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.
jamessuckling.com, 99 points: (JS 98-99 points) Blackcurrants, orange peel, flowers and tar with hints of graphite. Full-bodied with a creamy texture of exquisitely polished tannins. It goes on and on. Intense flavors at the end, too, with lead pencil...
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Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: Solid tannins mark this still very young wine. At the same time, the fruit is rich and well proportioned. Black currants dominate the fruity spectrum, giving the wine richness as well as great potential. Drink from 2025...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 99 points: (97-99 points) Deep garnet in hue, the wine shoots from glass with tobacco leaf, currants, spice box, cigar wrapper, blackberry and cassis. Elegant, fresh and vibrant, the wine is silky, long and precise. There is a cool...
jamessuckling.com, 95 points: (94-95) This is so beautiful with very fresh and ripe fruit at the same time. Medium-to full-bodied. Rich and layered. The accessibility and forwardness is so enticing in this second wine. Best Pagodes ever?
jebdunnuck.com, 100 points: (JD 98-100 points) An estate that has been on fire of late, the 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande is another brilliant wine in a succession of brilliant wines. Revealing a dense purple hue as well as...
jamessuckling.com, 99 points: (JS 98-99 points) This is integrated, with superb density and beauty, offering blackcurrant, mineral and some bark. Full-bodied, yet so polished and refined. Crushed stone. Lots of expression and texture to this wine...
Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: Richly juicy and intense, this wine is massive, with concentrated tannins and dusty texture. The wine has weight and density but is also impressively fresh with acidity. It's a successful combination for this second wine...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 93 points: If you're not familiar with this wine in its current incarnation, you're missing out. Starting with 2009, this wine has been on a tear, progressing and improving with every vintage. Even in a difficult year of...
Wine Enthusiast, 94 points: (92-94 points) Very opulent, generous and rich. It shows all the glories of the vintage, with huge but sufficiently restrained fruit, and exuberant tannins. ROGER VOSS
Decanter, 97 points: This will be by far the biggest release since Latour brought in the new system, as the 2012 has not been on the market before. It's a good one to start with as this is a vintage where the drinking window is starting to...
jebdunnuck.com, 94 points: (92-94) From an estate purchased in 2012 by Belgian wine merchant Marc Vandenbogaerde, the 2018 Château Badette checks in as a rough blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot that will see 18...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 98 points: ( 96-98 points) With striking floral notes on the nose, you also find licorice, Asian spice, spearmint, cigar wrapper and an array of red and black plums. The wine is lifted, elegant, refined and focused on its purity and...
Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: Here is a huge ripe and luxurious wine, with great power. The texture is solid, filled with firm tannins, the flavors are black and ripe. Along with the power, though, is much of the elegance and poise that characterizes...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 95 points: Young, fresh, vibrant and a bit tight, as you would expect, yet, it is hard not to notice the soft, ripe, smooth tannins, sweet, fresh, dark red fruits, concentration of flavor and the sense of purity in the finish. Give...
Wine Enthusiast, 91 points: New wood and high extraction are the dominant characteristics of this wine. That makes it in a modern, polished style, which will certainly evolve well, eventually arriving at something that is big and bold. Give it 4–5...
TheWineCellarInsider.com, 93 points: Elegance, freshness, ripe fruits and soft, silky tannins bring this right where it needs to be at 16 years of age. With its classic Left Bank Bordeaux personality, the wine is filled with cedar, tobacco, blackberry and...
jamessuckling.com, 97 points: Very attractive aromas of currants, tile and sandalwood with black and red currants. It’s full-bodied with a tight, dense center-palate that remains closed in and tight. Yet there is underlying seriousness and length to...
Wine Spectator, 96 points: This has a lovely core of mulled cassis, damson plum and raspberry reduction notes, framed with an applewood note that integrates nicely while red tea, savory and chalky mineral notes develop through the finish...
Wine Enthusiast, 93 points: This complex wine has rich tannins and layers of new wood atop dark black berries. At the same time, it is rounding out well, offering spice, sweet acidity and a terse freshness that is infectious. It's a very fruity wine...
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 98 points: The 2018 d'Yquem is all lime cordial, grapefruit oil and mandarin peel to begin. With a little coaxing, the fireworks really begin, letting off a whole array of honeysuckle, candied ginger, dried pineapple, lemon...
jamessuckling.com, 99 points: Ripe black fruit, clove, licorice, pine and walnut husk on the nose. Bitter chocolate and coffee, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight tannins. Muscular and very formed. Energetic and precise with long, chewy layers and...
jebdunnuck.com, 100 points: (JD 97-100 points) One of my favorite wines in the vintage is the 2020 Château La Fleur-Petrus, which reminds me slightly of the 2016, even though the growing season was quite different. A blend of mostly Merlot with...
jamessuckling.com, 95 points: Very enticing sweet tobacco, cedar, tar and blackcurrant on the nose with hints of black mushrooms and violets. It’s full-bodied with layers of ripe tannins that are still slightly chewy, but show poise and focus. Juicy...
jebdunnuck.com, 97 points: (95-97 points) I loved the 2018 Château Le Gay from one of my go-to estates in Pomerol. The 2018 (a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) has a lusty, sweet bouquet of pure crème de cassis and jammy blackberries...
Wine Enthusiast, 95 points: A solidly structured wine, it is both elegant and intensely powerful. It is disclosing its fruitiness slowly, at the moment dense and concentrated. A restrained edge provides complexity and balance. It will need aging, so...
jamessuckling.com, 98 points: A purity of fruit here with plum and dark chocolate undertones. Spices and treacle tart as well. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a long, long finish. Very fine indeed. Fit, fruity and reserved. Superb. Try in 2020.
jebdunnuck.com, 97 points: (95-97) Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2018 Château Clos Fourtet is a beauty, offering a ripe, powerful style in its crème de cassis, spice box, liquid rock, and incense aromas and flavors. Checking in as a blend...
Wine Spectator, 90 points: Rather modern in feel, with lush black Mission fig and blackberry cobbler flavors that have mellowed nicely, allowing the supple structure to stay balanced as light tobacco, ganache and tar threads emerge steadily on the...
jamessuckling.com, 92 points: Loads of raspberry and blackberry jam on the nose. Full and pretty, with strawberry jam and vanilla character, yet still subtle and fresh. Give this time to mellow. Pull the cork after 2012. Find the wine
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