The owner has just bought a case at auction and asks you, over breakfast, whether a Pauillac or a Pomerol would suit tonight's rack of lamb. Both are Bordeaux. They taste quite different, and knowing why is the whole of this lesson.
The divide
The Gironde estuary and the Dordogne split the region. The bank a château sits on largely determines the grape that dominates the blend.
| Left Bank | Right Bank | |
|---|---|---|
| Key appellations | Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, Pessac-Léognan/Graves | Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac |
| Soil | Gravel (warm, well-drained) | Clay and limestone (cooler, water-retentive) |
| Dominant grape | Cabernet Sauvignon | Merlot, with Cabernet Franc |
| Typical style | Firmer tannin, blackcurrant, cedar, structured, long-ageing | Plusher, softer, plum and fruitcake, approachable earlier |
Blending partners include Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Dry whites (Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon) come chiefly from Pessac-Léognan and Entre-Deux-Mers; sweet whites from Sauternes and Barsac.
The 1855 Classification - be precise
Commissioned for the Paris Exposition, the 1855 list ranked châteaux, not vineyards, on the price their wines were fetching. It covers the Médoc, plus one estate from Graves, Château Haut-Brion, and it runs from First to Fifth Growth (Premier to Cinquième Cru). Sauternes and Barsac were classified separately in the same year.
Key points to state accurately:
- It is a classification of estates, so a château can buy land and its new parcels join its classified wine.
- It has been effectively unchanged since 1855, with one promotion (Mouton Rothschild to First Growth in 1973).
- It does not cover the Right Bank at all. Saint-Émilion has its own classification, periodically revised. Pomerol has no official classification whatsoever, despite containing some of the most expensive wine on earth.
Other tiers you will meet
- Cru Bourgeois - a separate Médoc quality tier below the 1855 growths, offering strong value.
- Second wines - the estate's declassified younger-vine cuvée (for example Les Forts de Latour). Excellent value and often the smarter charter buy.
- Vintage matters more in Bordeaux than in most places, because the maritime climate is variable. A poor vintage from a great château can disappoint; a strong vintage from a modest one can shine.
Onboard Notes
- Classified-growth Bordeaux is the single most counterfeited wine category. Buy from a merchant with documented provenance, never from a broker you cannot verify.
- Older Bordeaux throws heavy sediment. Stand the bottle upright for 24 hours before service and decant carefully.
- If a guest wants "a Bordeaux" and nothing more, ask whether they prefer something firm and savoury or soft and round. That one question routes them to the correct bank.