Bordeaux Wine History and Description of the Wines

This page is about the history of the Bordeaux wine producing region, along with a description of the Bordeaux wine region from the birth of appellation to today, including information on the 1855 Classification, the soil, wine making, the effect of Robert Parker, futures and more.

If you want to read about other Bordeaux wine producers in different Bordeaux appellations: Links to all Bordeaux Wine Producer Profiles If you are interested in learning more about Bordeaux wine, we offer numerous articles on everything about Bordeaux wine, from a history of the Bordeaux region and the famous 1855 Classification, the grapes used to produce Bordeaux wine and even vintage summaries, covering Bordeaux wine from 1900 to today: All About Bordeaux Wine Guide

On the left side of the page, you have links to every important Bordeaux wine producing appellation, which bring to profiles on all the top Bordeaux chateaux in the region.

The history of the Bordeaux wine region dates back to the ancient Romans who were the first people to cultivate, plant vineyards and produce Bordeaux wine. The Romans took over the area in about 60 BC. They referred to the area as Burdigala. For history buffs, the most complete ruins remaining in Bordeaux from the days of the ancient Romans are the remnants of the Palais Gallien amphitheater. Today, ruins can be found scattered over the entire region in both banks and in Graves.  Bordeaux was already starting to earn fame for its wines as far back as the 1st century AD. In his writings, Pliny the Elder mentions plantings in Bordeaux. In Pompeii, fragments of Amphorae have been discovered that mention Bordeaux wine. Numerous estates in St. Emilion have scattered, ancient Roman ruins in their vineyards. Chateau Ausone in St. Emilion takes its name from Ausonius, the Roman poet who might have lived in a villa at that location.

The Bordeaux appellation was perfect for cultivating grapes for wine. It offered the unique combination of the right soil for growing grapes used in the production of wine coupled with easy access to the Garonne river, which was needed to help ship the wines. The first Bordeaux wines were probably based on vines transported from Spain, in particular, Rioja. Aside from the perfect combination of the right soils and marine climate for growing wine grapes, Bordeaux had one other main advantage, it was located next to the Gironde river, which made transportation of their wines easy as the river meets the Atlantic ocean.

The next step in the history of creating the Bordeaux wine region took place in 1152, when the heir to the Duchy of Aquitaine, known as Eleanor of Aquitaine, married the future king of England, Henry Plantagenet. Plantagenet would late come to be known as King Henry II. This marriage made sure Aquitaine was owned by England for over 300 years, until 1453. While the conclusion of the hundred years war, (which really lasted 116 years) in October 1453, is thought of as the start of the Bordeaux wine trade, that is not correct. The Bordeaux wine trade began exporting to England in 1302 for the pleasure of King Edward 1. As you will discover, the connection between Bordeaux wine, England and royalty plays a major part in the history of Bordeaux.

So, by the time the Hundred Years War had finally concluded, Bordeaux wine had already been discovered by the British wine lovers! In fact, Richard the Lionheart, the son of Eleanor and Henry II made Bordeaux wine his everyday beverage. The Bordeaux wine buying public agreed, if Bordeaux was good enough for the King, it was good enough for all loyal British wine lovers. From that moment forward, the Bordeaux wine trade was born.

The next major event for the Bordeaux wine trade took place when the Dutch needed to build roads to make it easier to transport goods throughout the region.  The Dutch, along with the British were major purchasers of Bordeaux wine. While British consumers, along with the royal families of Europe sought the best wines of Bordeaux, the Dutch buyers were more concerned with the best value wines of the Bordeaux appellation. This presented a problem for the Dutch, because they needed their Bordeaux wine to be delivered quickly, before it spoiled. Speed was an issue because they were seeking the wines for the lowest price and those wines would not keep.  Dutch merchants came up the idea to burn sulfur in barrels, which aided the wines ability to last and age.  The Dutch are also credited with another even more important piece in the evolution of the Bordeaux wine trade. In fact, the next contribution by the Dutch changed the landscape of the Bordeaux wine region forever.

By the 1600′s, numerous Bordeaux vineyards were already planted, cultivated and producing wine.  However, much of the region still consisted of unusable, swamp land and marshes. Dutch engineers came up with the idea to drain the marshes and swamps. This allowed for quicker transportation of their Bordeaux wine and all of a sudden, there was a lot more vineyard land that was perfect for growing grapes to make more Bordeaux wine.

The Dutch engineer who was placed in charge of creating the plan to drain Bordeaux’s swamps was Jan Adriaasz Leeghwater, (1575-1650). It was Leeghwater who changed the Bordeaux landscape forever when he removed the swamp water. This had two effects. It allowed for easier transportation of goods and people. More importantly, previously unusable land became perfect for agriculture and eventually many of the now famous Bordeaux vineyards were created.

