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BORDEAUX
Whilst Champagne is known as the King of Wines, this
must not detract from the fact that the wines of Bordeaux
are equally as famous, and are probabty considered the
best natural wines in the world.
They come from the department of Gironde in France,
close to and surrounding the town of Bordeaux. The whole
of the area lies upon the rivers Garonne, Dordogne and
Gironde, and can be divided into,:—
1. Medoc
4. Entre deux Mers
2. Graves
5. Cotes
3. Sauternes
6. Palus
Another area known as St. Emilion is sometimes classed
separately but really belongs to the Cotes.
History
Wines have been exported from Bordeaux ever since the
4th Century A.D.
As far as this country is concerned, however, it is from
the 12th century that the wines of Bordeaux achieved
prominence. In this century, Eleanor, daughter of the
Duke of Aquitaine, who was a wealthy landowner, married
Henri Plantagenet, then Duke of Anjou,in 1152. In 1153,
he became King of England (Henry II) and the couple
had two sons, Richard Coeur de Lion and John. Both
of these sons became Kings of England in their turn and
the owners of quite a large part of France. Thus it was
thatfor a period ofroughly300 years the wines of Bordeaux
were consumed in England and have held their own ever
since.
MfiDOC
This area lies on the left bank of the River Gironde to
the N.W. of Bordeaux. It is fairly flat land of a sandy
and pebbly nature, with a subsoil of a ferruginous nature.
The wines are produced from the red grapes of the
Malbec, Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet and Cabemet-Malbec
varieties.
The better varieties of wine come from the Haut Medoc,
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