Spotlight On Bordeaux Wine: Overrated Or Insanely Good Value?
Let’s talk Bordeaux!
What do you think when you hear Bordeaux?
I’m pretty sure almost everyone knows of it!
Overrated or insanely good value?
In my opinion, sometimes it is just misunderstood.
Sometimes it just feels too complicated.
Want to see the YouTube Video that goes over some of this?
Enjoy! Subscribe. Leave comments.Parts 2 and 3 will be published soonish.
Let’s simplify some things!
Bordeaux is a region in France.
It is also a city in France.
Generally, I really can’t stand when people start recommending wine and saying you need to look for wines grown on a slope, or on the fog line or something like that.
Who shops for wine like that?!?!
However, in Bordeaux, you do often want to know the location.
UGH.
Whenever, I start to talk about Bordeaux or write about it, I end up going down a rabbit hole of explanations.
EEK!!
That isn’t simplifying at all.
Here’s the compromise.
I’ll give helpful basics, then warn you when something is rabbit hole material. Like this:
Here are some helpful basics:
Almost all wines in Bordeaux are blends.
If the wine is red, which most Bordeaux is, the major players are the grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. There are some other small players too, but the big 3 get top billing.
If it is white, it will be mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
What? No Chardonnay?
Nope.
For that and Pinot Noir, head to Burgundy.
If you just thought: What? Why?
Let’s head info about Old World wines and the geography part.
Rabbit hole? You decide.
First up is Old World versus New World.
Old World is basically Europe. New World is everywhere else.
Old World has rules and regulations out the wazoo!
Old world geographical identifiers are legally protected intellectual property.
Don’t mess with them.
For a wine to be called Bordeaux, or any other Old World designation, you have to follow the rules! There are a lot of them.
You absolutely do not need to know them all specifically.
Whew!
It does explain, however, why you won’t find a Chardonnay in Bordeaux.
Onto the geography part.
Want to hear about left bank and right bank in Bordeaux?
What???
Just skim if you don’t care.
Here comes the kicker!
You may get totally different style wines depending on where in Bordeaux it is from!
Keeping it really simple here, because why not?
Left bank wines are Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. These wines will probably have more tannins and feel a little bolder.
Right bank is more Merlot dominant. Merlot wines will have less tannins and feel softer.
Knowing left vs. right bank is one of the few clues you get.
You usually won’t see the grape varieties listed on older Bordeaux labels.
OOF!
Even more…
Remember that Old World rules out the wazoo?
There is a whole hierarchy in Bordeaux.
AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) is what the French certification is known as. You will see it right on the wine label.
There are stricter rules as the region gets smaller:
Bordeaux (Whole area)
Bordeaux Supérieur
Sub -regions
Communes
Spoiler alert: The smaller the area, the smaller the production. This often means a higher price! It does not mean it will taste better to you!
There are also historical classifications out the wazoo.
Good news, though!
Less than 5% of Bordeaux wines are classified!
BUT…
The famous classifications seem to get all the attention, and so much price inflation.
The classification that most people know of is the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
It was created for a world’s fair and was based on the top prices at the time. It was not based on what the average wine fan would enjoy, especially today!
The absolute top of this list were (and still are!):
Chateau Latour
Chateau Lafite Rothschild
Chateau Haut Brion
Chateau Margaux
Chateau Mouton Rothschild (added to list in 1973, which is way too long a story for here)
These are all left bank wines.
To complicate things, the Right Bank has their own system. Not going down that rabbit hole.
You’re welcome.
So many of these historically ranked wines are really just investment bottles and collector trophies.
Investment? Collectible? You will see this outside some wine stores in Bordeaux!
What’s the going price on this investment today? By the way, Petrus is a right bank wine and usually 100% Merlot.
For many wine fans, high end Bordeaux has this strange pull.
It’s sort of like seeing a movie star in real life.
Full disclosure:
As a wine fan, I have had a few Bordeaux “movie star” moments myself:
I have been to Chateau Lafite Rothschild.
What?!?!?!?
Here’s the story:
I was on a River Cruise in Bordeaux. Everything was supposed to be included, according to what they promised.
They announce before dinner one night that there were 15 spots for a tour and tasting at Chateau Lafite Rothschild. It cost extra, though.
I was so angry that this wasn’t what was promised, I immediately went to complain.
However, it wasn’t a lot of money for a once in a lifetime experience. Meeting a celebrity, basically. I reserved 2 spots.
I guess being incensed paid off. Well for me it did.
There were a lot of incensed people who did not get one of the spots.
Wine tasting at Château Lafite Rothschild
It was an insanely cool experience. There is a ton of history there!
The gentleman showing us around, and pouring for us, could not have been nicer.
If I could have purchased the wine, which you cannot, it probably would have cost about $800 a bottle.
So not my price point!
But wait, there’s more!
I actually own a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982.
Château Mouton Rothschild 1982
Here is the really strange part.
I absolutely do not remember ever buying it, or being gifted it.
I have a lot of wine in my apartment, and I should absolutely keep track better.
What now?
I have read that it is worth a lot of money. We are talking over $1000. WHAT??
1982, I gather, was an incredible vintage.
The question is should I drink it, or just enjoy that I have it?
Leave a comment if you have thoughts.
With both experiences, I obviously can understand why people get excited by these famous wines.
But, it makes no sense to me to pay an outrageous amount for the privilege.
Paying a ton of money would take all the fun out of the experience.
Now let’s talk about the 95% of Bordeaux wines that are not classified!
That’s where the value lives!!
If you have been to Bordeaux, you may say WOW, I really loved that house wine they just plunked down on my table in the little town of whatever. This wine did not come from an expensive bottle of wine that they are hiding in the kitchen.
There is your value!
Here’s where you should look:
This the broadest classification of Bordeaux wine.
The grapes can come from any area of Bordeaux. This type of wine is probably similar to that delicious house wine you had.
Insane value wine from Trader Joe’s!
Although just having a Bordeaux designation wine can be delicious, Bordeaux Supérieur is a step up with more requirements.
I wrote about this more in depth in my post called:
Three more insanely good value Trader Joe’s wines: Red Blends edition
At $8.99 we are definitely talking Bordeaux as an insanely good value.
Step up even further and you can still get insane value wines at under $35!
We bought 2 so we can compare vintages!
When you don’t spend a fortune, you can explore and find delicious wines.
There is no need to go into the stratosphere price wise. Bordeaux is definitely insanely good value when you look beyond the “movie stars!”
Do not think more expensive is “better”!!!
In general, if you really like Cabernet Sauvignon wines, focus more on left bank areas. If you are more of a Merlot fan, head to right bank.
Explore! Have fun!
Are you more of a Cabernet Sauvignon fan? Merlot?
If you avoid the trophy wines and the movie stars, there is great wine at reasonable prices.
Of course, sometimes dreaming about a movie star can be fun.
Value is relative!
If you want the delicious reasonably priced Bordeaux wines head to the areas that no one is bragging about.
Head to the shop so you can use some fun mats to figure out which side you are on in the great Bordeaux debate?
Mostly, just have a wonderful time with your wine explorations!
Have fun!
EXACTLY!
