Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a large modern city on the banks of the Garonne River in South West France. The city gives the wine region its name and while a huge amount of wine originates in Bordeaux, much of it rarely uses the generic name of the region. In fact the Bordeaux region produces almost every style of wine imaginable and probably fits most people’s image of a wine region.

This is particularly true of the Medoc region within Bordeaux with its imposing Chateaux and neat vineyards. The Medoc encompasses some of the most famous and expensive wines on the planet, wines such as Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite Rothschild sell for thousand of pounds a bottle to great acclaim from the wine world.

Away from the Medoc, Bordeaux also produces very simple red, white and rose wines in large wineries and co-operatives that are far less picturesque. Often the same grapes are used, Principally Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for reds and Sauvignon and Semillon for whites. These are the same varieties that produce the great classic wines of Bordeaux sometimes no more than a few miles away from the vineyards that produce the great wines of the region.

So while there is a common thread through most of Bordeaux wine, there is a very wide range of styles. There are many appellations within Bordeaux ranging from standard Bordeaux rouge up to individual Chateau estates in Medoc and St. Emilion for reds and from Bordeaux Blanc up to the Great dry white Graves and sweet Sauternes.

From the earliest days of the UK’s wine trade with Bordeaux, the red wines of the region were referred to as Clairet as they were lighter in colour, clearer, than the traditional red wines we imported. At the time much of this Clairet red was sourced way up river from Bordeaux and did not originate within the Bordeaux region however with time, the name stuck and evolved into Claret. All red Bordeaux from the simplest to the most prestigious can be referred to as Claret.

In practice those bottles labelled as Claret in our shops and supermarkets are from the simpler end of the scale although it is fashionable for upmarket restaurants, clubs and auction houses to categorise their prestigious wines of the region under the same title.

The Famous Bordeaux firm, Dourthe are currently producing some of the most reliable wines coming out of Bordeaux. Dourthe No 1 Sauvignon Blanc 2007, £6.99 Waitrose, Booths, £8.49 Wine Rack. Crisp, green apple nose with sufficient weight of juicy fruit on the palate to partner fish or white meats.

Berrys' Good Ordinary White, Dourthe, Bordeaux (£7.05 per bottle or £4.45 as part of a case) Fresh cut grassy edge to the green apple nose. Not too acidic, good quaffing Sauvignon.

Chateau Lamothe Vincent 2007 – 100% Sauvignon - £6.75 www.everywine.co.uk Bright lime green colour, slightly waxy, lanolin edge to the nose. Clean appley fruit dry but with a weight of zesty apples. Good.

Cordier Collection Privee 2007 – 100% Sauvignon Blanc - £6.99 Tesco Crisp green apple nose. Touch of boiled sweet, (temp controlled fermentation) lanolin. Juicy green apple but not too green, malic, almost sweet ripe fruit with a boiled sweet finish.

Sainsburys Taste the Difference range includes some very good Clarets at the price, for example Sainsburys Taste The Difference Medoc £6.49. Pencil sharpenings on the edge of a firm, plumy blackcurrant nose. Chewy, grippy blackcurrant fruit, balanced tannin and body. Delicious.

Sainsburys Taste The Difference St. Emilion £8.99 Pale colour, smoky, plummy nose, smooth grip of mellow tannin adds grip to the ripe plum tones with an attractive extra dimension of smoky oak. Roast Sunday lunch.

Sainsburys Special Reserve Claret £4.49 Decent smoky cassis plum nose, soft plummy juicy peppery finish nice soft tannin. Good.

2005 La Parde du Haut Bailly, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux (£24.40 per bottle or £21.95 as part of a case) Classic cedar and blackcurrant nose with a mineral egde. Delicious rounded blackcurrant and plum fruit with a firm grip reminiscent of sucking a pebble and a fine, lingering finish.

Sainsburys Taste The Difference Sauternes £8.99 delightful, sweet melon and honey tones balanced and easy to drink as an aperitif or at the end of the meal.

Burgundy, the other great red wine of France, originates some 500 miles from Bordeaux in Central France. The Grapes are different, the image is different and while the wines cost as much if not more than Bordeaux they are completely different but more of that in the Burgundy article to follow.