Bordeaux or Bust
Ξ December 5th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, International Terroirs |
Bordeaux is an enigma; or is it? True, it’s many things to many people but fundamentally, what is it about Bordeaux? Why is it so sought after and enjoyed throughout the world? Bordeaux is most famous for its rich and pricey reds, but fortunately, within its boundaries one can also find tremendous wines for every palette and budget. You may not know this but Bordeaux is the biggest fine wine region in the world. The region contains over 280,000 acres of vines farmed by 13,000 grape growers, producing 800,000,000 bottles of wine annually. Yes, you read that correctly, eight hundred MILLION bottles.
Lemme give you a few reasons why I’m involved with Bordeaux. When I was 17 I was introduced to a little wine called Chateau Margaux (lucky teenager eh?) and it began a life long love of the region. I studied privately and collected a bit here and there but upon my father’s death a few years back it made me realize how much I love wine and especially Bordeaux, so I changed careers, became a poor student again working on a number of certifications, including International Bordeaux Tutor. So, I guess I am now a wine professional.
As a Professional, I see many people who gushingly exclaim “I love Bordeaux!”, and yet know nothing about it. They mentally group Bordeaux as a type of wine rather than the end product of its geographic source. When I ask what they love about it? The answer is usually because it simply tastes good. Now that is an absolutely great reason to drink Bordeaux, it’s how we all start drinking wine, but we never ask ourselves, why did it taste so good? And how do I apply that knowledge to purchasing other bottles? The main question is can you mix advanced knowledge with enjoyment of drinking wine? Well, of course you can and in forthcoming articles here at Reign of Terroir give you the knowledge to make you better Bordeaux drinkers and buyers.
To understand any wine region, especially Bordeaux, you have to have a basis of where it originates and its history. The need for instant gratification creates wine drinkers who take critics at their word and instead of finding wines to their own tastes they just buy what is recommended because it’s easy. Have you ever brought home $200 of critic recommended wine and found yourself surfing the internet that night looking for vinegar jars or sangria recipes to dump the undrinkable remains of bottles you just didn’t like? Having a bit of knowledge about the wine you are buying can save a lot of heartache on your pocketbook and taste buds.
In future articles at Reign of Terroir I’m going to give you a lot of fine details regarding the region. I will include the discussion of vintages in detail and not just give you some chart. Don’t you end up hating vintage charts because they never seem to work they way you think they are supposed to? I will give you the information to develop the ability to know which Bordeaux is going to be right for you. For example did you know when the critics crow about how wonderful a specific vintage might be for Bordeaux most of the time they are referencing the left bank? But it could be a poor year for the right bank and bargains to be had as a result. We’ll enjoy a number of Cabernet versus Merlot smack downs along the way.
I’m not a wine critic. If ratings are your gig, you’re going to need to get a subscription to a critic. I’m here to give you the reasons why they get the ratings. We trust in people we’ve never met to make recommendations and hope and pray its good when we open the bottle and it just shouldn’t be that hard. Bordeaux really isn’t all that complicated once you have basic facts and its history under your thick old noggins. Now, how completely jazzed are you going to be when you walk into intimidating wine stores armed with nothing other than your brain and when they ask you if you need help you can say no and mean it!
So, take this journey with me, and together, we’re going back to hundreds of years of history, through war, peace, pestilence, tradition and discover what is arguably the most famous wines in the world…..Bordeaux.
Donna
