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, 100 points: Truffle, flowers, smoke, licorice, wet earth, dark plums and black cherry aromas reach your nose as soon as the wine hits the glass. Full bodied, sensuous and silky, the wine is deeply concentrated and also effortless to...
jamessuckling.com, 100 points: The aromas to this are incredible with blueberry, minerals, dried flowers, and stones. It goes to dried meat and spices. Full body and incredibly integrated with blackberry, licorice, and minerals. There's a wonderful...
jebdunnuck.com, 100 points: The 2009 Pontet-Canet continues to just knock it out of the park every time I’ve been lucky enough to drink a bottle, and this beauty was as good as it gets yet again. Deep purple-colored, full-bodied, beautifully...
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: 2009 Vintage: Served from an ex-chateau bottle. The 2009 Chateau d’Yquem is one showstopper of a wine and perhaps it is only in a vertical that you realize this is up there among the legendary wines of the past – the 2001...
jamessuckling.com, 100 points: This is amazing as always with layers of fruit and firm, velvety tannins. Full body, incredible depth of fruit and length. Currants, raspberries and Indian spices. It goes on for minutes. A monumental Cos. Greatest ever...
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 100 points: The 2005 Troplong Mondot is a blend of 90% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. It was emotional tasting this wine, thinking of the late Christine Valette, who made this compelling wine while battling with considerable...
Wine Spectator, 100 points: (WS97-100 points) Offers a scintillating display of roasted apple wood, incense and warm ganache before the core of cassis, plum preserves and raspberry reduction starts to step forward. The finish, loaded with grip but...
jebdunnuck.com, 100 points: (JD98-100 points) The 2015 Château Pavie is going to be a candidate for the wine of the vintage, both from the right and left banks, it’s that good. Made from 60% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc and the rest Cabernet...
Neal Martin's Wine Journal, 100 points: Tasted blind at the Southwold Bordeaux 2010 tasting. The Haut-Brion 2010 is a stunning wine that provoked a few perfect scores around the table. It is blessed with a compelling bouquet with superb precision and focus:...
Wine Enthusiast, 100 points: This is a magnificently solid wine, initially even a bit severe. At this young stage, the tannins dominate, but it's also full of black fruit notes. Very dense and concentrated, this is a wine that's even better than the...
Decanter, 100 points: I was excited to retaste this wine after loving it so much at en primeur, and it has more than lived up to its promise. They seem to have poured layers of muscular black fruit into the glass in a display of Pauillac...
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