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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Total number of grapes permitted for Bordeaux ACs (red and white)
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14
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Bordeaux red grapes
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Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc Malbec Petit Verdot |
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Bordeaux white grapes
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Semillon
Sauvignon Blanc Muscadelle |
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Merlot
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- Medium yields
- Medium body - Medium tannin - Matures early than Cab Sauv - Most widely planted red in Bordeaux - Over 60% of blend in St Emilion and Pomerol - Adds softness and body to Cab Sauv blends |
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Cabernet Sauvignon
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- Moderate yields
- Tannic and full bodied - Characteristic blackcurrant aroma - 3/4 of finest left bank Bordeaux blends - Gives colour and structure to blends |
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Malbec
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- Usage decreasing
- Used for early drinking reds - Can suffer from coulure |
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Petit Verdot
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- When fully ripe gives deep, tannic wines with ageing potential
- Late ripening - Adds tannin - Adds colour - Adds spicy notes to blend |
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Semillon
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- Widely planted
- Used in dry and sweet wines - Thin skins make susceptible to botrytis |
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Sauvignon Blanc
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- Blended with semillon
- Increasingly single varietal dry wines - Distinctive grass and elderflower characteristic |
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Muscadelle
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- Grapey muscat flavour
- Minor constituant in sweet wines |
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Courtier
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Broker
Submits samples to Negociant (like agent) Obtains best price arranges the deal |
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Negociant roles
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Buys blends sells generic bulk or bottle
Buys individual chat. wine sells bulk or bottle Buys individual chat. wine to release and sell at different maturity levels |
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Buying before harvest
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Sur Souche (a gamble)
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6 ways to buy Bordeaux
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Sur souche (before harvest)
En Primeur March after vintage Hectolitre e.g. road tanker Tonneau (900l) = 100 cases Barrel/barrique (225l) = 25 cases 12 bottle case |
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Barrique size/ amount of wine
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225l
25 cases |
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En Primeur
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Small quantities released March after harvest
Released in tranches (rises each tranche) Price includes all costs up to bottling Wine kept at Chat. release to buyer after approx 2 yr |
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Most common pruning system in Bordeaux
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Double guyot
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Bordeaux AC figures
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Largest appellation in Bordeaux
Bordeaux is France's largest producer of AC wine Covers whole Bordeaux region |
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Bordeaux AC wines
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Covers whole region
RED - med body, blackberry + cedar, some unripeness and astringent tannins WHITE - Light and plain, can have SB herbaciousness Varietal eg Merlot or SB becoming more common |
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Bordeaux AC exceptions
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Pavillon blanc from Margaux (100% SB since 1920s)
Dry whites from Sauternes e.g. Y d'Yquem |
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Haut Medoc AC grapes
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red only for AC Cabernet dominates
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Haut-Medoc sub regions
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St Estephe
Pauillac - Latour, Lafite, Mouton St Julien Margaux - Chat. Margaux Listrac - no classed growths Moulis - no classed growths |
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Only 1st growth outside Haut-Medoc?
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Château Haut-Brion
Pessac-Leognan (Graves) |
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Listrac AC and Moulis AC
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Haut-Medoc sub regions
red only AC No classed growths Cabernet dominated blends good value |
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Haut-Medoc sub regions
red only AC No classed growths Cabernet dominated blends good value |
Listrac AC
Moulis AC To the west between Margaux and St Julien (away from river banks) |
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Graves AC
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Red and white
Lighter body and quicker maturation than Haut-Medoc classed growths in Pessac-Leognan AC commune subregon |
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Graves soils
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Red on gravel
White on sand |
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Sauternes AC
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Sweet only AC
High alcohol High sweetness Balanced acidity apricot, botrytis, honey and vanilla |
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Entre-deux-mers AC
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white only
Blends or varietal SB Semillon |
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Right bank regions
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St-Emilion
Pomerol Fronsac Canon-Fronsac Cotes de Bourg Cotes de Bordeaux |
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St Emilion villages that can add their name before St-Emillion on the label
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Lussac
Montagne Puisseguin Saint-Georges |
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Lussac
Montagne Puisseguin Saint-Georges |
St Emilion villages that can add their name before St-Emillion on the label
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Pomerol
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Richer wines than St Emilion
Average 1% higher abv than Medoc No formal classification Spicy, blackberry flavour Petrus and Le Pin (clay soils) |
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Petrus owner and major Pomerol negociant
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JP Moueix
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Pomerol's finest geography
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Highest part of plateau
gravel and clay layers iron rich clay subsoil (close to surface in Petrus) |
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Soils in Pomerol's west
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sandier
lighter wines made |
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Pomerol classification
