Cities of South West France

Find wine travel tips through France including city tips for Bordeaux, Cotes du Rhone and other wine cities in France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called Bordelais.

The Bordeaux-Arcchon-Libourne metropolitan area, with a population of 1,200,000, is the fifth largest metropolitan area in France. The city is among the world's major wine industry centers. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.

Bordeaux has an oceanic climate. Winters are mild due to the prevalence of westerly winds from the Atlantic. Summers are long and warm due to the influence of the Bay of Biscay (surface temperature reaches 21-22 °C or 70-72 °F). The average seasonal winter temperature is 6.53 °C (43.75 °F), although recent winters tend to be much above this. The average summer seasonal temperature is 19.51 °C (67.12 °F), but every summer in the decade starting 2001 has been above this, including the record hottest summer of 2003 at 23.3 °C (73.9 °F).

The 18th century was the golden age of Bordeaux. Many downtown buildings (about 5,000), including those on the quays, are from this period. Victor Hugo found the town so beautiful he once said: "take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux". Baron Haussmann, a long-time prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux's 18th century big-scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform a then still quasi-medieval Paris into a "modern" capital that would make France proud.

The French government was relocated from Paris to this city during World War II, when it became apparent that Paris would soon fall into German hands.

<a target='new' href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=1am5yH/M/1c&offerid=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" >Bordeaux</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=1am5yH/M/1c&bids=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" > has about 117,000 hectares (290,000 acres) of vineyards, 57 appellations, 9,000 wine-producing châteaux, 13,000 grape growers, 400 traders and sales of 14.5 billion euros annually. With an annual production of over 700 million bottles, <a target='new' href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=1am5yH/M/1c&offerid=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" >Bordeaux</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=1am5yH/M/1c&bids=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" > produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world. Included among the latter are the area's five 'premier cru' (first growth) red wines (four from Médoc and one, Chateau Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855: The first growths are:

    * Château Lafite-Rothschild
    * Château Margaux
    * Château Latour
    * Château Haut-Brion
    * Château Mouton-Rothschild*

*In 1855 Mouton-Rothschild was ranked a Second Growth. In 1973 it was elevated to First Growth status.

Both red and white wines are made in Bordeaux. Red <a target='new' href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=1am5yH/M/1c&offerid=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" >Bordeaux</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=1am5yH/M/1c&bids=141136.10000245&type=3&subid=0" > is called claret in the United Kingdom. <a target='new' href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=1am5yH/M/1c&offerid=141136.10000238&type=3&subid=0" >Red wines</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=1am5yH/M/1c&bids=141136.10000238&type=3&subid=0" > are generally made from a blend of grapes, and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carmenere. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. Sauternes is a subregion of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as Château d'Yquem.

Because of the wine glut (wine lake), the price squeeze caused by increasingly strong international competition, and vine pull schemes, the number of growers has recently dropped from 14,000 and the area under vine has also decreased significantly.

Côtes du Rhône

Côtes du Rhône (English: Rhone Hills) is a wine-growing Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for the Rhône wine region of France, which may be used throughout the region, also in those areas which are covered by other AOCs. In a limited part of the region, the AOC Côtes du Rhône-Villages may be used, in some cases together with the name of the commune.

Côtes du Rhône are the basic AOC wines of the Rhône region, and exist as red, white and rosé wines, generally dominated by Grenache (reds and rosés) or Grenache blanc (whites).

Wines have been produced in the region since pre Roman times, and those from the right bank were the favorite wines of kings and the papal community in Avignon at the time of the schism. In the mid 17th century the right-bank district of Côte du Rhône had issued regulations to govern the quality of its wine and in 1737 the king ordered that casks of wine shipped from the nearby river port of Roquemaure should be branded with the letters CDR to introduce a system of protecting its origin. The rules for its Côte du Rhône thus formed the very early basis of today's nationwide AOC system governed by the INAO.[1] The name was changed to Côtes du Rhône when the left-bank wines were included in the appellation some hundred years later. The appellation received full recognition by a High Court decision in 1937, and the rules were revised in 1996 and 2001 to take into account new conditions of production.

Roquemaure is known as "La Capitale des Amoureux", or "The Capital of Lovers". In 1868 the relics of St. Valentine arrived after being purchased from Rome by Maximilian Richard, a local dignitary as it was believed that the relics would protect the vines from phylloxera which ravaged the vineyards in 1866. The relics are kept in the 14th century collegiate church and each year the St Valentine Festival of the Kiss attracts over 20,000 people.

