Bordeaux Blend

Bordeaux.com places the Médoc peninsula on the Left Bank between the ocean and the Gironde estuary, and the Graves-Sauternes vineyards on the Left Bank between the Garonne and the Ciron. The Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac vineyards overlook the Dordogne, on what bordeaux.com calls a patchwork of limestone plateaus, molasses and clay soils. The CIVB's own blending article says Bordeaux's soils are varying mixtures of gravel, sand, clay and limestone, and that the future blend is largely determined by the soil producing the grapes. Soils rich in clay retain moisture and lead to muscular, full-bodied wines, it says, while limestone and gravel have good drainage and lead to brighter acidity, and sand gives lighter, more elegant wines. Climate is also an essential factor when deciding on the blend each vintage, since ripeness and acidity are essential to a wine's balance.

• Pauillac: 1,220 hectares under vine, 7.5% of all vines in the Médoc, rooted in gravel, sand and clay carried down the Garonne River (bordeaux.com Pauillac page, read 2026)
• Pomerol: 813 hectares and 138 winegrowers, on clay-gravel and sandy gravel over a subsoil rich in iron oxide, known locally as crasse de fer (bordeaux.com Pomerol page, read 2026)
• Bordeaux.com says Margaux's mixed soils (gravel with clay and sand) allow more Merlot and Petit Verdot, unlike the rest of the Médoc, where gravel soils carry mostly Cabernet-driven wines
• On Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac, Merlot is dominant partly thanks to the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion; where there is more gravel, more Cabernet is planted (bordeaux.com)

Bordeaux.com counts six main grape varieties, three red and three white, as the foundation of Bordeaux wines, with complementary auxiliary grapes grown in smaller quantities; the red auxiliary varieties, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère, account for 2% of the vineyard. It calls blending one of Bordeaux's defining traits. On the CIVB's variety pages, Cabernet Sauvignon brings structure, depth and power and forms a duo with Merlot, which brings finesse, silkiness and roundness; Cabernet Franc softens Cabernet Sauvignon's power and complements Merlot's roundness; even a small percentage of Petit Verdot amplifies texture, power and aromatic depth; Malbec adds suppleness and deepens colour; and Carménère brings a boost of colour. Cabernet Sauvignon ripens late and is usually harvested 7 to 12 days after Merlot, with Cabernet Franc harvested between the two. Bordeaux.com adds that Malbec is more resilient to heat and water stress than Merlot, and that Petit Verdot's late ripening is increasingly valuable in warmer seasons.

• Red varieties per bordeaux.com (read 2026): Merlot 66%, Cabernet Sauvignon 22.5%, Cabernet Franc 9.5%, and the auxiliary Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère at 2% of the vineyard
• Bordeaux.com calls Carménère a true rarity in Bordeaux and notes it is entirely absent from Pomerol
• Cabernet Franc's stronghold is Saint-Émilion, where bordeaux.com says it accounts for roughly one-third of plantings
• Decanter reported in January 2021 that new varieties had been approved, among them four red (Touriga Nacional, Marselan, Castets, Arinarnoa) alongside new whites, limited collectively to 5% of a producer's vineyard area and 10% of the final blend; bordeaux.com says the new varieties cannot be listed on wine labels

Bordeaux.com calls the Médoc a stronghold of cabernet where only red wines are made, and lists its eight appellations: Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Margaux, Médoc, Moulis, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien. It names Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe and Margaux among the appellations where Cabernet Sauvignon takes centre stage. In Pauillac, bordeaux.com says, cabernet sauvignon is king but is often blended with merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot. On the Right Bank, Pomerol's vineyards are 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, per bordeaux.com's Pomerol page (read 2026). The CIVB itself cautions that reducing Bordeaux to a divide between Left Bank Cabernet and Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac Merlot is far from the whole story.

• Médoc appellations listed by bordeaux.com: Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Margaux, Médoc, Moulis, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien
• Bordeaux.com describes Pauillac wines as powerful and elegant, and Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac reds as silky, elegant, rounded and fruit-forward
• 90% of Pauillac's output by volume has Grand Cru Classé status (bordeaux.com Pauillac page, read 2026)
• Pomerol has never attempted an official classification; bordeaux.com says its hierarchy can be inferred from the reputation and price of the appellation's leading wines

Bordeaux.com says that for the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, Napoleon III asked Bordeaux's brokers to produce a clear classification of their finest wines. For the reds, the 1855 classification covers 60 estates in the Médoc and 1 in the Graves (Pessac-Léognan), Château Haut-Brion, across five levels from Premier Cru to Cinquième Cru. The Premiers Crus are Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion; bordeaux.com notes that three of the five, Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Mouton Rothschild, are in Pauillac. Saint-Émilion's first classification came in 1955 with 75 châteaux, and the classification is reviewed and updated every ten years; its 7th edition, unveiled in 2022, lists 71 Grands Crus Classés, 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés and 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés "A". Pomerol has never attempted an official classification.

