Bordeaux Region Wine: A Practical Guide

How the Bordeaux region fits together

The simplest way to understand Bordeaux is through its water. Two rivers, the Garonne flowing up from the Pyrenees and the Dordogne flowing down from the Massif Central, meet just north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde estuary. Everything else follows from that geography.

• The Left Bank lies west of the Garonne and the Gironde: the Médoc peninsula to the north of the city, and Graves, Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes to the south. The soils here are largely gravel, deposited by the rivers over millennia, and the dominant red grape is Cabernet Sauvignon.
• The Right Bank lies north and east of the Dordogne: Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac and the hillsides of Blaye, Bourg and Castillon. Here limestone and clay dominate, and Merlot is the leading grape.
• The Entre-Deux-Mers, literally "between two seas", is the wedge of rolling country between the two rivers. It is the largest part of the vineyard by area, makes much of Bordeaux's everyday red and white, and is the part closest to Duras.

The vineyard covers a little over 100,000 hectares, although that figure has been falling. Bordeaux has been through a difficult decade commercially, with too much generic wine chasing shrinking export markets, and recent schemes backed by the state and the trade have paid growers to pull up vines. That context matters later in this guide, because it shapes the price of vineyard land and the mood in the villages.

There are around 60 appellations, which sounds daunting but organises into a clear pyramid. At the base sit the regional appellations, Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur, which can come from anywhere in the region. Above them are district appellations such as Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Graves and the Côtes de Bordeaux family. At the top are the commune appellations, Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and others, where the rules are tighter and the land more expensive.

The grapes, and why blends are the norm

Bordeaux red is almost always a blend. The permitted red varieties are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and the rare Carmenère. Merlot is the most planted by a wide margin because it ripens reliably on the cooler clay soils that cover much of the region. Cabernet Sauvignon needs the warmth of gravel and a long season, which is why it dominates the Médoc. Cabernet Franc adds perfume and freshness and is especially important in Saint-Émilion.

Blending is insurance as much as style. The varieties flower and ripen at different times, so a frost in April or rain at harvest rarely damages all of them equally. A château that loses part of its Merlot can lean on its Cabernet, and the other way round.

White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and a little Muscadelle. Dry whites from the Entre-Deux-Mers and Graves tend towards Sauvignon's freshness; the great sweet wines of Sauternes rely on Sémillon.

Climate change is now written into the rules. Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur producers are permitted to include a small proportion of several heat-tolerant and disease-resistant varieties, among them Touriga Nacional and Marselan for reds and Alvarinho for whites, as a trial for a warmer future.

The Left Bank: Médoc, Graves and Sauternes

The Médoc

The Médoc is the flat, gravelly peninsula running north from the city, with the estuary on one side and pine forest towards the Atlantic on the other. Its great names sit along a narrow strip near the water, where the deepest gravel banks drain best: Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe, with Listrac-Médoc and Moulis-en-Médoc slightly inland.

This is the home of the 1855 Classification, drawn up for the Paris Exposition Universelle and still largely unchanged. It ranks red wine estates in five tiers, from first to fifth growths. The first growths are Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild (promoted in 1973, the most significant change since 1855) and Haut-Brion, which is in fact in Pessac-Léognan rather than the Médoc.

The wines are built on Cabernet Sauvignon: firm, structured, with blackcurrant, cedar and graphite notes, and designed to age. Young classed growths can be closed and tannic for a decade. For everyday drinking, the Médoc's Cru Bourgeois estates, which have their own classification with three tiers, offer the same style at a fraction of the price.

Graves and Pessac-Léognan

South of the city, Graves takes its name from its gravel soils. It makes both red and white, and is one of the few places where dry white Bordeaux is taken as seriously as red. Pessac-Léognan, carved out as its own appellation in the late 1980s, covers the northern part closest to the city and contains most of the famous estates, some now surrounded by suburbs.

Sauternes and Barsac

Further south, where the small, cold Ciron river meets the warmer Garonne, autumn mists encourage noble rot, the benign form of the botrytis fungus that shrivels the grapes and concentrates their sugar. The result is Sauternes and Barsac, among the world's great sweet wines. Harvesting is slow and expensive, often by repeated passes through the vines picking berry by berry, which explains the price of the best. Across the Garonne, the lesser-known sweet appellations of Cadillac, Loupiac and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont make similar wine at much gentler prices, and they are well worth seeking out.

The Right Bank: Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and the Côtes

Saint-Émilion

Saint-Émilion is the most visited wine village in the region and one of the most beautiful, a medieval town of honey-coloured limestone built over a warren of quarried tunnels. The town and its surrounding vineyard landscape are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Saint-Émilion has its own classification, revised roughly once a decade, which makes it more dynamic and more contentious than the Médoc's. The most recent edition was published in 2022, and several of the most famous estates chose not to take part, which tells you something about the politics. For a buyer of wine, the more useful point is that the classification does not cover everything good. Grand Cru on a Saint-Émilion label is an appellation, not a ranking, and quality varies.

