Bordeaux
Bordeaux is perhaps the best known wine region in the world. It certainly produces some of the greatest red, white and dessert wines.
Most of the production is of red wines from blends of two main grapes:
- Cabernet Sauvignon is better suited to the well-drained gravel soils of the left bank vineyards and produces more tannic, full-bodied, deep coloured wines that can be austere in their youth but have great longevity.
- Merlot-dominant wines tend to be fragrant, lighter in colour with lower acidity and tannins. As a result they tend to be softer, medium-bodied and when well-made still rich and lush with ageing potential.
You can spend a lot of money on Bordeaux wines - the key is looking for value as in my Margaux from a smaller winery on the Left Bank and my Canon-Fronsac, a lesser-known appellation on the Right Bank.
