In June of this year, I had the pleasure of leading a wine cruise to the world -famous wine region of Bordeaux on the rivers of the Gironde and Dordogne. We had 37 family, friends and Wine Club Members join the voyage on AMA Waterways riverboat named AMADolce.
Bordeaux, thrice the capital of France, is a beautiful city, walkable, yet with a sleek tram which serpentines through the cobblestone streets. A new and wonderful wine museum has been built called, Musee Cite Du Vin.
The Great French writer, Victor Hugo, referred to Bordeaux this way, “Take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux. ”
Bordeaux’s wine history goes back to the Roman period, but got a big boost when the English King John in the 13 century married well into the French aristocracy and Bordeaux became part of England. To this day red wine from Bordeaux is still referred to as “claret ”. Lots of wine has shipped out from the port city of Bordeaux to England for centuries, long before California even had the first European grapevine planted by missionaries in the 18th century.
Geographically, Bordeaux is set in western France and is heavily influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde estuary, boasting ten foot tides. It is a cooler region than one might imagine, with occasional severe frost in spring time.
A critical date in Bordeaux history came in 1855 when the King Napolean III of France wanted to promote the French wines at an international exposition.
He commanded the local wine leaders to organize the top wines. And to today the Grand Cru Classe remains. The perceived top 61 chateaux wines were classified into five “growths ”. In nearly 175 years there has been only one change to this classification (Chateau Mouton Rothchild got promoted from second growth to first growth in 1973). As one might imagine, if you were included in that early classification list your chateau was golden, while others had to work harder to get established.
Today, Bordeaux is the largest of the French winegrowing regions, consisting of 247,000 acres, six times Napa. Their wines are 80 % red wines, consisting of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Yet, depending on producer, they can also include Malbec, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. With climate change affecting vineyards around the world, its interesting to note that the Bordelais
John Bargetto and Laure, owner of Chateau Sigalas Rabaud, premier grand cru in Sauterne
growers are experimenting with new, heat tolerant varietals from Spain and elsewhere.
The French are masterful winemakers and promoters of their fine wine and their biggest export market is China. This is especially important as consumption in France has been dropping for years. I appreciate French President Macron’s comment in his attempt to encourage wine consumption as part of French tradition, “A meal without wine is a bit sad.” I agree. While teaching my travel mates about French wines, I learned so much from my studies and tasting of local wines along the way as the ship sailed on the calm waters of Bordeaux. In general, compared to many California wines, the French wines are elegant, lower in alcohol and express oak character in a much more subtle way.
Bargetto regularly hosts wine cruises in the French countryside. Contact us to join the fun!
