Real Change in Bordeaux

For about thirty years - starting in the mid 1980s and ending only surprisingly recently, the Bordelais were more concerned about their cellars than their vineyards.  The belief was that in order to make a greater wine, money needed to be spent on re-equipping or rebuilding the cellar. Consultants were bought in to assist with improving the winemaking processes. Extraction. Micro-oxygenation. Expensive new oak. Very visible improvements for the visitor to admire. This was the focus. And the image of care and attention being lavished on the wine was sold to the public. 

Even during this period the Bordelais asserted that their main objective was to translate what the vineyard’s terroir gave them - and this of course is what made their wine unique. But all the while, especially on the Left Bank, the greater actual attention, with few exceptions, was given to what was done in the cellar.

But during the last five or ten years the Bordelais have come to realize what other regions understood long before - that a great wine is not made in the cellar. It is made in the vineyard. It is made by quality farming. And any half decent cellar will be adequate. It is helpful to have a new cellar - but mostly because you need enough individual and appropriately sized fermentation vats in order to vinify separately the grapes from multiple parcels generated from numerous distinct terroirs on the property. Multiple plots used to be picked and vinified together. Many famous chateaux now vinify dozens of plots separately. Chateau Cheval Blanc, for example, vinifies 53 different plots individually.  Each parcel gets treated in the cellar according to its individual need. All the top estates do this today.

Many vineyards in Bordeaux are now organic.  According to Jane Anson there were in 2016 in Bordeaux 6,300 hectares certified organic operated by 467 estates; by 2018 there were 7,867 hectares operated by 608 estates. Most chateaux have carefully analyzed their soils both as to their composition and health. Pruning of the vines is more thoughtful. Many chateaux use cover crops.  Many pick numerous parcels only when each is at the precise level of desired maturity. There is much more care and attention given to the the vineyard. There is more respect for bio-diversity - the need for forestry to support wildlife. St Emilion has now mandated this from vintage 2023 and the Margaux Appellation, among others, has extensive hedging and reforestation projects under way. There is now some pride in what has been achieved in the vineyard. As testimony to this change in sentiment, I am told as a visitor you might today actually be invited to walk among the vines. Yes - even in Bordeaux.

When you listen to the many excellent and informative podcasts from Jane Anson, as she visits each of many Chateaux, it is clear that there really was a gradual change in attitude in the decade following perhaps 2005, and these trends have accelerated as each year has passed. There is real enthusiasm for the improvements being made in the vineyards and many Chateau feel these have already started to yield measurable benefits.

To the wine lover who has long been hesitant to buy Bordeaux because of the evident lack of real connection to the soil and the apparent primary focus on money and developing the luxury image of the brand, this change in attitude is very welcome. There is more honesty in Bordeaux today. I, for one, have started to dip my toe into the water and am buying small quantities of Bordeaux from recent vintages, because I think at last there is some truth and authenticity in these wines. I am very pleased to be doing so. It has been almost thirty years….

What is absolutely astonishing to me is why this change took so long to come about.

The Photo is courtesy of Chambers Street Wines, showing an organic vineyard in Bordeaux.