Skip to main content

Bordeaux Notes- Regional Appellations

Bordeaux is located in southwest France. It has a moderate maritime climate enjoying the warming influence of the Gulf stream. High rainfall and humidity can be a problem which leads to concerns over vintage variation. Typically, great vintages have sunny, hot and dry summers with harvest dates no earlier than late September.
The largest appellation is the basic Bordeaux AC. The majority of wines produced in this category are low to mid-priced. They can be red or white.

Mission St Vincent Sauvignon Blanc Bordeaux 2009  $13.99
Clear, pale lemon color. Clean, medium- intense,  youthful aromas of grapefruit and gooseberry. Dry, light body, medium acidity, alcohol and length with grapefruit/citrus flavors. 
Good quality/drink now.

Chateau Bellevue Rougier Bordeaux 2007 $14
Clear, medium- ruby color. Clean, medium syrupy aromas of black cherries and plum. Dry, medium body, alcohol, tannins and acidity with a diluted, almost flavorless, short finish. Not recommended.

Bordeaux Superieur covers the same area but has stricter production standards like smaller maximum yields and higher minimum alcohol levels. Red wines have a minimum 9 month aging requirement and white wines must be semi-sweet or moelleux. There is no dry, white Bordeaux Superieur.

Chateau de Macard Bordeaux Superieur 2009  $15
Clear, medium ruby color. Clean, medium developing aromas of mixed dark berries and cherries with tobacco. Dry, medium+  body, alcohol, tannins with medium acidity. The flavors mirror the nose. Good+/drink now.

Bordeaux Rose and Bordeaux Clairet are also in the regional category. The grapes for these wines may be sourced from anywhere within the region, as well.

Related Posts:
Notes from a Bordeaux Tasting
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 6, 2014 at 2:32 PM

    Hi to every , since I am truly eager of reading this blog's post to be updated daily.
    It consists of nice material.

    my website - Petrosaudi; ,

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Wine Life - Houston.

Popular posts from this blog

Lust Zinfandel 2007

     My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David  dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette.      This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so.      The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007  was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of cedar. It has flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate and also more of the baking
5 comments
Read more

Nocera - A Native Grape from Sicily

Nocera is a native grape from Sicily. It comes from the Messina province which is located in the northeast. Nocera is a quality red wine grape that is most known as a blender in the red wines of the Faro DOC. I had the opportunity to taste some pure versions (which according to Wine Searcher are rare) this week at a trade tasting held at Roma Restaurant in Houston. Wine production in the region dates back to the 14th Century BC, however, phylloxera decimated the vineyard area in 1881 leaving it at a fraction of its original size. The area boasts a Mediterranean climate with sunny days and coastal breezes, moderate rainfall, and mild winters, all ideal for grape growing. The Nocera grape is a bluish/black color and has a thick skin which allows for the production of structured wines with prominent tannins which are balanced by good acidity. High alcohol is common. Red wines produced from the grapes are an intense ruby color with purple highlights and aromas and flavors of dark fruits a
Post a Comment
Read more

The Salta Tour 2012

Vine Connections and Pioneer Wine Company hosted a seminar and tasting event for Houston's wine trade and media at Backstreet Cafe yesterday. All but two of the wines were from the Salta Province of Argentina. Salta is the most northern wine region in Argentina lying close to the Bolivian border. The climate is very extreme due to the high altitude.  Plantings start at 5,000 feet above sea level and climb to 9,000 feet, making these vineyards the highest in the world. The intense sunlight the area receives helps to create grapes with more anthocyanins, these are the color pigments which result in softer tannins, lower astringency and more intense flavor. The wines produced are extremely pure, concentrated and terroir specific. Torrontes Riojano which is considered the best of the three Torrontes clones is the most widely planted grape with plantings of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat increasing. The seminar started with a tasting of four Torrontes wines, three from diff
5 comments
Read more