Bordeaux, France

The Paris Olympics are about to begin, and France naturally turns to wine. Earlier, the Olympic torch relay even passed through several renowned wine regions, allowing the whole world to experience the magnificent French vineyards, highlighting the importance of French wine.

This time, #MDVExplorer will introduce the 14th stage that passed through the famous #Bordeaux wine region. Let's see how familiar you are with this wine region! Bordeaux, France, Go!

How Big is the Wine Area?

The total area of ​​Bordeaux is about 250,000 hectares, of which the wine producing area with the same name as Bordeaux accounts for 110,000 hectares, or almost 45%. Other smaller production areas, such as Sauternes, Barsac, Pessac-Léognan, etc., all cover an area of ​​less than 5,000 hectares.

How Many Production Areas are There?

The Bordeaux wine region is divided into two categories.

1) The left bank of the Dover River (Gironde) is divided into two major areas: the left bank and the right bank.
2) Divided into 6 production areas according to the official AOC classification system.

Left and Right Coast Zoning

The Left Bank (Rive Gauche) - Médoc, Graves, and Côtes de Bordeaux.
It is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

The Right Bank (Rive Droite) is dominated by Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, and Fronsac, with Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes.

AOC Zoning

The six major production areas include: Médoc, Graves, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac and Côtes de Bordeaux.

This classification method pays more attention to factors such as soil type, grape variety, wine style characteristics, etc., and covers almost all important wine-producing areas in the Bordeaux region.

Diverse Soil Characteristics

The Bordeaux wine region is rich in favorable growing conditions.
Contains various types of soil, including sandy soil, sandy soil, limestone soil and gravel soil.

Grape Varieties

Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot,
Accounting for 40% of the total output, followed by Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, etc.

Wine Production

Bordeaux produces approximately 700 million bottles of red wine annually, making it the world's largest wine-producing region.

Chateau Bordeaux

Château Lafite Rothschild (Lafite), Château Latour, Château Mouton Rothschild, Champagne Houses.