• 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

• 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

• 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.