Reporter Pierre-Marie Doutrelant revealed that "the growers of Côtes du Rhône planted mourvèdre and syrah, two low-yield grapes that give the wine finesse, strictly for the benefit of government inspectors. Then, when the inspectors left, they grafted cheap high-yield vines—grenache and carignan—back onto the vines" (Prial)

At the generic level, the official AOC Côtes du Rhône region stretches 200 km from Vienne in the north to Avignon in the south and from the foothills of the Massif Central in the west to the fore-slopes of the Vaucluse and Luberon mountains east of the town of Orange. 171 communes in the French departments of Ardèche, Bouches du Rhône, Drôme, Gard, Loire, and Vaucluse are concerned with production from the 83,839 (2008) hectares of vineyard. The average yield is 52 hectolitres per hectare. Wines of all three colours must have a minimum alcohol content of 11%. The average annual production of CDR of around 3.3 million hectolitres - 419 million bottles - (2005/2006), is assured by 5,292 concerns including 5,202 growers, 875 private producers, 70 co-operative wineries, and 20 merchant/producers and blenders, making it one of the largest single appellation regions in the world.

Red and rosé wines are made from Grenache Noir, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignane, Counoise and Mourvèdre grapes varieties. A maximum of 20% white varieties may be used in the rosés. With the exception of Northern wines using a majority of Syrah, all reds must contain a minimum of 40% Grenache to be blended into the Côtes du Rhône, and up to 5% of white grapes may be used. The whites must contain a minimum blend of 80% Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, and Viognier. Ugni Blanc and Picpoul Blanc may be used as secondary varieties.

There are two sub regions of Rhône wines:

1. Côtes du Rhône septentrional in the northern part of the region from Vienne to Valence. The vines are cultivated on very steep slopes making the harvest extremely arduous. The grapes are manually picked and have to be hauled up the hillside on trolleys, a feature which adds to the price.

2. Côtes du Rhône méridional from Montélimar to Avignon in the southern latitudes, produced by 123 communes. The great majority of these are cultivated on the eastern side of the Rhône between the river bank near the town of Orange, and the Vaucluse-Luberon chain of mountains.

The reds range in color from deep crimson and ruby to almost purple and are generally full-bodied with rich but smooth tannins, though Lirac and others from the right bank tend to be somewhat lighter. They all go very well with game and other rich meat dishes.

The whites range from dry with a tang of citrus to fuller, rounder wines which can be consumed as an aperitif. Condrieu, a septentrional, is one of the rarest white wines in the world and is produced from 100% Viognier - a notoriously difficult grape to vinify.

Year of Production: In general, the year-to-year climate of the region remains fairly constant although there may be rare occasions of spring frost which may damage the buds, thus reducing the overall yield. Drought may also affect the quantity of production. Sunlight levels are usually the average to be expected. The year of production on a label is therefore not necessarily a sign of any particular quality due to exceptionally favorable wine growing weather; it is more indicative of how the wine can be expected to have matured over a number of years.

Côtes du Rhône-Villages
Further up the scale from the Côtes du Rhône AOC the Côtes du Rhône-Villages AOC is produced by 95 authorized communes in the departments of the Ardèche, the Drôme, the Gard, and the Vaucluse. The appellation includes 95 communes, with a total of approximately 3,000 hectares under cultivation. The average yield is approximately 38 hectolitres per hectare. The Grenache grape is required to be present at not less than 50%, with 20% Syrah and/or Mourvèdre. A maximum of 20% of other authorised varieties is permitted. The minimum required alcoholic strength is 12%.

Côtes du Rhône Villages (named village)
Next in the hierarchy, 19 of the Côtes du Rhône Village appellations are authorised to include their village name on the label. With approximately 6,500 hectares under cultivation, the average yield is approximately 37 hectolitres per hectare.[5] Cairanne, Chusclan, Laudun, Massif d'Uchaux, Plan de Dieu, Puyméras, Rasteau, Roaix, Rochegude, Rousset-les-Vignes, Sablet, Saint Gervais, Saint Maurice, Saint-Pantaléon-les-Vignes, Séguret, Signargues, Valréas, Visan,

Crus
At the most demanding level of distinction, a total of 15 crus are allowed to be recognized by their village name without requiring the mention of Côtes du Rhône on the label. With the unique exception of Château-Grillet, a white septentrienal within the AOC Condrieu, a feature of the nomenclature of CDR wines is that at the top level they are named only after their villages, and not after châteaux as is usual for Bordeaux wines. Tavel is a rosé only, very light and dry, which is usually drunk chilled, and can be enjoyed at anytime of the day. Beaumes de Venise AOC, Château-Grillet AOC, Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC, Condrieu AOC Cornas AOC, Côte-Rôtie AOC, Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Gigondas AOC, Hermitage AOC, Lirac AOC, Saint Joseph AOC, Saint Péray AOC, Tavel AOC, Vacqueyras AOC, Vinsobres AOC.

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