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Most wine lovers fawn over Left Bank Sauvignon’s ability to pair with fine red cuts of meat, and its lush tannins that envelop the palette. They obsess over the Cru Classification of 1855, and the morose number of vintners with prestigious labels, often acquiring vineyards not through merit, but by strong financial propensity, and prior wealth.
It’s hard to imagine a time when this region was once majority Carménère, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Now, when people hear right bank or left bank, they often think Cabernet Sauvignon, or Merlot respectively. It wasn’t until the phylloxera scare of the 1880’s that the former varietals were phased out in favor of the newer grafting of more phylloxera-resistant sauvignon, and merlot, and forced Malbec deeper into the country to Cahors.
In the early eighteenth century, the waters of the Médoc were dug out by the Dutch, who built a series of dams and canals, whereby people were able to first begin to plant vineyards on the Left Bank. This means that Right Bank and towns surrounding the beautiful city of Saint-Émilion had been producing wines far earlier than the larger, pricier, and easier to trade wines across the Dordogne.
In 1855, Napoleon III commissioned a classification system of growths for the wildly popular Bordeaux region, but it only included the more valuable at the time, regions on the Left Bank. It was business as usual in Bordeaux in 1855, traders, merchants, and brokers all pouring over case prices, distributing wines left and right all over the world, all from Margaux, Médoc, Graves, and St.-Julién.
This left the wine trade in a desperate need of a systematic transaction method, and general pricing guide. All of the cogs in the machine were complex but well functioning chaos. Some of the remnants of this old brokerage system still remain today.
Nevertheless, the neglected wines had their day post-phylloxera, and in the coming of age process, one right bank producer become the most expensive in Bordeaux, though it still can’t hold a candle to the cash value of Domaine de La Romanée-Conti’s illustrious wines. I digress.
Right Bank Bordeaux is soft, clean, round; plummy, floral, and sensual on the nose. It’s easier to drink than its much firmer counterparts across the river, it also holds it’s own against red meat quite well, but with the added flexibility of pairing with white fish and snails, a staple of Bordeaux. All of this, thanks to its lush mouthfeel, and drinkability
Merlot began to be planted on the Right Bank in the 1950’s, after a few particularly bad vintages of Cab in the decade prior. The grape fit like a glove, due to the vine’s affinity for softer clay soil and limestone, rather than gravel and sand. These softer soil types drive flavor into the fruit, and because of the high bedrock, water is able to runoff just as easily as in the left bank with their gravely textured soil, and the limestone adds a delicate minerality to the blend.
Due to its soft, round, plumb characteristics, Merlot is often, as such, blended with a low amount, usually ten to twenty percent of Cabernet Franc to add acid, strength, and leafiness without the turgid ferocity of Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Right Bank only represents about 10% of Bordeaux’s overall wine output year-over-year. It is divided into several appellations scattered around Saint-Émilion: Libournais, Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, LaLande de Pomrol, Bourg, Fonsac, Canon-Fonsac, and Blaye. These towns all generally end up on the bottle’s label. There are also a few other complicated label discrepancies that make this side of the Dordogne difficult to master. We will get into all of that.
Let’s first take a look at the medieval town of Saint-Émilion, and the areas directly surrounding it. Saint-Émilion has its own classification system, which falls outside of the 1855 system for the Left Bank, and was adopted in 1954, almost on hundred years later. What makes this system bit confusing for some is the use of the Premier Grand Cru Classé terminology. This encompasses terminology for two levels of the napoleonic system of classification, but is unrelated.
I actually really like this system of classification, despite the confusion, because I really admire the fact that the system is designed to be amendable every ten years. Meaning, if I’m a small time wine producer in the area, and my vintages and skills are becoming better, and more refined, I have the opportunity every decade to apply for a higher classification. Likewise, those winemakers who become complacent, could lose their merit.
