Drinking Bordeaux…in Bordeaux

I’m no wine connoisseur, but in a nutshell Old World refers to “classic wine-making” regions in Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain), whereas the New World basically refers to wine produced outside of Europe, including USA, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, South Africa, and Argentina. In general, Old World wines tend to be more subtle and earthy due to the “terroir” in which the grapes grow in. Old World wines tend to get better with age and is best sipped with food and cheese. New World wine tends be bolder, and more fruit-forward and is perfectly fine to drink on its own. The term “terroir” is the French catch-all phrase that encapsulates the very essence of the French wine-making tradition. It denotes the special characteristics that geography, including but not limiting to, the soil, exposure to the sun, mineral composition, the climate, bestowed upon particular varieties of grapes. Wine-making in France is deeply rooted in tradition, and families have owned vineyards for many generations, some dating back to the late 1700s like Chateaux Tremoulet — nine generations of wine-making.

In the Bordeaux wine region, there are some smorgasbord of 57 appellations, which together produce around 700 million bottles of wine each year, ranging from good quality French table wine to some of the most expensive fine wines in the world. The Bordeaux blend comprises of the big five: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabarnet France, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, where the Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon is generally the lead variety, and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot act as supporting cast, as the ladder three grape varieties help add colour, structure, and body.

Most of the wine we tasted last weekend is a Bordeaux blend of 75 to 80 percent Merlot and 10 to 15 percent of Cabernet Franc, the two primary grape varieties in St. Emilion. In all of our previous wine-tasting trips to Napa, Sonoma, the Russian River, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, and the Cape Winelands, we usually taste six to eight different flights of wines, both whites and red. In Bordeaux, it’s all about red wine, or as the British would say ‘claret,’ and we did mostly vertical tastings of the same wines by different years, otherwise known as vintage. You can really taste the difference in the wine depending on the climate and condition of the soil during each year. Based on our conversations with the wine-makers 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009 are good vintages for Bordeaux reds, so if you have one of these in your cellar, hold on to them.

View of our picnic spot:

As I said before, life is too short to drink bad wine…happy tasting!

Update (19 June 2010): NY Times 36 Hours in Bordeaux