With more than 7,000 chateaux, France’s Bordeaux region is the most important wine producing region in the world. As well as being the basis for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot-based wines everywhere, Bordeaux wines are acknowledged to be among the world’s best reds—according to experts and amateurs alike.
The wine region of Bordeaux is comprised of many smaller areas and encompasses both banks of the Gironde estuary in southwest France, as well as the land bordering the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, which split off from the Gironde in the southern Medoc area. Generally, Bordeaux's best red wines are from seven major (and well-known) appellations: Pauillac, Saint-Estephe, Saint-Julien, and Margaux in the greater Medoc region, Graves to the south of the city of Bordeaux—in the region’s center, and Saint-Emilion and Pomerol toward the east. The large Graves region, as well as being the birthplace of claret, is home to many of the best dry whites. Premium sweet wines are made in Sauternes and Barsac, which are also within the Graves appellation but toward the south.
In understanding the multitude of Bordeaux wines, experts tend to talk about the right and left banks of the Gironde River. Generally, red wines from the river’s left bank, especially from Bordeaux’s Medoc region, are based on Cabernet Sauvignon, mixed with varying amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and, occasionally, a spot of Petit Verdot and Malbec. These reds are known to be firm and dry, with a substantial tannic spine, and are frequently austere in their youth. They are also among the world’s longest-lived. The Graves’ gravel and sand soil content contribute to more texture early and roasted accents of hot stones, smoke and tobacco.
The softer Merlot grape is the foundation for right bank wines, mostly to the town of Libourne’s eastern side. These wines are fleshier in general than wines from the left bank and are more pliant. They are also accessible at an earlier age—though the best of them can improve in bottle for decades.
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 96 points: Rich, full-bodied, deep, intense and loaded to the brim with crème de cassis, tobacco, smoke, wet forest floor and cherry pipe tobacco elements, the wine is mouth-filling, tannic, long, deep and complex. Everything about...
Vinous, 91 points: Good bright red-ruby. Sexy, pure aromas of dark cherry, rose and violet. Juicy, delicate and penetrating, with pinot-like weight and sappiness. Displays a captivating sweetness without any loss of energy. Finishes long...
Vinous, 96 points: The 2008 La Mission Haut-Brion has an open, feisty, lively bouquet with blackberry, briary, cedar, black olive and a light seaweed (Japanese nori) aroma. This is wonderful, an intoxicating bouquet. The palate is...
Wine Enthusiast, 98 points: (WE96-98 points) Impressively balanced, with the fruit rich, intense with a golden glow. The acidity is as important as the freshness, giving a delicious lift to the core of dry, concentrated botrytis. Obviously a great...
Wine Spectator, 91 points: (88-91) Sweet plum, strawberry and raspberry fruit character on the nose and palate. Full and silky, with lovely fruit and a long finish. Minerally undertone. –JS
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: A candidate for the "wine of the vintage" Pontet Canet's 2008 boasts an opaque purple color as well as copious aromas of sweet blueberries blackberries and black currant fruit intertwined with lead pencil shavings subtle...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 95 points: Just a knock wine that has everything an aged white Bordeaux needs. It is rich, full bodied, long, complex and loaded with perfectly ripe, yellow citrus, rocks, stones and just a hint of honey. It offers the right balance...
Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: A dense wine, powerful while also elegant. It shows all the best character of a grand Margaux, with fine tannins as well as dense structure. It will age well.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: One of the finest over-achieving efforts in this vintage as well as a "best buy" for a top-flight St.-Julien this 2008 is an irresistible success. It reveals an opaque ruby/purple color lots of unctuosity and a boatload...
Wine Spectator, 90 points: Juicy, with kirsch, raspberry and linzer torte notes that pump along nicely, with velvety tannins and a spice box and black tealoaded finish. Delicious. Drink now through 2015. 700 cases made. –JM
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points: Another resounding success for the vintage the opaque purple-colored 2008 Clinet (14.4% alcohol) is composed of 85% Merlot 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Yields of 38 hectoliters per hectare while higher...
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 points: Tasted with Baptiste Guinaudeau, the 2008 Lafleur is a wine for which I have a lot of time, and as it approaches a decade old, it is beginning to loosen up a little. There is plenty of fruit on the nose—more than I have...
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Excellent web site to select wine and get ratings overview. Love the option to send to storage too, so I can consolidate multiple orders over time and pick up (or keep in storage)...
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