The Bordeaux Wine Experience
Appellations in the Bordeaux region

Bordeaux is often described as "the largest fine wine vineyard in the world". Bordeaux has always been at the center of attention in the wine world, with some of the greatest wines, the most historic chateaux and all the glamour and prestige one could want. But this hides the fact that more than half of the production is just simple Bordeaux Rouge, with a little dry Bordeaux Blanc.
The generic appellation 'Bordeaux' is applied to all wines produced in the Gironde department, as long as they satisfy a number of relatively strict conditions relating to grape varieties and restrictions on yield. In the Bordeaux region a total of 113,000 hectares in 57 appellations produce 800 million bottles of wine per year in a variety of styles.

We can group these appellations in six large families:

• Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur, which occupy 46,8% of the Bordeaux vineyards;
• Médoc and Graves (16,5%), the Médoc is subdivided in the so called village appellations (Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien, Moulis and Listrac);
• Saint Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac (10,4%), and their satellites (Lalande de Pomerol, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and Saint Georges);
• Les Côtes Rouges (14,4%), Which stretch out along the right bank of the Garonne River (Premières Côtes de Bordeaux), the Dordogne River (Côtes de Castillon and Côtes de Francs), and the Gironde Estuary (Côtes de Bourg and Côtes de Blaye);
• The dry white wines, les Blancs Secs (8,3%), Spread out over the entire Bordeaux wine growing region with the exception of the Medoc where their presence is exceptional;
• The sweet white wines, les Blancs Moelleux (3,4%), of which the most famous ones are in the Sauternes appellation.

There are the following quality levels in the appellations law:

Lowest Standard	Vin de Table	Table wine. No restrictions whatsoever, and it reflects in the quality of the wine - not much character.
Second Standard	Vin de Pays	The standard of the wine varies with the region, the grape variety and the year.
Highest Standard	VQPRD Vin de Qualité Produit dans des Regions Déterminée	AOC Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An AOC wine comes from a geographically defined and limited area which lays down rules in regard the grape variety, alcohol content, yield, pruning etc. VDQS Vin Démimité de Qualité Supérieure A VDQS wine is also governed by a set of rules, though not as strict as those in the AOC.

The following appellations exist in the Bordeaux region:

AOC Appellations
Barsac / Blaye or blayais / Bordeaux / Bordeaux clairet / Bordeaux côtes de Francs / Bordeaux haut-benauge / Bordeaux mousseux / Bordeaux rosé / Bordeaux sec / Bordeaux supérieur / Bordeaux supérieur clairet / Bordeaux supérieur rosé / Bourg or bourgeais / Cadillac / Canon-Fronsac / Cérons / Côtes de Blaye / Côtes de Bordeaux saint-Macaire / Côtes de Bourg / Côtes de Castillon / Crémant de Bordeaux / Entre-deux-mers / Entre-deux-mers haut-Benauge / Fine Bordeaux / Fronsac / Graves / Graves supérieurs / Graves de Vayres / Haut-médoc / Lalande de Pomerol / Listrac-Médoc / Loupiac / Lussac Saint-Emilion / Margaux / Médoc / Montagne Saint-Emilion / Moulis-en-Médoc / Néac / Pauillac / Pessac-Léognan / Pomerol / Premières côtes de Blaye / Premières côtes de Bordeaux / Puisseguin Saint-Emilion / Saint-croix-du-mont / Saint-Emilion / Saint-Emilion grand cru / Saint-Estèphe / Sainte-Foy Bordeaux / Sainte-Georges Saint-Emilion / Saint-Julien / Sauternes

AOC Médoc
Saint-Estèphe / Pauillac / Saint-Julien / Margaux / Médoc / Haut-Médoc / Moulis / Listrac-Médoc

AOC Graves
Pessac-Léognan / Graves / Graves Supérieurs / Barsac

AOC Libourne
Saint-Emilion / Saint-Emilion Grand Cru / Pomerol Fronsac/Canon-Fronsac / Lussac Saint-Emilion / Montagne Saint-Emilion / Saint-Georges Saint-Emilion / Puisseguin Saint-Emilion / Côtes de Castillon / Bordeaux Côtes de Francs

AOC Sauternes
Sauternes

AOC Entre-deux-mers
Entre-Deux-Mers / Côte de Bordeaux / Saint-Macaire / Sainte-Croix-du-Mont / Loupiac / Cadillac / Premières Côtes de Bordeaux / Graves de Vayres / Sainte-Foy Bordeaux

AOC Bourg et Blaye
Bourg / Côtes de Bourg / Blaye or Blayais / Côtes de Blaye / Premières Côtes de Blaye

 

The Grand Cru Classé or Classified Growths

The term 'Cru' is used to indicate quality. Top Class Bordeaux Wines Include:

Médoc	Premiers Crus Classés (1st) Seconds Crus Classés (2nd) Troisièmes Crus Classés (3rd) Quatrièmes Crus Classés (4th) Cinquièmes Crus Classés (5th) Crus Bourgéois
Graves / Péssac-Léognan	Red Wines Premier Grand Cru Crus Classés White Wines Crus Classés
Saint-Emilion	Premiers Grands Crus Classés Grands Crus Classés Grands Crus
Sauternes	Premier Cru Supérieur Premiers Crus Deuxièmes Crus

For more information about the 1855 classification of the Bordeaux wines, please click here.

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Wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region, France

 

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