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51

Oenologists History

neoclassical stucco villa with a liveried English servant in white gloves shak-

ily pouring an ancient Margaux into a decanter in candlelight to the sounds of

chamber music from a Russian string quartet flown in for the occasion, has been

sadly deceived. Bordeaux is not classic and aristocratic, Bordeaux is luxury, and

thanks to its increasingly broad range has remained astonishingly affordable.

Bordeaux is fashion and fun, Bordeaux is something for modern people, Bor-

deaux is young and urban, and if Bordeaux were music it would not be merely

Mozart echoing from the loudspeakers, but also techno, lounge and dub. There

is just one facet of Bordeaux which does not fit our fast-paced era: Bordeaux

needs time and leisure.

52

History Overview

56 BC Crassus conquers the Bituriges: Burdigala (Bordeaux) becomes Roman.

According to the historian Strabo there is virtually no home-grown wine, with

the drink instead being imported from Iberia and southern Italy.

71 BC Pliny visits Bordeaux – the city is entirely surrounded by vines.

400 AD The teacher and rhetorician Ausonius describes Bordeaux as ‘charac-

terised by rivers and vines'.

1154 Bordeaux comes under English rule. Wine becomes the city's most impor-

tant export product and ensures the wealth of its inhabitants.

1214 The inhabitants of Bordeaux persuade King John of England to abolish all

export taxes on wine. The ports of Bordeaux become the world's most impor-

tant wine ports at this time.

1241 Henri III Plantagenet extends the privileges of Bordeaux citizens. Wines

from other regions can only enter the city after 25 December, and thus cannot

be shipped. This privilege continues (with a few interruptions) under suc-

cessive French kings until being finally abolished in 1776 by Turgot, the first

French liberal.

1303 Bordeaux exports 102,724 tonneaux (one tonneau = four barriques = 900

litres = 1,200 modern bottles) of wine, or 924,518 hl, around the equivalent of

Switzerland's entire current annual production or around 120 million bottles!

1550 Jean de Pontac builds a ‘Maison Noble' amid his vines to the south of the

city of Bordeaux, which becomes a centre and symbol of winemaking, and

thus invents the wine chateau.

1660 François-Auguste de Pontac opens a tavern in London. It serves a wine

called Ho Bryan, which unlike the light red ‘clarets' is dark in colour and has

a ‘most particular taste', as Samuel Pepys wrote three years previously in his

famous diary. New French Claret is now in fashion.

1724 Boucher, the King's governor, bemoans the Bordeaux aristocracy's plant-

ing fever, and in 1725 forbids the planting of any new vineyards – a ban which

stands for thirty years but is e

ff

ectively ignored.

1755 Three-quarters of the income from Bordeaux's 70 top families comes

from the sale of their own wine.

1787 Future American President Thomas Jefferson travels to Bordeaux and

records his impressions in a diary. Some of the estates he names and admires

include Lafite, Margaux, Latour, Haut-Brion and Yquem.

1855 Based on previous rankings and on the prices fetched by wines, the

Bordeaux chamber of commerce establishes the first o

ffi

cial, state-sanctioned

An overview

of Bordeaux history

53

Overview History

classification of Bordeaux wines to coincide with the Universal Exposition in

Paris. It divides 88 estates from Haut-Médoc and Sauternes plus Haut-Brion

from Graves into categories, ranging from 1ème to 5ème Cru Classé.

1860 The agronomist Jules Guyot introduces the pruning method that is

named after him, requiring vines to be grown on wires. This modern vine tech-

nique is hereafter used throughout the Gironde. Alexis Millardet and Ulysse

Gayon invent ‘Bouillie Bordelaise' (three parts copper sulphate to one part

caustic lime) as a way of combating downy and powdery mildew, which had

been damaging crops for a decade.

1863 Phylloxera comes to Bordeaux and gradually attacks all of the vineyards

across Europe. Only the richest estates have the means to combat the pest

successfully.

1922 Twenty-year-old Philippe de Rothschild takes the reins of Mouton and

revolutionises the Bordeaux wine world. He initiates bottling at the producing

estate (‘mise en bouteille au château'), and (re-)introduces so-called second

wines and artist-designed labels.

1946 This year marks the birth of modern oenology: laboratory chemist Emile

Peynaud submits his thesis and becomes a professor at the Faculty of Oenol-

ogy. He revolutionises both the art of winemaking and the language of wine.

1956 The beginning of modern winemaking on the right bank: frost destroys a

significant proportion of the vines in this area. The vineyards are restructured

and Merlot thus becomes the main variety in this part of the Bordeaux wine-

growing region.

1973 Minister of Agriculture Jacques Chirac signs the only change to the 1855

classification: Mouton-Rothschild becomes a Premier Cru Classé.

1983 American wine critic Robert Parker declares 1982 to be the vintage of the

century, and thus triggers a wine boom surpassing any other. The prices of

Grands Crus quadruple: whilst the merchants are initially the first to pro

fi

t, es-

tates make record profits in vintages such as 1989, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2009.

