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Bordeaux
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Left Bank and Right Bank, the 1855 and Saint-Émilion classifications, Sauternes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and one verified producer.
All levels127 min16 stepsAbout Bordeaux
Part of France
Start with the region on the Gironde estuary: about 110,000 hectares, 65 appellations, and a split between Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon and Right Bank Merlot.
Next, the 1855 Classification, which ranked Left Bank red châteaux into five growths on selling prices from 1815 to 1855.
Begin on the Left Bank, the western side of the Gironde, where deep gravel soils carry Cabernet Sauvignon-led blends.
Then the Médoc, the gravel peninsula north of Bordeaux city that holds 60 of the 61 classified red châteaux.
In Pauillac, three of the five First Growths share about 1,200 hectares of deep gravel along the estuary.
Margaux, the southernmost communal appellation of the Haut-Médoc, holds 21 classified growths across four communes.
Immediately south of Bordeaux city, Pessac-Léognan makes red and dry white wine and holds Château Haut-Brion, the only 1855 estate outside the Médoc.
In the southern Graves, Sauternes makes only sweet whites, from grapes concentrated by noble rot.
Now the Right Bank, the Libournais appellations built mainly on Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Left Bank vs Right Bank Bordeaux
Left Bank Bordeaux vs Right Bank Bordeaux
Set the two banks side by side: soils, grapes, style, classification systems and aging potential.
Saint-Émilion, the principal Right Bank appellation, covers about 5,400 hectares across nine communes east of Libourne.
Its classification, first set in 1955 and revised about every decade, ranks estates in A, B and Grand Cru Classé tiers, unlike the static 1855 list.
Pomerol, about 800 hectares near Libourne, has no official classification and grows Merlot on clay, gravel and iron-rich crasse de fer.
Meet Cabernet Sauvignon, thick-skinned and high in tannin, a Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc cross that arose in 17th-century Bordeaux.
Then Merlot, thin-skinned and plush, the grape anchoring Right Bank Bordeaux and another Cabernet Franc offspring.
Now a producer: a Pauillac First Growth making three Cabernet Sauvignon-based reds from 96.5 hectares.
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