Bordeaux means different things to different people. Bordeaux is a beautiful port city in Western France, filled with wonderful culture, shopping and entertainment. It is the largest city in Southwest France, with a metropolitan population of over 600,000, located near the Atlantic coast, about 300 miles from Paris. Bordeaux is a region dominated by its rivers, The Garonne and The Dordogne, which meet to become the broad Gironde. The city of Bordeaux is a wonderful blend of the old and the new, with its beautiful 18th century architecture and rich history immersed in a bustling, modern city.

Bordeaux is one of the most famous and prestigious wine regions in the world, as well as one of the most important winemaking regions in France, producing about 30% of all fine French wine. In fact, Bordeaux's reputation is legendary as home to some of France's most famous red wines, crafted at historic châteaux, or wine estates. Bordeaux is also home to plenty of great, affordable wine, as well. In addition, the region produces a good amount of crisp, dry white wines, and famous sweet white wines.

Bordeaux has over 250,000 acres of vineyards, and 10,000 wine chateaux, which produce a wide range of red, white and rose wine styles. The Red wines fit a range of palate preferences, from a medium-bodied, fruit forward style to one that is very complex and challenging with all of its components. The Roses are both richly flavored and wonderfully refreshing wines, and the Whites range from bone dry to lusciously sweet.

For the production of Red Bordeaux wines, there are five legal grape varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the most important, and Malbec and Petite Verdot round out the grapes with the latter adding their aromas and weight to the wine.

The whites are produced from three grape varieties, with Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon being the backbone of the wines, along with the possibility of Muscadelle, known for its wonderful aromatics. Consumers are, at times, intimidated by Bordeaux wines, principally because, with so many flavor options, they are unsure of how the wines will taste. Enter Vino 100 as the perfect place for wine customers to stop by and learn about Bordeaux, and develop an understanding of Bordeaux styles! Our Vino 100 Wine Barometer™ is the ideal informational tool to help your customers translate all things that make up a Bordeaux wine into how the wine tastes.

THE CELEBRATED BORDEAUX CLASSIFICATION OF 1855
If you haven't already overheard someone talking about Bordeaux in terms of "first growth" and "second growth," trust us, you will, and they will probably be quite smug about it, too. Without getting too technical, there was an Exposition in the Médoc in 1855, at which time a wine classification was established by order of Napoleon III, to showcase France's best wines. It was hardly thorough, and some would even say it was highly arbitrary. The brokers who agreed to rank the wines created a list of 61 of the best Médoc wines, and divided them up into five "crus," or categories. Though today the results are highly contested, those châteaux at the top enjoy status akin to royalty, as they are considered the best from among more than 10,000 other châteaux.

While we certainly don't want to discount the classification, we want to make it clear that there are many other Bordeaux wines, in addition to those classified, which are very enjoyable, including wines that are suitable for everyday drinking. Very simply, no matter what you have on the grill this summer, there is a Bordeaux wine that will match it perfectly. Whether it is a crisp, lively white to enjoy with your favorite fish, or a rich, full-bodied red to savor with your favorite cut of beef, or anything in between….Bordeaux is the perfect wine choice!

Be sure to check with your local Vino 100 for more in-depth education, great tasting events, terrific recipes and more, as Vino 100 celebrates Bordeaux Wines now through August 31st.