I arrived in Bordeaux two days ago. I will be here a fews weeks. Jael and Solomon are traveling with me, so please visit the G-kids page.
Bordeaux is a city in the southwest of France in the region of Aquitaine and the department of Gironde. People from Bordeaux are called Bordelaise. Bordeaux is known as the wine capital of the world, having this prestigious status since the 18th century. UNESCO has classified the historic part of the city in 2007 as an “outstanding urban and architectural ensemble."
Tuesday, I had the opportunity to tour the city and attend a professional class on wine and participate in a degustation. A degustation in French means a wine tasting. The class was most informative. While I will not share every note that I took during the class, I will highlight some of the most pertinent points that will spring board you to your journey in becoming a connoisseur.
Interesting Facts about wine in Bordeaux
The date on the bottle of wine does not refer to the year the wine was bottled, but the year that the grapes for that wine were harvested.
Wines in Bordeaux are classified by:
These classifications reveal the quality of the wine. Usually wines produced in communities, smaller quantities are usually better quality.
Red wines (Noble Grapes)
Red wines (Acceptable Grapes)
White Wines
When you taste wine, you do not drink the entire class. There are usually two tasting of a wine. The first taste reveals the savors. You take some wine and hold it in your mouth then, discard it. When you do the second tasting to the wine, you swish it around, and then discard it. The second tasting usually reveals different savors that you did not recognize the first time.
While many of your are too young to taste wine, this mini lesson will certainly give you the savoir faire when you turn 21.
Bordeaux is a city in the southwest of France in the region of Aquitaine and the department of Gironde. People from Bordeaux are called Bordelaise. Bordeaux is known as the wine capital of the world, having this prestigious status since the 18th century. UNESCO has classified the historic part of the city in 2007 as an “outstanding urban and architectural ensemble."
Tuesday, I had the opportunity to tour the city and attend a professional class on wine and participate in a degustation. A degustation in French means a wine tasting. The class was most informative. While I will not share every note that I took during the class, I will highlight some of the most pertinent points that will spring board you to your journey in becoming a connoisseur.
Interesting Facts about wine in Bordeaux
The date on the bottle of wine does not refer to the year the wine was bottled, but the year that the grapes for that wine were harvested.
Wines in Bordeaux are classified by:
- Regional (example: Bordeaux)
- Sub region (example: Haute-Medoc which is a sub region in Bordeaux
- Community (example: Margaux which is a small city near Bordeaux)
These classifications reveal the quality of the wine. Usually wines produced in communities, smaller quantities are usually better quality.
Red wines (Noble Grapes)
- Merlot (notes of prunes)
- Cabernet Sauvignon (notes of cassis)
- Cabernet France (light, red fruits)
Red wines (Acceptable Grapes)
- Malbec (Rustic, Black fruits)
- Petiti Verdot ( Structured, Flowers)
White Wines
- Sauvignon (dry wine)
- Semillon (Sweet)
- Muscadelle
When you taste wine, you do not drink the entire class. There are usually two tasting of a wine. The first taste reveals the savors. You take some wine and hold it in your mouth then, discard it. When you do the second tasting to the wine, you swish it around, and then discard it. The second tasting usually reveals different savors that you did not recognize the first time.
While many of your are too young to taste wine, this mini lesson will certainly give you the savoir faire when you turn 21.