Interestingly, the same methods employed to drain Bordeaux of swamp water are still in use today for the same purpose. To accomplish this, dikes are erected and pumping stations are installed to drain the water from the land. After the water has been removed, the now muddy surface area is planted with reeds. In time, the remaining water evaporates.  At the same time, new water channels are created. This helps improve the drainage, so that the previously swamp like conditions do not develop again. Many of the original water channels are still in existence all over the Medoc.

It was thanks to the Dutch that new opportunities opened up for the increase in production and exportation of Bordeaux wine. When the 18th century was drawing to a close, due to the Spanish Succession War, it became difficult to export Bordeaux wine because ships were in danger while sailing across the English channel. At this time, trade was halted between France and England. At least official trade. Unofficial trade soon took over. We know this because the best Bordeaux wine still managed to find its way to the London auction houses for wealthy, thirsty consumers. Much of that Bordeaux wine was confiscated by pirates. On the other hand, it was quite possible that private arrangements were made between pirates and the Bordeaux chateaux owners.

At first, Bordeaux wines were sold with only the name Bordeaux on the bottles. By the late 1600′s specific regions and brands began developing, allowing discerning consumers to chose which Bordeaux vineyard, or appellation they preferred.  Haut Brion, Margaux, Lafite and Latour were the first brands to develop name recognition. Slowly, buyers started to look for wines from specific communes. Once they began to recognize, or appreciate the differences, what we know of today as the Second Growths were next brands to gain a following.

1725 was the year that specific appellation boundaries were first drawn up. The cumulative areas were known as the Vignoble de Bordeaux. At this point in time, wines began to be sold listing the region and area the wine was produced in.  Consumers soon began to purchase wines from their favorite appellations and started to understand the differences between the wines and wineries in each commune.

Several wealthy Bordeaux land owners began rapidly building chateau and planting vineyards including Nicolas Alexandre, Marquis de Segur who counted numerous chateaux that are famous today among his holdings in the Medoc. Pierre de Rauzan laid the foundation for Château Rauzan Segla, Château Rauzan Gassies, Château Pichon Longueville Baron and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande,

1855 remains one of the key years in Bordeaux history. That was the year of the official classification. The classification ranked what was considered the top wines from the Medoc.  By this time, Bordeaux wine from the Medoc, especially Pauillac, was prized by consumers all over the world. The purpose of the classification was to promote Bordeaux wine and inform consumers which wines were the best to buy, and guide them as to how much to pay. To do this, something simple needed to be created. Thus, the 1855 Classification was born! Since 1855, the classification of Bordeaux wines has only allowed one major modification in over 150 years! Most significantly, Chateau Mouton Rothschild was promoted from Second Growth to First Growth status. That took place on June 21, 1973.

How did the 1855 Classification come about? Similar to the World Fair’s we hold today, The Exposition Universelle de Paris was the perfect opportunity for France to place on display the best it had to offer for the entire world to see. This was what Napoléon III wanted to accomplish in 1855.

What happened next was, the Gironde Chamber of Commerce ordered an official classification to promote the now famous wines of the Bordeaux appellation. They allowed the Wine Brokers Union of Bordeaux to develop the classification.  By putting together a group of known negociants and brokers, their efforts morphed into what we now refer to as the official 1855 Classification. For more detailed information on the official 1855 Bordeaux wine classification: List of 1855 Classifications

Bordeaux came up with a ranking of the wines in five, unique classes for the red wines. The wines included were all from Medoc, except for the already legendary Château Haut-Brion from Graves, which had to be included, due to its world wide fame. In Sauternes and Barsac, the sweet wines were also included, but with only two classes.

Following the success of the 1855 Classification came an event that devastated most of the vineyards in Europe, Phylloxera. Interestingly it was America that saved the European wine industry. It was discovered that American rootstock was resistant to Phylloxera. Phylloxera, a tiny insect related to the aphid fed onand destroyed a large portion of the grape vines not planted in very sandy soils. Part of the credit for discovering the solution goes to Albert Macquin, the owner of Chateau Pavie Macquin. He helped develop and promote the solution of grafting American rootstock that was discovered to be pest resistant onto European vines. Select varietal’s responded better to the grafting, for example, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the three main grapes used in the production of red Bordeaux wine. Those varieties are now the dominant varieties planted in Bordeaux. They have replaced Malbec, Carmenere and even Petit Verdot in the vineyards. 

For Bordeaux white wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and  Muscadelle worked perfectly with the American rootstock that was taking root in Bordeaux wine vineyards. Another cure discovered by Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet and Ernest David of Chateau Duzac was the development of what is still known as the Bordeaux mixture, a blend of copper and sulphate, which also worked.

