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KNOWING YOUR
BORDEAUX

Sweet White Wines
Sweet white wines come with both medium and full bodied and are produced with a majority of the Sémillon grape, a variety particularly susceptible to noble rot. The most famous of Bordeaux's sweet white wine producing regions is Sauternes whose classified châteaux produce luscious wines worthy of aging to bring out their intense flavor. Other appellations include Barsac, Loupiac, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Cadillac, and Cèrons.

Wine Glossary
You needn't be a specialist in Bordeaux wine or fluent in French to speak about and choose these wines intelligently.
This short vocabulary list of basic wine terms will ease your initiation into Bordeaux.

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (A.O.C.)
Loosely translated, this means "controlled name of origin." It is a strict set of carefully enforced French laws that specify wines by geographical origin and minimum production conditions. The more specific the appellation, the better the wine. From general to specific, appellations are as follows: Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, district name (such as Médoc or Saint-Èmilion), and finally commune or village name (such as Listrac or Pauillac). There are 57 appellations in Bordeaux.

Château (Chateaux, pl.)
In the Bordeaux wine-producing region, "château" (or alternatively Clos, Cru, or Domaine) specifically means a vineyard of a regulated size that has winemaking and storage facilities on the property. Château-bottled wines ("mis en bouteille au château," which you will see on the label and sometimes on the cork) means the wines were bottled at the estate. There are over 9,000 individual châteaux in Bordeaux.

Chêne Oak
"Elevé en fûts de chêne" on the label means aged in oak barrels.
Clairet
A little known Bordeaux wine made like a red wine from red-wine grapes, but the juice (called "must," see below) is left on the skins for a very short time yielding a pale red color wine slightly darker than a rosé with light tannin qualities.
Claret
The British term for red Bordeaux wine.
Côtes and Coteaux
Hillsides planted with vineyards.
Cru
Growth or high-quality vineyard. "Grand Cru Classé" on the label means the wine comes from an excellent vineyard that has been officially classified as such.
Cru Bourgeois
This classification on the label indicates a château-bottled wine from the Médoc district that has met specific technical and qualitative standards. These wines are good value because they are fine wines that don't fetch 1855 classification prices.