Bordeaux Wine Month- Part 1 Reds

September is Bordeaux month and to celebrate we’ll be having a number of events and tastings throughout the month. In order to help people out with probably the most sought-after region in the world we hope to give you a bit of a breakdown of this amazing region in this blog and help you understand the basics of Bordeaux and maybe send you on the start of a longer learning journey into this most fascinating of regions. Originally planned as one blog the depth of information to this region means we need to go with two. First up the Reds of Bordeaux.

Left Bank vs Right Bank

The left bank and the right bank refer to the two distinct wine producing areas in Bordeaux, split by the Gironde estuary and its rivers, the left bank, known for its gravelly soils and protection from autumn winds by the Landes Forest is more suited to the later ripening Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the right bank with its clay- limestone soils and slightly warmer inland temperatures are more suited to Merlot. Each side grow both major varieties along with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère for their blends (which change from vintage to vintage) but as a general rule of thumb if you are buying a bottle from the Left bank it will have a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and if you are buying from the Right bank it will have a higher percentage of Merlot.