A beginner’s guide to Bordeaux wine

Say bonjour to Bordeaux, home to some of the world’s most celebrated wines. From silky smooth reds and vibrant whites to lusciously sweet dessert wines, there’s a Bordeaux bottle to suit every taste.

Here at Laithwaites, we’ve got a soft spot for Bordeaux – after all, it’s where we started. Back in the 1960s, Tony Laithwaite spent his summers as a student working in the vineyards of Bordeaux. There he developed a deep love for the region’s distinctive red wines. This passion led to the creation of Bordeaux Direct in 1969. The following years saw Tony collecting wines from Bordeaux (then all over France) and driving them back to the UK in his Ford van. The rest, as they say, is history.

But back to Bordeaux …

Discover the Bordeaux wine region

Located along the southwest Atlantic coast, the Bordeaux wine region is arguably France’s most famous and prestigious. It’s globally renowned for its exceptional red wines, known for their elegance, complexity and remarkable capacity for ageing. Although red wine is responsible for 85% of the region’s total wine output, Bordeaux also takes pride in its distinct white, rosé and sweet dessert wines.

Fancy a trip back in time?

Bordeaux’s winemaking adventure began in 60 BC when the Romans planted the first vineyards. The region’s fertile land, climate and proximity to the Gironde estuary, a key trading route, quickly made it a major player in the wine world.

Today, Bordeaux is a busy hub of winemaking, with almost 9,000 winemakers spread across 57 wine appellations. The region’s maritime climate of mild winters and warm, sometimes changeable summers allows the wine grapes to ripen fully yet maintain a refreshing level of acidity.

Divided by the Gironde River, Bordeaux offers two different wine experiences. The ‘Right Bank’ is home to renowned wineries such as Château Pétrus and Le Pin. The soil here is rich in clay and limestone, and Merlot is the dominant grape variety.

The ‘Left Bank’ is known for its grand wine châteaux in prestigious wine regions such as Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac and St. Estèphe. Here, Cabernet Sauvignon thrives in the gravel soil. This grape is often blended with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc to create a complex and flavourful wine.

Exploring the famed Bordeaux blends

Bordeaux is famous for its wine blends. The classic Bordeaux red blend, replicated worldwide, combines four of the region’s leading grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Occasionally, you might also find traces of Malbec and Carmenère.

Over on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, Cabernet Sauvignon takes the lead in wine blends. It boasts enticing flavours of blackcurrant, cedar, graphite, liquorice and mint. The best of these wines can age well for many years and often don’t hit their stride for at least a decade.

On the opposite Right Bank, Merlot takes centre stage. This grape is often combined with Cabernet Franc, adding freshness and a hint of bell pepper. The Merlot blends are wonderfully rich and luxurious with smooth, silky tannins and juicy cherry, plum and fig notes. The best ones can age for decades.

White Bordeaux wine, also known as Bordeaux Blanc, is a dry white usually made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Widely underrated globally, Bordeaux Blanc delivers massively on the flavour front, boasting appealing notes of lemon, pineapple, peach and fresh grass. The most complex among them can age gracefully, developing smoky, creamy and tropical fruit flavours over time.

The region’s sweet wine – Sauternes – is made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon grapes that have been affected by ‘noble rot’. This results in unique flavours of apricots, honey, peaches, dried pineapple, marmalade and baking spices.

Understanding Bordeaux’s classifications

Bordeaux is classified in more detail than any other wine region in the world. Five different classifications cover its appellations:

• 1855 Classification

• Saint-Émilion Classification

• Graves Classification

• Cru Bourgeois Classification

• Médoc Cru Artisans Classification

The 1855 Classification is the most famous wine ranking in the world. Created for the 1855 Paris Exposition at the request of Napoleon III, it ranked 57 Médoc wines and one Graves wine, Château Haut-Brion, into five levels based on their market prices.

At the top are the five ‘First Growths’ – Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Haut-Brion. Beneath these, the remaining Classified Growths are divided into Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Growths, reflecting their market demand and prices. Only one change has been made since 1855 when Mouton Rothschild became a First Growth in 1973.

Now with 61 châteaux, due to subdivisions, the 1855 Classification has solidified the status of the First Growths. Their investment appeal remains unrivalled, but ‘super’ second estates such as Cos d’Estournel, Léoville-Las Cases and Ducru-Beaucaillou are gaining interest among wine collectors.