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Have you heard of ‘first wines’ and ‘second wines’ (and even third or more wines)? If you haven’t heard of them before and want to find out what it’s all about, read on. First Wines Wine producers in Bordeaux, especially those classified under the 1855 Official Classification of Bordeaux Wines, invest considerable resources, exceptional care, knowledge and skill to make their Grand Cru Classé [Château Name], which is sometimes known as their ‘first wine.’ In short, first wines are made from the very best grapes, harvested when perfectly ripe, from the very best vines, from the very best parcels of land in the vineyard. Grapes harvested from parcels of the best terroir

As the warm summer breeze sweeps over, it's the perfect time to explore the exquisite Bordeaux wines and their ideal food pairings. Bordeaux, renowned for its exceptional vineyards and diverse appellations, offers a delightful range of wines that beautifully complement summer dishes. In this article, we present four Bordeaux appellation wine and food pairings for a memorable summer feast. From starters to desserts, we have you covered! Starter: Château Carbonnieux Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) with Goat Cheese Salad Kickstart your summer feast with a refreshing starter of a Goat Cheese Salad paired with a crisp and vibrant Château Carbonnieux Blanc from the Pessac-Léognan appellation. The wine's elegant blend of Sauvignon Blanc and

You open a bottle, you pour the wine, you raise the glass, you taste it. Simple, right? There’s actually a bit more to it than that. To get the most out of tasting wine, if you take a more methodical approach, you can better describe and appreciate each wine’s unique qualities. The three main aspects to consider are: appearance, nose and palate.AppearanceThe main characteristic is color, but it’s not just red, white or rosé. Grape varieties have different color characteristics, varying in intensity and hue (color shade). For example, white wines range from pale straw yellow, through to the rich deep yellow, gold color of a sweet Sauternes,

Le Quatorze Juillet, also known as Bastille Day, is a national holiday that’s celebrated annually on July 14 in France. While many think it commemorates ‘the Storming of the Bastille’ on that day in 1789, it actually celebrates the Fête de la Fédération of 1790, which was the first anniversary of the event that marked the beginning of the French Revolution, because celebrating the event itself was thought to be too controversial.French citizens seizing control of the Bastille - a political prison and armory in Paris that represented royal authority - was a pivotal moment in the country's history, and the fall of the Bastille became a powerful

The world famous Tour de France bike race takes place from July 1st to 23rd, 2023, and this year we’re excited that it will be coming to Bordeaux, where crowds are expected to line the streets to cheer the cyclists on.In fact, stage seven, on July 7, ends right here in Bordeaux, having started earlier in the day in Mont-de-Marsan, in the neighbouring department of Landes, before arriving in the city after 110 miles of cycling, over mostly flat terrain.This year is the 110th Tour de France, with 22 teams competing, although it’s expected to be an exciting tight race between defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar,

 Bordeaux’s varied terroir offers a variety of soils and climatic conditions, providing more or less favorable conditions for different grape varieties.Grape Varieties Wine production in France is strictly regulated, and in Bordeaux only certain grape grape varieties are permitted. There are three main grape varieties for red wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, plus ‘auxiliaries’, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenère. The auxiliary, or complementary, grape varieties are sometimes used in smaller quantities to add certain characteristics or flavors, to provide balance in the ‘assemblage’ process, i.e. when the wine is being blended. For white wines, the main grape varieties are Sémillion, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle, with auxiliaries Colombard,

Bordeaux’s annual wine festival is back! From Thursday, June 22, to Sunday, June 25, Bordeaux Fête le Vin will be taking place in venues across the city. Taste the WinesThe main attraction for wine lovers is, of course, the quayside ‘wine village,’ where a re-creation of the Wine Route takes visitors on a tour through the appellations. Visit more than 80 wine producers and wine merchants who are hosting tastings in the pavilions. Entrance to the village is free, and wine tasting passes can be bought if you’d like to sample some of the many reds, rosés, clairets, whites and crémants on offer. The wine village is easily accessible

The land in the Bordeaux wine region is very varied, offering a large variety of soils and different climatic conditions favorable to different grape varieties. Generally speaking, the terroirs can be broken down into Left Bank, Right Bank, and also Entre-Deux-Mers.The River Garonne runs through the city of Bordeaux, and the Left Bank indicates the appellations to the left of the river, and the Right Bank those appellations on the right of the Dordogne river. Entre-Deux-Mers (‘between-two-seas’) is the area to the east of Bordeaux city, in between the tidal tributary Rivers Garonne and Dordogne, which forms an upside-down Y-shape, before the rivers converge and become the River

The best Bordeaux wines have a complexity to them, they’re multi-layered, influenced by the “terroir”, weather, time of harvesting, carefully blended grape varietals, vats and barrels used, the fermentation and maturation processes, and so on. Bordeaux’s wine classification systems are similarly complex, at first glance, not least because there isn’t one simple overriding system, there are several. So, to help you understand what they all mean, we’ve written an introduction for you.Bordeaux wine classifications 101The most well-known classification systems are the 1855 Classification and the classifications of: Saint-Émilion; Sauternes and Barsac; and Pessac-Léognan. Some classifications are revised relatively regularly, some rarely, so they’re more of a snapshot in