| Some Info On Bordeaux Wines |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Need to get your facts Right about Bordeaux wines? Well I am going to
give you some information about Bordeaux wines that is Right on the
money. Now many people find French wines a bit confusing and Rightly
so. For one, the labels just don’t look Right to us Americans. The French
labels all have Left the grape varietals off them and only mention the
region or appellation to get it Right. This problem, figuring out the Right
grapes in the bottle of Bordeaux can be a bit easier once you know a little
more about the wine producing regions of Bordeaux.
There is a well known river that runs Right down the middle of the
Bordeaux wine region called the Gironde. This river separates the
Bordeaux wine region into two main parts, the Left bank regions and the
Right bank regions. The Left bank regions in Bordeaux contain some of
the most famous names in the wine-drinking world. The wines from the
Left bank of the Gironde river are made up of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon,
but as is most Bordeaux wines, they have a few other grapes that make up
a blend. They blend their wines to get the taste Right. Here’s why; the
Cabernet Sauvignon that is grown in Bordeaux is very high in bitter and
rough tannins. This is due in part because Bordeaux possesses all the
Right growing conditions for the grape. To counter-balance some of the
bold tannins, the wine-makers will add the Right grapes to their wines to
soften them up. Merlot, which is soft and lush is low in tannins and
therefore, usually the Right grape for the job. Sometimes the wines of the
Left bank will also contain Cabernet Franc, Malbec or Petit Verdot as
well. However, usually Left bank Bordeaux winemakers find that just one
or two other grapes added to their Cabernet Sauvignon wines make up the
Right blend of flavors. These Left Bank Bordeaux wine blends are
predominantly made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for at least
60% of the blend all the way up to as high as 95% of the blend.
Have I lost anyone yet? If you have a question up to this point, just raise
your Left or Right hand? Alright! Let’s continue on then.
So now that I have told you that the predominate grape in Left Bank
Bordeaux wines is Cabernet Sauvignon, you will need to know what regions
make up these Left Bank Bordeaux wines in order for you to make the
Right choices in your Bordeaux wine selections. The first Left Bank
region or Appellation if you will, that you come to in the North is called the
Medoc. If you continue heading South, just Right on down the road a little
ways, you will come to the wine appellations of St. Estephe, Pauillac, St.
Julien and Haut-Medoc, all of which are Left Bank wine regions that
produce their wines with the Right grape blends, which of course are made
up of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. If you keep on heading South, again,
Right on down the road, you will pass the Left Bank Appellations of
Listrac, Moulis and one of the most famous wine appellations and Rightly
so, the Appellation of Margaux. All of these appellations claim that
Cabernet Sauvignon is the Right grape for the job when it comes to wines
made from the Left Bank of the Gironde river.
Now before we get into the Right bank wine regions, I have a little history
about the Left bank wines that should not be Left out of our conversation.
For whatever the reasons, the French Rulers of the day decided that it
would Right to have a classification system for the wines of the Left bank
in Bordeaux. After all, not all Bordeaux wines have the Right stuff to be
legendary or even classics. So a bunch of self appointed and Righteous
wine aficionados got together to taste all of the wines from the Left bank to
classify them in the Right order of quality. It was deemed by these so-
called Righteous wine experts that there were indeed four Chateaus that
produced wines that had the Right stuff to be called the First Growths.
They represent the first tier in the quality ladder. These four Chateaus do
produce some down-Right incredibly good wines, even to this day and they
fetch some prices in wine auctions that would lead you to believe that
people are just not in the Right frame of mind when it comes to spending
money on wine. These Chateaus are known as Margaux, Lafite
Rothschild, La Tour and Haut-Brion. Of course there had to be a second
tier of quality wines and so on and so on, otherwise this classification just
wouldn’t be Right, so these wine judges proceeded to proclaim five levels
or Five Growths if you want to say it Right. This classification of Left bank
Bordeaux wines was established in 1855 and still hold true today with one
exception. A second growth wine by the name of Mouton-Rothschild
clearly performed year in and year out at a level with the top four and
therefore did not believe that it was Right that his wines be Left out of the
First Growths. So finally in the 1970’s his Chateau was granted First
Growth status and I believe that finally made the classification at the top
Right again.