1991 Former bank clerk, innkeeper and wine merchant Jean-Luc Thunevin

acquires a small, unfavourably located plot in Saint-Emilion, creates a brand

called Château Valandraud, and thus invents ‘garage wine', triggering a verita-

ble wine revolution in the area and influencing developments over the next

few years.

54

Appellations Médoc

Bordeaux geography

Bordeaux covers around 120,000 hectares of vines in the

département of Gironde. The Garonne and the Dordogne rivers

split the region into the left bank of the Garonne (Médoc,

Graves, Sauternes) and the right bank of the Dordogne (Saint-

Emilion, Pomerol and Fronsac).

Médoc / Haut Médoc

16,300 hectares of vines I 1,400 chateaus I 150 million bottles a year

A headland stretching for almost a hundred kilometres between the Atlantic

to the west, and the Gironde Estuary, where the Garonne and Dordogne rivers

meet, to the east. In terms of wine style, a distinction can be drawn between

the southernmost part of the Médoc (the Haut Médoc) with its seven village

appellations and the northern part, the Médoc proper. Unlike the villages, which

have very uniform terroirs, the soils of the larger area are heterogeneous. Gently

undulating knolls of coarse gravel alternate with sand, clay and limestone soils.

The two main Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are almost

equally well represented and produce wines ranging in style from tart to elegant.

Margaux

1,400 hectares of vines I 90 producers I 10 million bottles a year

The southernmost village appellation (and therefore the closest to the city)

bears the name of a single village but in fact covers five: Margaux, Arsac, Can-

tenac, Labarde and Soussans. The soils consist of deep, well-draining gravel

mixed with sand and clay. Cabernet Sauvignon (which makes up the majority of

vineyards) does particularly well on the characteristic gravel hilltops whilst Mer-

lot prefers clayey plots. The best examples of Margaux wine can be recognised

by their exceptionally refined tannins, which turn out to be delicate and fresh

rather than compact and angular. The raspberry aroma found in young wines

here often reveals a perfect level of ripeness.

Moulis

600 hectares of vines I 40 producers I 4 million bottles a year

Moulis sits between Margaux and Listrac in the centre of the Médoc. Terroir-wise

Moulis is a compendium of almost the entire Haut-Médoc, containing examples

of almost all of the peninsula's different soil types: gravel, sand, limestone and

clay. The range of wines is similarly extensive, made from around 50% Cabernet

Sauvignon with Merlot, a little Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The best exam-

ples are well balanced and smooth.

55

Right bank Appellations

Saint-Julien

920 hectares of vines I 26 producers I 6.5 million bottles a year

A substantial proportion of Saint-Julien's vineyards are to be found alongside

the Gironde estuary and in the middle of Haut-Médoc – so it is no surprise that

the appellation (in which the majority of wines come from classified estates) is

regularly described as the most reliable and consistent in the Médoc region. The

appellation covers a gravel-rich area 5 kilometres long and 3.5 kilometres wide.

Saint-Julien has by far the most uniform terroir in the Médoc. The proportion of

Cabernet Sauvignon used here is similar to in Pauillac. The juicy, elegant, excep-

tionally sensual and smoothly ample qualities of Saint-Julien wines make them

some of the most popular and well loved of any produced in the Médoc.

Pauillac

1,200 hectares of vines I 110 producers I 9 million bottles a year

Pauillac with its tiny harbour is the most important location in Haut-Médoc. It is

surrounded by the world-famous sites of three Premiers Crus, a handful of ‘su-

per seconds' and a number of ambitious estates following close behind. The ex-

tremely lean, deep gravel soils in the form of flat hilltops mixed with a little clay

and sand on the fringes, around two thirds of which are planted with Cabernet

Sauvignon, produce wines o

ff

ering density, structure, sophistication and power.

Saint-Estèphe

1,200 hectares of vines I 150 producers I 10 million bottles a year

Saint-Estèphe is the most northerly village appellation in the Médoc. It contains

only five classi

fi

ed but around 40 unclassi

fi

ed estates, which also produce ex-

cellent wines in good years. Saint-Estèphe is a goldmine for treasure seekers

56

Appellations South Bordeaux

more interested in content than classification. Around half of the soils combin-

ing quartz, deep gravel and sand and clay over limestone are planted with Cab-

ernet Sauvignon, with Merlot making up an impressive 40%. The style ranges

from angular and robust (basic wines) to elegant and spirited.

Pessac-Léognan

1,600 hectares of vines I 75 producers I 10 million bottles a year

The fact that the cradle of Bordeaux (and thus of Grand Vin) in and around the

two Bordeaux suburbs of Pessac and Léognan has de

fi

ed urbanisation is virtu-

ally a miracle, and a tribute to the efforts of the chateau owners who fought for

the creation of their own appellation which has existed since the 1986 vintage.

Ever since, this appellation has produced both red wines (80% of bottles) and

dry whites on assorted undulations of gravel and sand. The rare limestone soils

are kept for the white wines. The best reds are elegant, slender, well structured

and suitable for laying down. The white wines are fruity and juicy, assuredly

ample and lively yet always well balanced and good for laying down.

