The Bordeaux region is probably one of the best-known wine-growing areas in France, vying for first place among the "best wines" in terms of quality. The city of the same name is the capital of the Gironde department with its eponymous estuary in the southwest of France and is considered one of the most beautiful wine cities in the world. The Greek historian Strabo (63 BC-28 AD) writes that when he visited "Burdigala" in about 20 AD, he found no viticulture. However, this is not attested by Pliny the Elder (23-79) a few decades later. This means that the Romans established viticulture here around 50 AD. Today's Bordeaux region belonged to England for 300 years (1154-1453) and during this time viticulture took off significantly through the wine trade to England and Flanders. This led to the founding of large trading houses and the historically significant Bordeaux wine trade.
From the end of the 17th century, large-scale vine planting began in Bordeaux, especially in the Médoc. Because of this, the term "fureur de planter" (planting fury) was coined at the time. This laid the foundation for today's vineyards. Among the greatest vineyard owners was Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur (1697-1755). In 1925, Joseph Capus (1867-1947), professor of agriculture and member of parliament for the Gironde département, took decisive initiatives regarding the controlled origin system (see Appellation d'Origine Protégée) in France, which led to the creation of the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine). A common name in the Middle Ages for the entire "Bordeaux hinterland" starting from Bordeaux upwards the two rivers Garonne and Dordogne was Haut-Pays. On the occasion of the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855, certain Bordeaux wines were divided into quality classes; these were almost exclusively wines from the Médoc area. This famous Bordeaux classification is still valid almost unchanged.
Bordeaux = Cuvée and barrique ageing
The equation "Bordeaux is French red wine" is appropriate, because no other wine (besides Burgundy) is as associated with France. Typical of Bordeaux are wines blended with great skill from several grape varieties, or cuvées, which here is not simply called a blend, but an assemblage or poetically a marriage. This...
