French term (right bank) for the area to the right of the Dordogne river and the Gironde estuary in the Bordeaux region. It includes the AOC areas of Blaye - Côtes de Bordeaux, Castillon - Côtes de Bordeaux, Francs - Côtes de Bordeaux, Fronsac, Lalande de Pomerol, Pomerol and Saint-Émilion. In a narrower sense, the term is often only used for the three classic zones around Libourne - Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac.
In the past, the wines from here were not marketed via Bordeaux, but via the Libourne trading centre. This is why the area is also known as Libournais. The soils here are mainly calcareous and clayey, characterised by good water retention capacity and particularly suitable for the Merlot and Cabernet Franc varieties. The Rive gauche (left bank), on the other hand, is dominated by gravelly soils that favour Cabernet Sauvignon.
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