Bordeaux wine had its ups and downs over the years with the quality of its wines and its prices. But it was the American wine writer, Robert Parker that gave Bordeaux wine its biggest boost in the world market. Prior to Robert Parker, and even today, Bordeaux has always been the most dominant wine in the world market and in auction houses. But there was never an urgency to purchase wines as a future, or En Primeur. That all changed with the 1982 vintage. With that change came much higher prices, followed by sales to new customers in markets that until recently, did not purchase Bordeaux wine. Much of the credit for the change is due to Robert Parker’s enthusiastic praise of that vintage, and future vintages of Bordeaux wine.

After the 1982 vintage, an entirely new game was in play.

For this to happen, things had to change with not only how consumers perceived Bordeaux wine, but changes were about to take place with how the chateau sold futures and how the negociants bought and sold Bordeaux wine. Of course all of this is not due to Robert Parker. But all these changes took place at the same time consumer demand was starting to grow and the fame and influence of Robert Parker grew right along with it.

Taking a step back again, the relationship between the trade and the chateau was different before Robert Parker. Prior to 1982, the negociants held all the power. They paid for the wines. They bottled the wines. They sold the wines and for all intents and purposes, they were able to dictate the prices they would pay the chateaux. The negociants were more than brokers, they were the bankers for the chateaux. In essence, that is still the role they play today.

It might seem difficult to fathom today, but prior to 1982, futures were not important to consumers. In fact, they were difficult to purchase, as many of the top British Merchants did not offer them. For example, Berry Brothers bought futures from the negociants, but they did not offer the wines for sale until they were bottled and available for delivery. They might even wait a year or two after that!

In fact, it was the stubborn refusal to meet the customers demand to purchase futures that gave birth to numerous famous British Merchants like Farr Vintners and Bordeaux Index. These are some of the world’s biggest sellers of Bordeaux wine today.

The tranche system changed after Robert Parker as well. Previously, while the First Growths sold in tranches, (A tranche is a percentage of their available wine) the tranches were much larger than they are today. Very little Bordeaux wine is actually sold in the early tranches. However, it’s important to note, few chateau sell much of their wine in tranches. Tranches are usually only used by The First Growths. The seemingly urgent need to buy early tranches from the chateaux today, was nonexistent prior to Robert Parker. British merchants were offered the wine for sale in April or May and they had several months to decide if they wanted to purchase it or not. The lag time was due to annual vacation schedules. Today, they are lucky if they have an hour or two to decide to buy millions of dollars worth of wine!

Part of the change in allocations is due to the fact that today, less Bordeaux wine than ever is being produced. Since 1982, and then again in 1990, the trend has been for the all the top estates to relegate less of their crop to their top wines, their Grand Vin. A larger portion of their harvests is now placed in second wines, third wines, or sold off in bulk. This means that a famous estate that previously made 30,000 cases of wine per vintage, prior to 1982, is perhaps making 18,000 to 20,000 cases of the same wine. While that means the wines are better, as they are only made from the top grapes, there is less wine available for consumers.

Today, Bordeaux wine is the world’s most popular and sought after wine. It is the number one wine purchased by collectors for cellaring all over the world. Bordeaux wine dominates the auction sales market. The success or failure of a Bordeaux futures campaign dictates what happens in every other wine region in the world with their pricing.

What is the future for Bordeaux wine? Your guess is as good as mine. However, this is my guess. Bordeaux produces a lot of wine at a myriad of price points. The way the wines are allocated will change. Countries that currently count on a supply of Bordeaux every year will see those supplies dwindle with time. They will never evaporate, but they will be less. New markets with eager buyers who have never had the opportunity to purchase wine before will want to buy the wines. The top chateaux cannot produce more wine. In order to satisfy growing demand from new markets, established markets will naturally receive less Bordeaux wine.

At the moment, new markets are being developed all over the world. However, the key market as of 2010 is Asia, and most importantly, China.

Currently, very few brands are sold in China today. China remains a very specific brand focused marketplace. Chateau Lafite Rothschild remains at the top of the pyramid. The remaining First Growths lag behind, but they are rapidly picking up steam. The wines from the Medoc are the top sellers. Aside from the First Growths, a few select other wines are also popular in China. For example, Lynch Bages , Beychevelle and Grand Puy Lacoste are sought after for various reasons.

One major problem remains before China begins to demand and receive serious allocations of Bordeaux wine. They will need to buy Bordeaux wine futures. The hard truth is, as of today, very little wines are bought as futures in China. The concept of paying for wine 2-3 years before it’s delivered remains stubbornly difficult to overcome.

However, the Bordeaux wine merchants have been plying their trade for hundreds of years. They are the best in the world at developing new markets and finding new customers. It remains to be seen what will happen to allocations of the top Bordeaux wines, once China, or other new markets become major Bordeaux wine buying nations. It might not be tomorrow. It might not be in a year. But sooner or later, things are going to change.