Sauternes

2,200 hectares of vines I 200 producers I 4 million bottles a year

Barsac is part of Sauternes but not vice-versa, and these two villages together

with Bommes, Preignac and Fargues are situated on the left bank of the Garonne

around 40 kilometres south of Bordeaux. Semillon is the main variety at 80%,

supplemented by Sauvignon and some Muscadelle, growing on gravel, sand,

limestone and clay soils. The grapes are harvested late in multiple harvests. One

hectare in Sauternes produces around 1,500 to 2,000 bottles of sweet wine. Sau-

ternes wines have gained aromatic precision, finesse, freshness and sophistica-

tion. They are sweet and fruity but not clumsy, even quite light in their own

way. They make delicious aperitifs, are excellent accompaniments to modern

cuisine as well as Asian dishes and snacks, and can be drunk young or left to

age for decades.

Graves

3,500 hectares of vines I 240 producers I 20 million bottles a year

Graves begins at the city gates of Bordeaux: Pessac-Léognan is a village appella-

tion in this underrated region. It extends for around 60 kilometres along the left

bank of the Garonne as far as Langon and has characteristic gravel soils (‘graves'

in French) mixed with sand and clay. Around three quarters of its wines are pow-

erful, characterful reds. The whites offer structure and sophistication.

57

Right bank Appellations

Saint-Emilion

5,500 hectares of vines I 800 producers I 35 million bottles a year

Nine communes around the small town of Saint-Emilion, around 50 kilometres

east of Bordeaux, are entitled to use this AOC. The principal variety is Merlot.

The Saint-Emilion Grand Cru designation is reassessed every year, while the

Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé A (4 estates), Premier Grand Cru Classé B (14

estates) and Grand Cru Classé (65 estates) classifications are reviewed every ten

years or so. The best wines come from the limestone plateau and its slopes of

clay over limestone around the town, and from a gravel, clay and sand terrace

to the north-west of the region (commune of Figeac – Cheval Blanc). The soils at

the foot of these slopes (Pied de Côtes) consist of clay, sand and gravel. Merlot

(around 60%) is supplemented by Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvi-

gnon. Specific locations have a signi

fi

cant impact on the style: subtle and excep-

tionally elegant but with good aging potential (plateau), lively and dense medi-

um-bodied wines (slopes and lowlands), particularly fruity with character and

finesse (Figeac), characterised by woody notes and rich in extract in the style of

a Bolgheri (modernists), or compact and sharp (lowlands along the Dordogne).

Pomerol

800 hectares of vines I 150 winemakers I 4 million bottles a year

Pomerol, an oval four kilometres long and three kilometres wide on the right

banks of the Garonne and Dordogne, is the smallest of the large Bordeaux ap-

pellations in terms of size. The best ferrous loam soils with varying proportions

of clay and gravel can be found on the ‘plateau' around the church. In the west

towards the Isle – the Gironde's third river – the soils contain clay and sand and

produce lighter wines. In the east, Pomerol adjoins the vineyards of Saint-Emil-

ion (Figeac and Cheval Blanc estates). Merlot is the main variety at 80% and

produces elegant, velvety, full-bodied yet smooth wines.

Fronsac / Canon-Fronsac

1,100 hectares of vines I 150 producers I Around 8 million bottles a year

These two neighbouring appellations stand on a horseshoe-shaped chain of

hills between the Dordogne and the Isle, at a somewhat higher altitude than

those in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion in a relatively windy location, which has a

major impact on the maturation process and style of wine. Only a few winemak-

ers, mostly members of the Expression de Fronsac cooperative, produce great

wines. Clay over molasse and limestone soils, around 80% of which are planted

with Merlot, produce the most ‘Italian' of all the Bordeaux wines with angular

yet also astonishingly fresh tannins, offering extract and high levels of alcohol

which ensure long aging in the best examples.

The best wine bars,

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and other selected

addresses for visitors

to Bordeaux

Beginning on page 274

58

Map Pessac-Léognan, Graves, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Pessac-Léognan, Graves,

Sauternes, Bordeaux

5 Château Bastor Lamontagne

14 Château Bouscaut

18 Château Brondelle

20 Château Caillou

27 Château Carbonnieux

33 Château Climens

36 Château Couhins

37 Château Couhins Lurton

38 Château Coutet

39 Château Crabitey

44 Château D‘Yquem

48 Château de Fargues

50 Château de Malle

51 Château de Myrat

54 Château de Rayne Vigneau

56 Château Doisy Daëne

57 Château Doisy Védrines

66 Château Filhot

73 Château Gilette

81 Château Guiraud

83 Château Haut Bailly

86 Château Haut-Brion

99 Château La Mission Haut-Brion

100 Château La Mission

Haut-Brion / Laville Haut-Brion

102 Château La Tour Blanche

107 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey

112 Château Lamothe Guignard

120 Château Latour Martillac

126 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion

130 Château Malartic Lagravière

143 Château Nairac

145 Château Olivier

148 Château Pape Clément

163 Château Rabaud Promis