Bordeaux, as a whole, is France’s largest appellation d’origine côntrolée (AOC) area, though it’s not the country’s largest winegrowing area. It makes up 25 percent of France’s AOC vineyard area but accounts for only 14 percent of the country’s total vineyard area. Although Bordeaux is famous for its 1855 classification, only 5 percent of the vineyard area is devoted to the production of cru classés.
Vineyards in Bordeaux are typically associated with estates, or châteaux, rather than plots of land, as in Burgundy. There are approximately 6,300 winegrowers in Bordeaux (half of what there was 20 years ago). The average size of a Bordeaux wine estate is 17.6 hectares of vines, and nearly 60 percent of the region’s estates are still owned and run by families.
Additionally, there are 300 Maisons de Négoce, which sell more than two-thirds of Bordeaux’s wine across 170 countries. Bordeaux has 33 regional wine cooperatives and three cooperative unions. There are also 82 wine brokers that facilitate transactions between négociants and the estates.
On average, Bordeaux produces 59 million cases of wine per vintage. Red wines typically make up 85 percent of the total volume production. Dry whites and Crémant de Bordeaux account for 10 percent; rosés, clairets, and Crémant de Bordeaux rosés make up 4 percent; and sweet Bordeaux whites account for 1 percent of total volume.
Bordeaux’s variable weather patterns can make the growing season unpredictable. Part of the reason that Bordeaux winegrowers are experts at the art of blending—rather than masters of varietal wines—is that blending enables them to manage climatic inconsistencies and their impact on the ripening, quality, and quantity of the individual varieties.
The Flight 4 - 8pm $16 for 5 pours with 3 additional for purchase.
Château Costis Bordeaux Rouge 2024 $14 - 40% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. Extraordinary deep, shiny, red color. The aroma is powerful with a lot of fruitiness. The taste is soft with a very good amount of tannin for a Bordeaux wine. It is a very well balanced wine.
Château Lacoste Bordeaux Rouge 2022 $16 - Nice ruby color, a nose of berries and a delicate and elegant body with a lovely finish. Soft tannins and a good balance between roundness and power. 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Château La Maroutine 2018 Bordeaux Rouge $17 - A deep and intense garnet red colour, a warm and powerful nose with touches of red crystallised fruit. Soft tannins in the mouth mixed with toasted bread aromas.
Château Larose-Trintaudon 2019 Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois $21 - A brilliantly gleaming intense ruby red. On the nose, a festival of delicious fruit with notes of strawberry and redcurrant. Superbly fresh and well-balanced with great purity of fruit, smoothness without excessive exuberance, and a silkiness of tannins. 47% Cabernet, 47% Merlot and 6% Petite Verdot.
Champ Fleury Bordeaux 2022 $23 - 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Merlot-dominant Bordeaux made by Gonzague Maurice of Château de Grandchamp. Sourced from vineyards near Saint-Émilion, it offers a classic Right Bank expression with soft structure and ripe fruit. Cabernet Franc adds lift and subtle spice.
Bonus Wines
Château De Cranne Blanc 2022 $24 - This is based on the Sauvignon Gris grape variety that, today, is rarely even heard of in Bordeaux, although it was commonly grown generations ago. Sauvignon Gris is more about elegance and floral fruit aromas. The vines are planted in clay, gravel and chalk-based soils. The Lacoste family is in its 7th generation of winemaking in hills of Bordeaux.
Château Larrivet Haut-Brion 2020 Pessac-Léognan $35 - The 2020 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion is a gorgeous, incredibly satisfying Pessac, and it's certainly up with the finest vintages I've tasted from this estate. It has lots of red, blue, and black fruits as well as ample spice, leafy tobacco, truffle, and smoked earth, and it develops a beautiful sense of complexity and nuance with time in the glass. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the vibrant, elegant style of the vintage, has ripe tannins, perfect overall balance, and a great finish. If you love a great Graves, buy a case of this beauty and enjoy over the next two decades. 95 Points Dunnuck
Château Cantenac Brown 2019 Margaux $95 - Classified Third Grand Cru Classé in 1855 during the official classification for the Paris Universal Exhibition. Situated on magnificent gravel soils conducive to producing great wines, is planted on 60 hectares with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. The wines are aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 60% of which are new. The wines of Château Cantenac deliver a perfect representation of the very best Margaux, opulent, fine and deliciously complex.