Around Saint-Émilion sit four "satellite" appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and Saint-Georges, whose names carry Saint-Émilion as a suffix. They share the same grapes and much of the same soil, and they are among the best value in Bordeaux.

Pomerol

Next door, Pomerol is tiny, unshowy and has no classification at all. It does contain some of the most expensive wines in the world, Pétrus the best known, made largely from Merlot on clay. Lalande-de-Pomerol to the north offers a similar style at more approachable prices.

Fronsac and the Côtes de Bordeaux

West of Pomerol, Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac make firm, characterful Merlot from steep slopes above the Dordogne, and are often underrated. Further out, the Côtes de Bordeaux family brings together Blaye, Castillon, Francs and Cadillac under one umbrella. Castillon, just east of Saint-Émilion, is a frequent source of wine that tastes far more expensive than it is.

The Entre-Deux-Mers: the part nearest Duras

For anyone living in the Duras area, this is the Bordeaux you will drink most often. The Entre-Deux-Mers appellation itself is for dry white wine, fresh and usually Sauvignon-led. Red wine from the same vineyards is sold as Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur, which is why some of the region's best everyday reds carry the plainest labels.

It is gentle, green, rolling country of small villages, Romanesque churches and bastide towns such as Sauveterre-de-Guyenne and Monségur, with the ruined abbey of La Sauve-Majeure near its western end. Cooperatives play a large role here. Many small growers deliver their grapes to a shared winery rather than making wine themselves, and the cooperative shops are a straightforward place to buy good wine at local prices.

Duras itself sits just outside Bordeaux, in Lot-et-Garonne, with its own appellation, the Côtes de Duras. It uses the same grapes, and to most palates the wines are close cousins of the Entre-Deux-Mers. The eastern edge of the Bordeaux vineyard, around Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, is only a short drive north. For a fuller picture of the local appellations, including Bergerac and Monbazillac, see our guide to Côtes de Duras and Bergerac wine, and for the Dordogne side of the river, the Dordogne wine region.

Rosé, clairet and sparkling Bordeaux

Bordeaux is not only red and sweet. Bordeaux rosé is made in some volume, but the local speciality is clairet, a deeper-coloured, fuller wine somewhere between rosé and light red, which takes its name from the "claret" the English bought from Bordeaux in the Middle Ages. It is excellent cool in summer with grilled food.

Crémant de Bordeaux is the region's traditional-method sparkling wine, made in the same way as Champagne. It is good value for celebrations and widely available at cooperatives and supermarkets.

Vintages: why the year matters more here

Bordeaux has an Atlantic climate, mild and damp, and its weather varies sharply from year to year. Spring frost, rain at flowering, mildew in a humid summer or storms at harvest can all reduce quantity and quality, while a warm, dry season with well-timed rain produces wines that age for decades.

Among recent decades, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022 are widely praised. Some years are remembered for their difficulties: 2013 was wet and plagued by rot, 2017 was hit hard by an April frost that destroyed much of the crop in some areas, and 2021 was cool and challenging. A difficult year is not a bad year everywhere, and the best producers make good wine in most vintages. But for anything you plan to keep, the vintage is worth asking about.

Warmer summers have generally helped ripeness in recent years, at the cost of higher alcohol and, in some years, drought stress. Many estates are adjusting with later picking decisions, different canopy management and the new permitted varieties.

How Bordeaux is sold: châteaux, négociants and en primeur

Bordeaux's fine-wine trade works differently from most wine regions. The well-known châteaux rarely sell directly to the public. Instead, they sell through a network of négociants (merchants) in a system known as the Place de Bordeaux, with brokers (courtiers) acting as go-betweens.

Each spring, the previous autumn's wine is tasted from barrel by merchants and critics, and in the weeks that follow the châteaux release a portion of it as futures, known as en primeur. Buyers pay now and receive the bottled wine about two years later. In strong vintages from sought-after estates, buying en primeur has historically secured wine at a lower price than it later reached. In weaker or over-priced years, the wine has sometimes been cheaper on the open market after bottling. Buy en primeur only through an established merchant, and only with money you are content to commit for two years or more.

For most people living in the region, none of this matters much. The great majority of Bordeaux is made by family estates and cooperatives selling directly, and that is where the value lies.

Buying wine well when you live here

The cellar door. Many smaller properties sell directly, and an appointment, or simply a phone call ahead, is usually welcome outside the harvest weeks. Prices are typically lower than in shops, and you can taste before buying. It is polite to buy something if you have tasted at a small property, even a few bottles.

Cooperatives. Cooperative shops sell a broad range, from bag-in-box for everyday drinking to aged reserve wines, at local prices and with no pressure. They are an underrated way to stock a cellar.

