I don’t actually have too much to say about , save for a few distinguishing facts. First is that unlike most of the other Bordeaux appellations, the château here are not spread out evenly throughout the countryside, but rather clustered around the villages. Second, is that Margaux has some of the thinnest soil in all of the Médoc, which means that the roots of the grapevines have been known to go down as deep as 23 feet into the ground to access water!

Returning, as we always must, to the 1855 classification, Margaux has just one first growth- creatively named Château Margaux. But, it has more second and third growths than anywhere else in the Médoc. Logic would say, then, that the largest concentration of fine Bordeaux can be found here.

The wine I sampled, the 2003 Château d'Angludet, though not even classified (it's a Cru Bourgeois, and the Wine Atlas does say that this château makes wine of “classed-growth quality”), did not disappoint. It was by far my most favorite left bank wine of the bunch.

It was very dark, with rosy pink edges. The nose was super fragrant, smelling of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, a bit of oak and spice. While more full than most of the Bordeaux have been, I still thought it was more of a medium-bodied wine. It was earthy with smooth tannins and a white wine like minerality on the finish. It didn’t have the aged taste (i.e. bacon) I’ve gotten from a lot of older wines lately, maybe it wasn’t old enough yet. It certainly could’ve continued to age. It did taste of pepper and leather. Super pleasant!

The Score: ★★★★

My other right bank wine, from , is definitely one of the oldest I have had in a while, a 1995. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve grown a bit weary of Bordeaux. All the high acid, low alcohol Cabernet based wines have started to run together. Being that this is the right bank I was looking forward to something that was likely to be primarily Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc.


The area has a Roman history, with vines first planted in the second century A.D. The actual town of St. Emillion has extensive cellars carved right into the bedrock, even the church has one!

There is, of course, a classification system in place. Unlike the system in the Médoc, which has remained unchanged for more than 150 years, the system here (originally done in 1955) is revamped every 10 years or so with some château being promoted and demoted. The different classes are: Premiers Grands Classés A and B, Grands Crus Classés and Grand Cru. My wine, the 1995 Château Larmande, is a Grand Cru Classé, one of 53 château. Or at least I think that’s how many there are. Of course, in 2006 when a few château were demoted they sued and it got all complicated. I’ve decided that since my wine was made more than a decade prior it's just not worth figuring out!

I have been waiting, however, to write about our recent second viewing of the movie Sideways. We decided that since we had spent time in Solvang and the area where the movie was filmed (and know a heck of a lot more about wine now than we did at our first viewing), it would be fun to watch the wine parts of the movie again. (We fast forwarded through the rest.) Anyway... the grumpy main character of the movie, Miles, is credited for single-handedly reducing sales of Merlot as he famously says “If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any f---ing Merlot!”. Of course his most cherished wine is a 1961 Cheval Blanc. A bit of irony for wine geeks that recognize Château Cheval Blanc as one of only two Premier Grand Classés A in St. Emillion, which of course means there’s a good deal of merlot in the wine. The estate’s vines are 40% merlot.

My wine was dark brick in color with maroon edges. On the nose there was a bit of smoke, oak, licorice, spices and some blueberry. Not having had many aged wines, they all tend to have a similar “aged taste” to me, which always has a hint of smokey bacon to it, and this one wasn’t any different. It was mellow and smooth, not fruity, but woody with a lot of leather and earth.

The Score: ★★★

I have a confession to make: I’m getting tired of Bordeaux. While I’m enjoying each of the wines as I drink them, writing these posts is becoming a chore. While I know there are distinct differences in terroir, history, etc. within each of the 10 regions I’m sampling, they’re simply too small for me to distinguish. Especially considering that I’m not tasting the wines side by side, but rather drinking them no closer than a week or two apart. I’m probably still not really doing myself justice in this wine education. Try as I might! I’ll likely have to reevaluate my approach and strategy when I move onto Burgundy. At least it has fewer appellations!

There are however, some things to learn about . It is the northern most commune in the Haut Médoc, separated from Pauillac by a stream. It has heavier soil, more clay, and thus doesn’t drain as well. This allows grapes to withstand hotter summers and have higher acidity, but often results in wines with a weaker nose (which I did notice in the wine I tried).

What St. Estèphe is really known for are the Cru Bourgeois wines, which the wine I tried, the 2005 Cháteau De Pez, is. So what exactly does Cru Bourgeois mean? Well, since the classified growths were established in the 19th century and haven’t changed since, it was determined that there was considerable overlap in quality between some of the classified growths and other wines made on the Left Bank. So, in 1932 444 estates were chosen to be classified as Cru Bourgeois. In 2003 is was revamped so that it included 247 wines in three tiers: Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel (9 wines), Cru Bourgeois Supérieur (87 wines), and plain old Cru Bourgeois for the remaining 151. The 2005 Cháteau De Pez is a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

Of course, in 2007 the 2003 classification was annulled, making Cru Burgeois illegal. In 2010 the term was reintroduced but there was only one tier, and it applied to the 2008 vintage. However, six out of the original nine Exceptionnel estates elected not to participate at all and formed their own group: Les Exceptionnels. Just to keep things interesting. And impossible to remember, I suppose.

