Wine Producing in Bordeaux

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To truly know your wine, you have to understand the various wine regions across the world and the nature of the wine they each produce. In this article, we take a look at perhaps the most famous wine region in France.

If you play a word association game, then what comes to mind when I say red wines and France? Bordeaux should be your answer. Located in the southwest of France, this is the dominant red wine production area of France.

There is one thing I really love about Bordeaux. It is authentic. The city and the region around it are about one thing and one thing only. Yes, wine. The vineyards in Bordeaux have forgotten more about wine than others will ever know.

To say that Bordeaux is the dominant red wine region is a mild understatement. How dominant? Wine has been produced for a couple thousand years in the area and nearly 750 million bottles are produced every year now. That is a lot of wine!

If you live in Bordeaux, you are going to be involved in wine in one way or another. You might grow grapes like the 12,000 other vineyards or sell it in one form or another and bring in part of the 14 plus billion dollars produced from wine sales each year.

Ah, but there is intrigue in Bordeaux. The reds are not entirely French these days. How could this be? Well, a vine disease nearly wiped out the vineyards during a seventeen year reign of terror beginning in 1875.

How did they save the day in Bordeaux? The interesting little secret is they brought in a rootstock from the USA. Yes, America. They cross bred the vines and the disease was eradicated.

Over time, Bordeaux wine has not always been from Bordeaux. Other wine growing areas of France would just label their bottles as being from Bordeaux. The government finally had to step in and pass a law stopping the practice.

Today, ninety percent of the wines produced in Bordeaux are reds. The wines are also considered stronger in flavor than older vintages. Whether this is a good or bad thing is open for serious debate among wine lovers.

Imagine a tasting in one of the thousand year old wineries of Bordeaux. Well, you can actually do it. A great thing about Bordeaux is it is accessible to visitors, which makes a trip to France a pretty good idea.

While traveling to Bordeaux is something every wine lover should do at least once, you can still enjoy the brilliant reds of the region locally. Pop a cork with some friends and enjoy your Bordeaux red.

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