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WINE EXPERT RESOURCES
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Breaking Down Right Bank vs. Left Bank by Dennis Manuel When you go to buy a French wine you hear a lot about classifications, such as First growth, Second growth, etc. Bordeaux classifications can be intimidating, to say the least. But to add insult to injury, the salesperson will throw in that this is a Right Bank or Left Bank wine. Life is confusing enough without worrying river banks. Surprisingly, what bank a French wine is produced on is the simplest part of knowing French wines. France is the second largest wine producing country in the world. Italy produces the most, but France is number one in the amount of quality wine produced. No other country comes near, and France sets the standard. The power and prestige of French wine is based in Bordeaux. It produces far more than any other region of France, putting out more than 700 million bottles of wine a year. 80 percent of that wine is red, and red wine is our only concern for this article. The wine ranges in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. One of the most (if not the most) prestigious wines from Bordeaux is Chateau Petrus (from the Right Bank). A bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus sells for about $2500 or more, if you can find it! And just to give you an idea as to how much a truly great Bordeaux can increase in value, a bottle of 1982 (great vintage in Bordeaux) Petrus sold for $60 in 1982, and for $1360 in 1998! Not a bad investment. But, back to the banks of the river. The river we are talking about is the Gironde. Two rivers feed the Gironde; the Garonne and the Dordogne. They all converge and flow into the Atlantic. But the terms "Right Bank", and "Left Bank" refer to the banks of the Gironde only even though Bordeaux encompasses the other two rivers. There are over 15,000 producers in Bordeaux, so trying to remember all the names and Chateaux is impossible. (Chateaux means wine estate, and rarely is there a building resembling a castle on the estate except for the very prestigious.) But remembering what's on the banks of the Gironde is possible and can be very beneficial when buying a French wine. First let's look at what a Bordeaux wine is. A Bordeaux wine is a blend of grapes. The grapes used are: Cabernet Sauvignon (Major grape for left Bank) As you can see from the list, the Left Bank is predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Right Bank is predominately Merlot. But keep in mind that Bordeaux is about blending grapes. It is not like California wine where most of your wines are either Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc., expressing one varietal almost totally. A bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or a bottle of Merlot does not exist in Bordeaux, because Bordeaux is about the marriage of varietals to create a union that lasts. The best Bordeaux lasts for decades. What's on what bank? Although there are more regions than this breakdown, the following lists the most important regions on each bank. It's a good way to get your feet wet on the banks of the Gironde. (Please forgive the pun). Right Bank: Pomerol (Where Petrus is made) and St.-Emilion. There are no classifications of First Growth, Second Growth, etc. on the Right Bank. This makes your life easier. Left Bank: You have the Medoc, Haut-Medoc, and Graves regions which are broken down into a number of lesser regions. But you only have to remember five, because you'll hear about them every day in the wine world. They are: Margaux, Pauillac, St.-Estephe, and St.-Julien, and Graves. One note about Bordeaux classifications - It was done in 1855 and was based on the prices the wines had gotten over the previous hundred years. At the time there were four First Growths. Today there are five. Chateaux Mouton-Rothschild was raised from a Second Growth to a First Growth in 1973. Bear in mind that there have been tidal waves of change in the wine world since 1855, and there are many, many reasonably priced Bordeaux out there that are terrific everyday drinking wines. The backbone of the Bordeaux wine industry is table wine, not First Growths, or Petrus. So, don't let French wine nomenclature intimidate you. The wine is made to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. And with a toehold of knowledge about Right Bank/Left Bank, you can begin your journey down the Gironde. Enjoy the trip!
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