At any rate: this was an interesting wine. It was mahogany red, not as bright as I would have expected for a relatively young wine. As I discovered is somewhat characteristic, it had very little nose, only a slight spice with a hint of fruit. The wine had no distinctive fruit, but was a bit herbaceous (not in a bad way) and also tasted of tobacco. The tannins were soft and it had a pleasing medium body and acidity to it. I did not aerate this wine, it didn’t need it. As Myles had I cold, I drank the whole bottle on my own over the course of three nights. It was good the first night, excellent the second and fair the third.

The Score: ★★★½

Let’s start with pronunciation. is not pronounced in any way, shape or form how my inner voice has been saying it all this time. I don’t want anyone else to have this unfortunate situation follow them through the remainder of this post, so please listen to the pronunciation a few more times before proceeding.

Being part of the Médoc, there are Château here that were classified in 1855. And not just any Château, but three of the most famous in all of Bordeaux are here: Lafite, Latour and Mouton Rothschild (pictured above). You can add those to the list of wines I’m unlikely to ever try in my life. But fear not! The wine I did drink, the 2005 Cháteau Pedesclaux is a fifth growth! Doesn’t sound too impressive, I know, but according to my World Atlas of Wine, “even the lesser growths approach the enthusiasts’ ideal”. A quintessential Bordeaux, if you will, that while young, was oaky and dry, yet a bit fruity with a touch of sweetness.

Pauillac is, in itself, a sleepy place. And flat. The “hills” at their steepest are 100 feet at their summit. I climb higher than that on many of my neighborhood walks with the baby! But, the terroir of the commune is a favorable one. Sounds like it may be hard to go wrong with a wine with Pauillac on the label. (Did you say it right? )

I remembered to take tasting notes this time! The wine was very dark, but had fuchsia edges since it was still young. It smelled of dark berries but was also earthy. I could smell the oak.

Since my financial circumstances don’t allow me to try properly aged Bordeaux as I’d prefer (although forty bucks for a fifth growth ain’t bad!), this wine was once again a bit young. We aerated and swirled a lot. The tannins were a bit strong (but softened by day two), and the acid was noticeable. Like most French reds, I’m finding, it had a medium body. It was spicy, like black pepper, with just a hint of fruit, maybe blackberry. A good wine, though I likely would have enjoyed it more had it been January 2016 rather than January 2011.

The Score: ★★★

After the insanity of the holidays, I was ready to get back to my “learning wines”, even though our holidays were wine filled. (We spent several days winding up California’s Central Coast visiting wineries in Santa Barbara, Solvang, Los Olivos and Paso Robles. I was relieved to come home without any cabernet sauvignon, but lots of Rhone style wines and pinot noir! Biggest lesson learnt from the trip however is that you cannot take your children into the tasting rooms in Solvang-- not good news for our crew. Next time we’ll skip that town and its danishes- though yummy- and spend more time in Paso where our older son can run around outside and look at the grapevines).

At any rate, so out of practice am I with my Give Me Grapes routine, it was on day two of drinking this , the 2005 Cháteau Lafleur-Gazin, that I realized I had failed to take any tasting notes. Oops! But first, the facts.

Having finally moved to the right bank, this wine is primarily merlot. Pomerol is teeny, but this small area produces wines that are often reputed to be among the best in all of Bordeaux. Although there is no classification system in place, some of these wines fetch even higher prices that first growths from the Médoc. The land, like many other places in the larger region, is a big gravel bank, and is mostly flat.

One of the most famous Château in Pomerol is Château Petrus. Since I can’t afford the thousands of dollars needed to taste that, I opened this nice little bottle of Château Lafleur-Gazin. Since the wine is made mostly from merlot, it doesn’t typically need as much aging as left bank Bordeaux, and this wine was 5 years old. However, after my first small sip it was clear the wine was pretty tightly wound. I poured the rest through the aerator. After being exposed to air, however, it really opened up and became the opulent, softer and slightly fruity wine I would expect. We drank the second half of the bottle the next day and it was quite fantastic, better than day one. I think I’m going to be a right bank-er...

The Score: ★★★★

Returning to Bourdeaux... next up is the . Part of the gigantic appellation, the Médoc (which in true French wine fashion, is also, confusingly, the name of the sub-appellation that covers the northern third of the region). Generally speaking, the southern two-thirds is considered the Haut-Médoc. Now pay attention: within this area are four famous villages, Margaux, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estèphe. I will cover each of those villages with their own wines.