Of course, no discussion on Bordeaux wines would ever be complete if we
Left out the wines of the Right bank of the Gironde river. It is probably
easier to think of these wines as opposites to the wines of the Left bank
regions. For one, the grapes used in Right bank wines are for the most
part the same as the ones from the Left bank, but the amounts of each
grapes in the wine blends are backwards. Instead of Cabernet Sauvignon
being the dominate grape in the wines of the Right bank, Merlot is the
grape that makes up the Right blend for the Right bank wines. The
winemakers on the Right bank will add a little Cabernet to their Merlot
based wines in order to add a little tannic backbone and also to make them
taste Right. There are a few regions or Appellations on the Right bank
like Cotes de Blaye and Cotes de Bourg, but the two most important Right
bank wine appellations that make Right bank wines the Right way are
Pomerol and St. Emilion. These two areas should never be Left out of any
discussion on Right bank Bordeaux wines because they produce the
highest quality Right bank wines. The Right bank wines don’t use the
same 1855 Classification system that the Left bank wines use, instead they
use terms like Grand Cru (being the best) and Premier Cru (second best) to
let the consumer know which Right bank wines are just average and which
ones have the Right stuff! For the most part, Right bank wines are not as
famous as their Left bank brethren, but there is one Chateau in the Right
bank appellation of Pomerol that actually commands a higher price upon
release than any of the Left bank wines. You’ve heard of this Chateau,
Right? Of course I’m talking about the famous Chateau Petrus, which sells
for as much as $1,800.00 the year that it is released.
Bordeaux wines are special. No matter which bank they come from, Left
or Right they are truly something to behold. They contain the Right
amount of tannins to last decades in a wine cellar and they should be Left
alone to age for years before they reach the Right stage for drinking. It is
very important to pay attention to the Vintage years in order to make sure
you buy one from the Right vintage. If you buy a Bordeaux from the Right
vintage, like 2000 for example, you will truly be rewarded with a fantastic
wine that will last many years. You have to act quickly though, many
collectors snatch up all the good wines in great years and if you don’t buy
them early, you will be Left out in the cold!
give you some information about Bordeaux wines that is Right on the
money. Now many people find French wines a bit confusing and Rightly
so. For one, the labels just don’t look Right to us Americans. The French
labels all have Left the grape varietals off them and only mention the
region or appellation to get it Right. This problem, figuring out the Right
grapes in the bottle of Bordeaux can be a bit easier once you know a little
more about the wine producing regions of Bordeaux.
There is a well known river that runs Right down the middle of the
Bordeaux wine region called the Gironde. This river separates the
Bordeaux wine region into two main parts, the Left bank regions and the
Right bank regions. The Left bank regions in Bordeaux contain some of
the most famous names in the wine-drinking world. The wines from the
Left bank of the Gironde river are made up of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon,
but as is most Bordeaux wines, they have a few other grapes that make up
a blend. They blend their wines to get the taste Right. Here’s why; the
Cabernet Sauvignon that is grown in Bordeaux is very high in bitter and
rough tannins. This is due in part because Bordeaux possesses all the
Right growing conditions for the grape. To counter-balance some of the
bold tannins, the wine-makers will add the Right grapes to their wines to
soften them up. Merlot, which is soft and lush is low in tannins and
therefore, usually the Right grape for the job. Sometimes the wines of the
Left bank will also contain Cabernet Franc, Malbec or Petit Verdot as
well. However, usually Left bank Bordeaux winemakers find that just one
or two other grapes added to their Cabernet Sauvignon wines make up the
Right blend of flavors. These Left Bank Bordeaux wine blends are
predominantly made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for at least
60% of the blend all the way up to as high as 95% of the blend.
Have I lost anyone yet? If you have a question up to this point, just raise
your Left or Right hand? Alright! Let’s continue on then.
So now that I have told you that the predominate grape in Left Bank
Bordeaux wines is Cabernet Sauvignon, you will need to know what regions
make up these Left Bank Bordeaux wines in order for you to make the
Right choices in your Bordeaux wine selections. The first Left Bank
region or Appellation if you will, that you come to in the North is called the
Medoc. If you continue heading South, just Right on down the road a little
ways, you will come to the wine appellations of St. Estephe, Pauillac, St.