Cavistes. An independent wine merchant in a market town will often know dozens of local growers personally and will happily recommend something at your price. Tell them what you like and what you plan to spend.

The foires aux vins. Twice a year, most notably in September and October, French supermarkets hold wine fairs with large ranges of Bordeaux at keen prices, including some classed growths. The best bottles sell out on the first day, and the catalogues are published in advance.

Bag-in-box. Locally, a great deal of perfectly good wine is bought in three- and five-litre boxes for daily drinking. It is not a mark of poor quality, and it keeps well once opened.

If you are taking wine back to the UK, post-Brexit personal allowances apply when travelling from France, currently including 18 litres of still wine per adult, with separate limits for sparkling wine and spirits. Check the current allowances on GOV.UK before you load the car.

Visiting the vineyards

Bordeaux has become much more open to visitors over the past twenty years. Some practical points:

• Book ahead. The classed growths and larger estates almost always require an appointment, and many charge for tours and tastings. Smaller properties are more flexible but still appreciate a call.
• Avoid harvest. From roughly mid-September to mid-October, depending on the year and the grape, growers are busy and many properties close to visitors.
• Start with the context. La Cité du Vin, the striking wine museum on the river in Bordeaux, opened in 2016 and covers wine culture worldwide. It is a good rainy-day orientation.
• Choose one area per day. The Médoc's estates line the D2 road north of the city, the "route des châteaux". Saint-Émilion can fill a day on its own, with the town, its underground monolithic church and the satellite appellations. Sauternes combines well with a riverside lunch on the Garonne.
• Plan the driving. France's drink-driving limit is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, lower for newly qualified drivers. Spit at tastings, share the driving, or book a guided tour from Bordeaux.

From Duras, the Entre-Deux-Mers is on the doorstep, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes are each roughly an hour by car, and the Médoc is closer to two hours, so it is better tackled with a night in Bordeaux. Our guide to wine tasting in southwest France covers etiquette and what to expect at a tasting.

Living among the vines

Living in or beside a vineyard is one of the pleasures of this region, and the landscape is a large part of why people move here. It is also a working agricultural landscape, and it helps to know what that means before you buy.

Spraying. Vines are treated against mildew and other diseases from spring to late summer, organic and conventional alike. French rules set minimum distances between treated vines and homes, and many communes have local charters agreed with growers, but if a house sits directly against vines you will see and sometimes smell the treatments. Ask neighbours and the mairie how it works locally, and visit in late spring as well as in autumn.

Machinery and hours. Tractors work early in the morning and late in the evening in season, and mechanical harvesters sometimes run through the night at harvest. Most residents come to enjoy the rhythm; a few find it a shock.

Landscape changes. With growers being paid to grub up surplus vines, some parcels around you may be pulled up and left fallow or replanted with other crops. A view of vines today is not guaranteed tomorrow.

Buying a property with vines

If a house comes with a parcel of vines, or you are tempted by a small working estate, take specialist advice early. Some points to understand:

• Vineyard land is agricultural land. Sales are notified to the SAFER, the regional body with a right of pre-emption over many agricultural sales, which can in some circumstances buy the land in place of the buyer. Your notaire will handle the notification, but factor it into your timetable.
• Vines need authorisations. Since 2016, new planting and replanting in France have been governed by a system of planting authorisations managed by FranceAgriMer. If you intend to replant or extend a vineyard, check what is possible before you commit. The appellation rules, overseen by the INAO and the local wine syndicate, then govern varieties, yields and practices if you want to sell under an appellation name.
• Someone has to look after them. Vines left untended quickly become a source of disease for the neighbours. Many owners of small parcels rent them to a local grower or sell the grapes to a cooperative. Ask whether such an arrangement already exists and whether it will continue.
• Building and planning. Vineyard land is generally in an agricultural zone of the local plan (the PLU), where new building is tightly restricted. Do not buy vines expecting to build on them.
• Prices. Values of vineyard land vary enormously, from very little per hectare for generic Bordeaux in today's market to sums that only institutions can contemplate in the top communes. The commercial difficulties of generic Bordeaux have pushed some estates onto the market, which creates opportunities, but a vineyard is a business, and it should be appraised as one.

For the wider purchase process, notaire fees of roughly 7 to 8 percent on older property and the compromis de vente with its ten-day cooling-off period, see our guide to buying property in France.

Getting the most from Bordeaux

The best way to learn Bordeaux is not to start at the top. Drink the Entre-Deux-Mers whites and the Côtes reds through a summer, try a Castillon against a Saint-Émilion satellite, open a Cru Bourgeois from a good vintage alongside a supermarket claret, and buy a half bottle of Loupiac for a cheese course. Within a season, the logic of the region, its rivers, soils and grapes, becomes something you can taste rather than memorise.

If you are thinking of making this part of France your home, our free relocation guide covers the practical side of the move, and if you have a question we have not answered, email hello@southwest-france.com.