Bordeaux

• Cabernet Sauvignon • Merlot • Malbec • Semillon • Muscadelle • Carmenere

Bordeaux has two major red grape varieties • Cabernet Sauvignon • Merlot

• Temperate, Oceanic, climate (45th parallel) – 13 C average yearly temperature (July, August, September = 20 C). • Summer daytime temperatures can peak to 35/40 C; and the night is cool: 9C. • Daytime, brings sugar to the grapes; nighttime brings acidity => Unique fresh quality and elegant texture. • Sunlight: 1,400 hours per year. • Moisture: 900mm rain per year. • Wind: moderate (6 to 9 mph).

• Gravel (Left Bank) • Clay, Sand and Limestone combination, called Calcaire (Right Bank)

• Slight slopes (Left bank) • Slopes and good drainage (Right bank) • Excellent sun exposure.

• Rain in Bordeaux can be quite localized, varying widely from bank to bank and from different appellations in a single year. • Sun exposure.

• Left Bank 1. Médoc 2. Graves • Right Bank 1. St Emilion 2. Pomerol

• Medium sweetness leads to high alcohol https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined • levels, due to the warm days. • Low acidity because of the cool evenings. • High tannins for the ripe skins and grains used. • Cassis, Raspberry, Plum, Black Currant, Blackberry. • Full-bodied red wines. The best estates in the Medoc are all on land with gravel-based soils, hills, elevations and access to water, most often the Gironde. Bordeaux is not exactly flat.

• Sweetness: Medium to high alcohol https://static.wixstatic.com/media/undefined • levels due to the warm days. • Low acidity: Cool evenings. • High tannins: Ripe skins and grains used. • Fruit: Black Cherry, Raspberry, Plum, Tobacco. • Medium-bodied red wines.