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none
Not a long enough history of selling single properties to build one, fast changing e.g. micro chateaux |
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Fronsac AC
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Right bank hillsides
Merlot dominates full bodied tannic North of Libourne |
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Canon-Fronsac
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Right bank hillsides
Merlot dominates full bodied tannic North of Libourne, within Fronsac |
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North of Libourne
Hillside merlot |
Fronsac AC
Canon-Fronsac AC |
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Cotes de Bourg AC
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RED and WHITE
soft early drinking Across river from Margaux commune (south of cotes de Bordeaux) |
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RED and WHITE
soft early drinking Across river from Margaux commune |
Cotes de Bourg AC
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Cotes de Bordeaux AC
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Right bank hillsides since 2007
North of Cotes de Bourg formerly Blaye/Castillon etc Merlot dominated |
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Right bank hillsides since 2007
North of Cotes de Bourg formerly Blaye/Castillon etc Merlot dominated |
Cotes de Bordeaux AC
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Total number of 1855 Cru Classes
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61 Cru Classes in the Medoc
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1st growths
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Haut-Brion (Pessac Leognan)
Latour (Pauillac) Lafite (Pauillac) Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac) Margaux (Margaux) |
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Number of each 1855 growth
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5 x 1st growth
14 x 2nd growth 14 x 3rd growth 10 x 4th growth 18 x 5th growth |
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Number of 2nd growths
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14
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Number of 2rd growths
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14
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Number of 3rd growths
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14
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1855 Sweet wine classification
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d'Yquem = Premier Cru Superieur
11 x 1st growth 14 x 2nd growth |
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d'Yquem classification
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Premier Cru Superieur
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Total number of Sauternes Cru Classe
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26
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Years of Cru Borgeois classifications
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1932
1978 2003 (annulled) 2007 onwards is current |
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2007 onward Cru Bourgeois terms
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Designation of quality
Right to use determined by visit and tasting Annually awarded by independent body Open to any property in the medoc |
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Label Cru Bourgeois
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Term of quality not a classification
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Graves classification
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1959
Red and white lists Cru Classe only rank (i.e. no 1st, 2nd etc) Haut-Brion included also part of 1855 |
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Bordeaux classifications
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1855 (Medoc & Sauternes)
Cru Bourgeois Graves Saint-Emilion |
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Saint-Emilion classification years
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1955
1996 - still stands 2006 (annulled) |
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St-Emilion classification levels
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Grand Cru Classe
Premier Grand Cru Classe A Premier Grand Cru Classe B |
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St-Emilion classification
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Reclassified every 10 yrs
1996 classification still stands Reviewed in 2010-2011 |
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St Emilion classification judging
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Wines will be assessed on taste, their terroir, where they sit in the market, and their existing reputation.
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Bordeaux rivers
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Gironde estuary
Dordogne river Garonne river |
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Harvesting
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Majority by machine
Sweet wine handpicked Cos d'Estournel all hand picked |
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Red wine method to concentrate sugars
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Green harvest
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Fermentation and maceration
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Up to 3 weeks
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Fruit selection
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at harvest and again in winery
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fermentation vessels
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Oak, concrete or stainless steel
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winemaking
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stalks can be added to fermentation vat to add tannins
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Chaptalisation
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Once routine
Better Chateaux use reverse osmosis in light years Avoid must enrichment in best years |
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Oak ageing
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Varies dramatically by property in use of new oak
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MLF
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Used to occur in Spring
Now forced in barrel for en-primeur tastings |
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blending
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different batches assembled AFTER ageing to create desired style
Varieties and parcels ferment seperately |
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White vinification
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Oak or stainless steel
Temp controlled 15 - 20C Long, cool ferment to retain varietal flavours Ageing can occur in oak |
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Sweet vinification
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Semillon dominates blend (up to 100%)
Several harvest dates hand picking low yields high costs Top Sauternes ferment and age in oak |
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Top Sauternes winemaking
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Ferment and age in oak
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Passerillage
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Dried/raisined on the vine concentrating sugars
in dryer years a factor in sweet wines |
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Dried/raisined on the vine concentrating sugars
in dryer years a factor in sweet wines |
Passerillage
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