Definition: Bordeaux (vineyard)

For red wines, Cabernet Sauvignon (27,000 hectares), mainly grown on gravelly, acidic soils, produces tannic wines with good ageing potential, often with vegetal and undergrowth notes on the nose. Merlot (5,100 hectares), mainly grown on limestone and clay-limestone soils, produces wines that are generally powerful and more supple than those made from Cabernet. They therefore evolve more quickly and develop bouquets often marked by animal notes. Cabernet Franc (1,200 hectares) produces fairly full-bodied wines with a strong bouquet. There are also smaller quantities of Malbec (200 hectares), mainly in the Blayais and Bourgeais regions, which produces supple, very colourful wines, and Petit Verdot, a supplementary grape variety in the Médoc, which produces very colourful wines rich in tannins. For white wines, Sauvignon Blanc (500 hectares) is used, producing fresh and very aromatic wines with a typical blackcurrant leaf aroma, and Sémillon (1,100 hectares), the main grape variety used in great sweet wines due to its ability to promote the development of noble rot, but less suitable for the production of dry white wines as it is low in acidity and aroma, and Muscadelle (200 hectares). Ugni Blanc and Colombard are also used, but less and less so, the latter mainly in the Blaye region. The importance of these different grape varieties varies according to the production areas. There are four distinct areas, corresponding to the major natural divisions of the Gironde department. On the gravelly soils of the left bank of the Garonne and Gironde rivers, from north to south, we find the Médoc with its six communal appellations, Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Moulis, Listrac and Margaux, then, south of Bordeaux, the Graves region, which encompasses the sweet wine vineyards of Cérons and Sauternes. In this region, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the reds and Sémillon the whites. In Entre-deux-Mers, a vast region between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, there are eight appellations: Entre-deux-Mers, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, Cadillac, Loupiac, Sainte-Croix du Mont, Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire, Sainte-Foy Bordeaux and Graves de Bayres. This is a major white wine region, with Sauvignon Blanc dominating the dry wines and Sémillon the sweet wines. In the Libournais region, located between the Dordogne and its tributary the Isle, the wines are mainly red, full-bodied and velvety, most often made from Merlot, a grape variety well suited to clay or limestone soils. This terroir includes the appellations Fronsac, Canon-Fronsac, Pomerol, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Néac, Saint-Émilion and its satellites, Puisseguin Saint-Émilion, Lussac Saint-Émilion, Montagne Saint-Émilion, Saint-Georges Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux Côtes de Francs and Côtes de Castillon. In Blaye and Bourgeais, located on the right bank of the Dordogne and Gironde rivers, there are the appellations Côtes de Blaye, Premières Côtes de Blaye, Blayais, Côtes de Bourg and Bourgeais. Finally, Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur wines, both white and red, can be harvested throughout the region and account for more than half of production.