Julien and Haut-Medoc, all of which are Left Bank wine regions that
produce their wines with the Right grape blends, which of course are made
up of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. If you keep on heading South, again,
Right on down the road, you will pass the Left Bank Appellations of
Listrac, Moulis and one of the most famous wine appellations and Rightly
so, the Appellation of Margaux. All of these appellations claim that
Cabernet Sauvignon is the Right grape for the job when it comes to wines
made from the Left Bank of the Gironde river.
Now before we get into the Right bank wine regions, I have a little history
about the Left bank wines that should not be Left out of our conversation.
For whatever the reasons, the French Rulers of the day decided that it
would Right to have a classification system for the wines of the Left bank
in Bordeaux. After all, not all Bordeaux wines have the Right stuff to be
legendary or even classics. So a bunch of self appointed and Righteous
wine aficionados got together to taste all of the wines from the Left bank to
classify them in the Right order of quality. It was deemed by these so-
called Righteous wine experts that there were indeed four Chateaus that
produced wines that had the Right stuff to be called the First Growths.
They represent the first tier in the quality ladder. These four Chateaus do
produce some down-Right incredibly good wines, even to this day and they
fetch some prices in wine auctions that would lead you to believe that
people are just not in the Right frame of mind when it comes to spending
money on wine. These Chateaus are known as Margaux, Lafite
Rothschild, La Tour and Haut-Brion. Of course there had to be a second
tier of quality wines and so on and so on, otherwise this classification just
wouldn’t be Right, so these wine judges proceeded to proclaim five levels
or Five Growths if you want to say it Right. This classification of Left bank
Bordeaux wines was established in 1855 and still hold true today with one
exception. A second growth wine by the name of Mouton-Rothschild
clearly performed year in and year out at a level with the top four and
therefore did not believe that it was Right that his wines be Left out of the
First Growths. So finally in the 1970’s his Chateau was granted First
Growth status and I believe that finally made the classification at the top
Right again.
Of course, no discussion on Bordeaux wines would ever be complete if we
Left out the wines of the Right bank of the Gironde river. It is probably
easier to think of these wines as opposites to the wines of the Left bank
regions. For one, the grapes used in Right bank wines are for the most
part the same as the ones from the Left bank, but the amounts of each
grapes in the wine blends are backwards. Instead of Cabernet Sauvignon
being the dominate grape in the wines of the Right bank, Merlot is the
grape that makes up the Right blend for the Right bank wines. The
winemakers on the Right bank will add a little Cabernet to their Merlot
based wines in order to add a little tannic backbone and also to make them
taste Right. There are a few regions or Appellations on the Right bank
like Cotes de Blaye and Cotes de Bourg, but the two most important Right
bank wine appellations that make Right bank wines the Right way are
Pomerol and St. Emilion. These two areas should never be Left out of any
discussion on Right bank Bordeaux wines because they produce the
highest quality Right bank wines. The Right bank wines don’t use the
same 1855 Classification system that the Left bank wines use, instead they
use terms like Grand Cru (being the best) and Premier Cru (second best) to
let the consumer know which Right bank wines are just average and which
ones have the Right stuff! For the most part, Right bank wines are not as
famous as their Left bank brethren, but there is one Chateau in the Right
bank appellation of Pomerol that actually commands a higher price upon
release than any of the Left bank wines. You’ve heard of this Chateau,
Right? Of course I’m talking about the famous Chateau Petrus, which sells
for as much as $1,800.00 the year that it is released.
Bordeaux wines are special. No matter which bank they come from, Left
or Right they are truly something to behold. They contain the Right
amount of tannins to last decades in a wine cellar and they should be Left
alone to age for years before they reach the Right stage for drinking. It is
very important to pay attention to the Vintage years in order to make sure
you buy one from the Right vintage. If you buy a Bordeaux from the Right
vintage, like 2000 for example, you will truly be rewarded with a fantastic
wine that will last many years. You have to act quickly though, many
collectors snatch up all the good wines in great years and if you don’t buy
them early, you will be Left out in the cold!