The Bordeaux region of France is the second largest wine growing area in the world with almost 300K acres under vine. Over 90% of the wine produced is red and typically consists of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc, as well as Petite Verdot and Malbec on occasion.

Additionally, sweet white blends of Semillon, Sauvingnon Blanc and Muscadelle as well as dry white blends of Sauvignon blanc and Semillon are also produced. There are 57 individual appellations in Bordeaux and 9 defined A.O.C. districts, five major: Medoc, Pomerol, St.-Emilion, Graves and Sauternes, and four lesser: Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Cotes de Bourg, Cotes de Blaye, and Entre-deux-Mers.

French Wine Region Bordeaux

Wines identified in Bordeaux can either be labeled by a proprietary name or the Chateau (vineyard with attached house), but all will list the A.O.C. designation (appellation). Each district also manages a separate and unique system of quality classification to identify those wineries considered of the highest quality.

Remember, this is just a quick reference. This topic is deep and you could spend a lifetime emersed and still not know everything there is to know about French wine. But, this should be helpful. I will dig deep into each sub-region in later articles.

Medoc

Situated on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, Medoc is considered the “800lb gorilla” of Bordeaux with a disproportionate amount of France’s notable wines coming from this district. All A.O.C. controlled wines from Medoc are red and are blended with more Cabernet Sauvignon than Merlot.

Medoc utilizes a chateau ranking system categorized in 1855 by quality (referred to as Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855) into five “growths”. The first growth, or Premier Cru (1st Cru) signifies the highest quality Chateau in Bordeaux. of which only five exist. Additional classifications may also include (in order of quality), Grand Crus, Grand Crus Bourgeois and Crus Bourgeois. This method of classification is no different than a hotel being ranked in quality as “four stars”.

The most notable chateaux are Chateau Lefite-Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and Chateau Haut-Brion (Haut-Brion is actually located in the Graves district south of Medoc).

There are eight appellations within Medoc; Medoc (means northern area of Medoc), Haut-Medoc, Margaux, Paullac, St. Julien, St. Estephe, Moulis and Listrac. There are six inner appellations to Haut-Medoc listed in the Appendix of this training guide.

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