only two changes of the 1855 classification?

Answer 7

• Château Cantemerle, fifth growth of Haut-Médoc, was added in September 1855

Question 8

When Mouton-Rothschild has been elevated to premier cru classé?

Answer 8

• 1973

Question 9

Who’s the first Château to begin estate-bottling its entire production in 1924?

Answer 9

• Mouton Rothschild

Question 10

When was created Pessac-Léognan AOP?

Answer 10

• 1987

Question 11

From 1970-1975 the French government banned new plantings in Bordeaux of which major red grape?

Answer 11

• Merlot

Question 12

Jean- Baptiste Colbert, finance minister in the court of King Louis XIV ordered something that will help the wine industry later. What is it?

Answer 12

• He ordered the planting of new forests in Tronçais and Limousin to provide oak ships with which the French could vie for maritime dominance. Those forests are quite used today for barrels production

Question 13

Explain the privilège de la descente in Bordeaux

Answer 13

• in the 18th century, Bordeaux had a longstanding competitive advantage conferred by the police des vins which prohibited the transfer of non-Bordeaux wines by boat through the port until November 11 of each year. It remained on the books until the revolution

Question 14

Explain the privilège de la barrique in Bordeaux

Answer 14

• Another protectionist mesure in the 18th century. It entitled Bordeaux wines alone to storage and shipment in the barrique barrel. Made from superior wood, the barrel gave Bordeaux wines certain advantages in shipping

Question 15

When Bordeaux adopted the modern size of the barrique (225 l)?

Answer 15

• 1860

Question 16

Why Malbec and Carmenère, began to diminish in the early 1900s in Bordeaux?

Answer 16

• these vines are really hard to graft