Most of the wine produced here is red, and is primarily cabernet sauvignon (if you remember, the Médoc is on the left bank of the Gironde). An interesting tidbit- much of the Médoc used to be marshlands, certainly not grape growing land. But in the 1600’s Dutch engineers were brought in who cut large drains in the land. By lowering the water table, riverside gravel banks were created. Wealthy people from Bordeaux bought land in the area and planted vines. By the end of the eighteenth century many of today’s most prestigious wineries were established.

I tasted a 2001 from Château Camensac, which happens to be a fifth growth. If you remember, the Médoc is the region in which Château were classified in 1855. Because it's fairly old, the wine was dark brick red. It smelled very smokey and of toasted oak, white pepper and red fruit- maybe a bit like the defrosted raspberries I put in my yogurt parfaits each morning (I miss stone fruit season!).

The wine was a bit thin and light (I’m obviously used to Napa cab!), and was earthy. It also tasted like leather (which I’d read about, but never really experienced). It had a super long finish. Not too bad, but not too great.

The Score: ★★½

Wow, I’ve been so busy lately that I have two wines to write about. Luckily, I haven’t been too busy to drink wine. I can multi-task! Both of the wines are from Pessac-Léognan, which is a sub-appellation of Graves. The area is located just south of the city of Bordeaux. This is a full service wine education blog, so to help both myself and the rest of us that cannot properly speak or pronounce French, here is how you say .


It is said that it was in Pessac-Léognan that fine red wine was born 450 years ago at Château Haut-Brion. (Which is also the only classified first growth from the 1855 classification outside the Médoc.) This area of Graves is dominated by pine trees, apparently the vineyards are clearings and can be heavily isolated from each other. And while red wine is the primary type produced, most château also produce high quality white wines as well.

Another interesting tidbit is that Château Haut-Brion is owned by Americans (!), it was purchased in 1935 by Clarence Dillon when Bordeaux wine production was so unprofitable that it wasn’t the only first growth for sale! Now his descendants own four high end château in Pessac-Léognan: Château Laville Haut-Brion, Château La Tour Haut-Brion, Château La Mission Haut-Brion, and of course, Château Haut-Brion itself. The red I tasted for this region is the second wine of another château in the area with in the name (good thing they named all the château around here with completely different names so we could easily keep track, right?), Château Larrivet Haut-Brion. Under the name of Domaine de Larrivet, this wine was quite the bargain.

So, what is a second wine (or in French, second vin)? It's very common in Bordeaux for a winemaker to make wine out of younger vines or certain vineyard plots, which he/she will ferment and age separately. Some of the wine goes into the Gran vin, the rest into the second vin. Its a great way to get good wine for less money- the wines are both made by the same winemaker using the same equipment!

The Domaine de Larrivet was certainly a bargain, the cheapest Bordeaux I bought at only $16.99. Not bad for a wine that’s spent the last nine years aging! The wine is half cabernet sauvignon and half merlot. In the glass it showed its age being a dark reddish brown color, very maroon for a wine. It had a very smoky nose, also smelling like cassis, nuts and wood.

It had a very smooth texture, most likely from the very mellow tannins. I tasted bacon (or maybe Myles and I had just been discussing bacon before opening the bottle!) as well as black pepper and oak. It had a long finish. Hands down the best “cheap” red wine I’ve had in a long, long while.

The white wine, from Château Cantelys, is primarily sauvignon blanc. It was super pale yellow and smelled of lemon, peach and was even slightly floral. It had good acidity, and tasted citrusy (as I have come to expect from sauvignon blanc) and even a bit like green apple. Perhaps the only twist is that it also had a hint of oak. Unlike sauvignon blanc that I typically drink, this one was aged for a bit in oak. Still quite tasty!

The Dual Score: ★ ★ ★

Since I’ve been at this for about four and a half months, its time for a check in on my progress. Or rather, something that I read in Secrets of the Sommeliers made me realize that my approach thus far has been wrong. Completely and totally all wrong. The book advised that if one is interested in learning about wine, how it tastes and recognizing wine in a blind tasting one should first taste wine from the classic regions. My haphazard approach has really done nothing so far as educating my palate. In fact, I’ve probably just confused it!

So, what are the classic regions? They center around France, of course. And also include Germany; Austria; Piedmont, Tuscany and the Veneto in Italy; Rioja, sherry and Albarino from Spain; and port and vino verde from Portugal. Also considered classic are New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley Cabernet and Oregon Pinot Noir- the only New World wines that have been elevated to this status. I was off to a good start back in July, beginning this quest with Alsace, France. But, then I blew it. So, to make up for it I’m going after what is probably one of the most confusing, complicated, infuriating, expensive and famous wine regions in the world. Bordeaux. Pay close attention now, this is about to get tricky. And French.