The system is as follows: Premier Grand Cru Classé A (PGCA), Premier Grand Cru Classé (PGC), Grand Cru Classe (GC), and Saint-Émilion (V). There are four PGCA vintners in Saint-Émilion. These prestigious titles have been held since 2012, the last round of deliberations, and they are: Chateau Ausone, Angelus, Chateau Pavié, and Chateau Cheval-Blanc.
Interestingly, the latter of these wines, Chateau Cheval-Blanc, is grown on a plot of soils very uncharacteristic of typical Right Bank producers, leading to very uncharacteristic blends. Its vineyards are located in the Gràves between Pomeral and Saint-Émilion. The soil in this area is largely gravel and clay, where Merlot lacks minerality and structure.
The soils are much more suited to that of a Cabernet blend, as across the river. Thus, this wine is generally, depending on vintage, up to sixty percent Cabernet Franc. There are also sixteen PGC wineries, and sixty-four GC wineries. Along with the classified Saint-Émilion, there exists also two major climats in the area.
Puisseguin Saint-Émilion is the first major climat, encompassing seven hundred and thirty hectares of usable vineyard space, just northwest of the town of Saint-Émilion. The soils here are clay-limestone with low set bedrock for good irrigation. The winters are mild and the summer is warm, and this results in early harvest. Wines from this area are known for their rounded merlot-like tannin, and amenable aging capacity, and plummy dark fruit.
Lussac Saint-Émilion is the other, larger brother to the far north, encompassing 1450 hectares. Lussac is known for its microclimate in the region. It’s a well irrigated area with sporadic showers in the summer, and cooler nights, with warm days resulting in early fruit, sometimes picked a bit brisk. Lussac also lays on a clay and limestone soil, but with a higher bedrock resulting in more dramatic fruit expression. This results in red fruit flavors, spice, prune and licorice.
Perhaps the most expensive wine region on the Right Bank is Pomerol. Pomerol lies to the west of Saint-Émilion and spans only a small distance. Wine makers here are in tight quarters, with most only able to produce a small number of bottles every year. Pomerol is known for its tinge of bright new oak flavors, and lack of classification, meaning wines with the highest prices usually are the most prestigious.
Best known, and perhaps most expensive wine in all of Bordeaux is called Petrus, perhaps you’ve heard of it. Also very well known beauties of the region are vignerones Le Pin and Chateau La Fleur, commanding similarly high prices. The region of Pomerol is also filled with small producers known as Garagiste manufacturers, boutiques producing an extremely small number of bottles often expertly blending them in small warehouses and garages with grapes from Pomerol, hence the name.
The last stretch on the Right Bank is by far the best territory for the value seeker, looking to stretch the dollar as far as possible without compromising quality. In Fonsac, and Canon Fonsac, bottles rarely sell ft over thirty-five dollars, but the wines are arguably as stellar as those of some Saint-Émilion growths, even the classed ones. A keen eye is needed to seek value in these areas, but luckily, the soils are similar and the vintners are all relatively committed to quality. These climat are also shielded from a lot of the winds and storms ripping over the Dordogne, with a very predictable climate, and have very similar limestone-clay soils that are suitable for fine Merlot.
As far as my my recommendation, try and grab a 2012, 2015, or 2018. These are all vintages to be on the lookout for in the Right Bank in general. I personally adore the ripe red raspberry fruit flavors, leather, soft round fig flavor, and cinnamon of Chateau Clinet 2018. If you’d like to spend bit less, seek out Chateau Pavie Macquin 2015. It has ample stewed cherry flavors, a bit of clove, boxwood, new oak and blackberry essences, with the typical Merlot mouthfeel.
Chateau des Landes Lussac Saint-Émilion 2015, is also fabulous, if you’re looking to taste the terroir on a budget. This is a mineral, grainy Lussac with plenty of bold dark fruit, lovely jam overtones with a complimentary herbaceous presence and refreshing acidity from a helping of Cabernet Franc.
That’s all,
~K