• The 1855 red classification: 60 Médoc estates and 1 in the Graves (Pessac-Léognan), in five levels (bordeaux.com)
• The five Premiers Crus: Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux, Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion
• Saint-Émilion editions per bordeaux.com: 1955 (75 châteaux), 1969 (84), 1986 (74), 1996 (68), 2006 (72), 2012 (82) and 2022 (85)
• Saint-Émilion's 2022 edition: 71 Grands Crus Classés, 12 Premiers Grands Crus Classés and 2 Premiers Grands Crus Classés "A" (bordeaux.com)

In an article last updated in February 2022, Decanter writes that Bordeaux's signature grapes have traversed the globe, to the extent that Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have risen to the summit of the world grape planting league in the past two decades. Outside Bordeaux, it says, a Bordeaux blend carries no specific rules on percentages, yields or planting, and producers on Tuscany's Bolgheri coast or the gravel soils of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand are not seeking carbon copies of Bordeaux, since climate and vineyard and cellar techniques differ. In the USA, members of the Meritage Association may use the trademarked term Meritage: the wine must combine two or more of the red Bordeaux varieties, may also use St. Macaire, Gros Verdot and Carmenère, and no single variety can constitute more than 90% of the finished wine. In Western Australia, the Margaret River Wine Association says the region's Cabernet Sauvignon is often blended with Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, and that the first Cabernet planted in Margaret River went into the Vasse Felix vineyard in 1967, sourced from the Houghton Cabernet block, followed by Moss Wood (1969) and Cape Mentelle (1970).

• Decanter: whether or not to use the term Bordeaux blend is up to the winemakers themselves
• Meritage (USA): Meritage Association members only; no single variety above 90% of the finished wine (Decanter)
• Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon is often blended with Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, and the wines tend to be medium bodied, very perfumed and elegant, per the Margaret River Wine Association
• Outside its top five varieties, Margaret River also grows Merlot, Chenin Blanc, Malbec and Tempranillo, representing 8% of vineyard area (Margaret River Wine Association, read 2026)

Bordeaux.com says the blending process begins in the vineyard, where winemakers first decide which grapes to plant in which soil. In the winery, the varieties are fermented separately, with decisions on extraction through pump-overs and pushdowns, on whether to go through malolactic fermentation, and on container (wood, steel, concrete). The winemaker can then decide the blend right after fermentation and age it as a whole, or age the varieties separately as component parts, in new or used oak barrels, steel vats, amphoras or concrete; ageing separately allows more control over the component parts of the blend. Deciding the right percentage of each, bordeaux.com notes, requires anticipating how the wine will evolve in the bottle. For Pomerol, it cites 12 to 18 months of ageing in oak barrels.

• Blending begins in the vineyard, with the choice of which variety to plant in which soil (bordeaux.com)
• Varieties are fermented separately before the blend is assembled (bordeaux.com)
• Two routes: blend right after fermentation and age as a whole, or age each variety separately as a component (bordeaux.com)
• Pomerol: 12 to 18 months of ageing in oak barrels (bordeaux.com Pomerol page)

Primary sources (the CIVB's bordeaux.com and the Margaret River Wine Association): https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/cabernet-sauvignon/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/merlot/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/cabernet-franc/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/petit-verdot/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/malbec/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/grape-varieties/carmenere/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/classifications-1855/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/classifications/saint-emilion/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/medoc/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/saint-emilion-pomerol-fronsac/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/graves-sauternes/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/mag/blog/the-art-of-the-blend/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/mag/blog/how-bordeaux-is-adapting-to-climate-change/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/mag/blog/battle-d-aop-pauillac-vs-pomerol/, https://margaretriver.wine/wine-varieties/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/saint-emilion-pomerol-fronsac/pomerol/, https://www.bordeaux.com/en/designations/medoc/pauillac/. Secondary: https://www.decanter.com/learn/advice/what-is-in-a-bordeaux-blend-51789/, https://www.decanter.com/learn/new-bordeaux-grapes-wines-420290/. Last verified 2026-09-28