Let’s start with the geography lesson. The name Bordeaux is derived from ‘au bord de l’eau’, which means ‘along the waters’. The region straddles three important rivers, mainly the Gironde and the two rivers that feed it, the Dordogne and the Garonne. French AOC (Appellation D’Origine Contrôlée) law dictates everything from vineyard borders, grape varieties allowed, alcohol levels, labeling and more. Bordeaux has 57 AOC regions, however only four of them stand out: Médoc, Pomerol, Graves/Pessac-Léognan and St-Émilion. But just to make it extra fun, the Médoc actually has multiple sub-appellations including Haut Médoc, St-Estèphe, Pauillac, Margaux and St-Julien. Also remember that Sauternes is in Bordeaux, although I already covered that in a previous post/tasting.

Next for the history lesson. Within many of the regions the various wineries, or château, are classified using various systems, the best well known of which is the 1855 Classification. France was sending wines to represent the country at the International Exposition that year so the top Médoc wines were ranked according to price (which equated to quality). Sixty-one Château were ranked from 1st growth through 5th growth: five 1st growths, 14 2nd’s, 14 3rd’s, 10 4th’s and 18 5th’s. There’s also a series of château classified as Cru Bourgeois in the Médoc. Last updated in 2003, there are 247 château on this list. Other classification systems exist for Graves (Grands Crus Classé) and St-Émilion (Premiers Grands Crus Classés and Grands Crus Classés). Still with me?

So, for the wine. Both red and white wine is made in Bordeaux, though close to 90% is red. Each year somewhere between 60 and 70 million cases of wine are made, among them some of the most expensive wine on the planet. Red Bordeaux wine (also known as claret) can legally contain only cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec, the latter two are used only sparingly, if at all. White wine can contain sauvignon blanc, sémillon, muscadelle and ugni blanc, again with the last two rarely used. Since the grape varieties have been defined in the laws they are not on the label. Its illegal to put them on the label. So, it’s helpful to know that “left bank” wines (Médoc, Graves/Pessac-Léognan) tend to be primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and “right bank” wines (St-Émilion and Pomerol) tend to be primarily Merlot. Ready to go buy some Bordeaux based purely on the labels? Yeah, me neither.

Feeling an immense amount of pressure to choose the right wines, I conducted hours of research before heading to K&L. Its not like I can afford a first growth wine (futures of the 2009 Château Lafite-Rothschild, a first growth in Pauillac, are going for $1,599. A bottle.), but these wines are going to be my first ever Bordeauxs and I want to be sure I pick wines that are both representative of the specific regions, as aged as I can get them (no younger than 2005 for the reds), and less than $50 a bottle, preferably a lot less.

So I did what any reasonable person would do. I got out Kevin Zraly’s Complete Wine Course book, turned to the Bordeaux chapter and searched for every single Château he mentioned. I made a list of all the appellations I wanted represented (that would be nine) and all the possibilities K&L had. Based on Zraly’s vintage charts, wine descriptions and prices I finally narrowed it down to 10 wines (I have both a red and a white from Graves). Yep, this means we’ll be tasting, learning about and discussing Bordeaux in great detail until January!

Here’s what I picked up:

2001 Château Camensac, Haut-Médoc $29.99
2008 Clos Floridene, Graves Blanc $24.99
2001 Domaine de Larrivet, Graves $16.99
2007 Château Cantelys Blanc, Pessac-Léognan $19.99
2005 Château De Pez, St-Estèphe $34.99
2005 Château Pedesclaux, Pauillac $39.99
1994 Château Langoa-Barton, St-Julien $49.99
2003 Château d'Angludet, Margaux $49.99
1995 Château Larmande, St-Émilion $44.99
2005 Château Lafleur-Gazin, Pomerol $39.99

Wow, I’m really behind. We finished this wine more than a week ago. Then we immediately jetted off to Napa for a long weekend to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. (And we took the kids!). Given that I’ve tried at least three dozen other wines since I had this wine, and endured one of the worst colds I’ve had in years (complete with laryngitis) this is going to be brief and almost assuredly less interesting than if I had written this post within 48 hours of drinking the wine as usual.

So... this merlot from Seven Hills was very purple with ruby edges. The nose was full of cherries as well as oak. It was very fruity, like jam. It was very easy to drink, and was not as fruity as I had expected given the nose. The toasted oak flavor was present, but not overwhelming. I also tasted blackberry and the slight bitterness of coffee. Overall, a good wine. Despite its less than stellar reputation recently (thanks, Sideways), I find that I quite enjoy merlot.

The Score: ★ ★ ★