Bordeaux

With 117,500 hectares under vine in 2011, Bordeaux has more acreage under vine than any other region in France. Bordeaux constitutes 14% of France’s total vineyard area and typically produces five-to-six million hectoliters of wine each year. With an average Bordeaux domaine holding 14.5 hectares, more than 8,000 winegrowers are plying their trade. From its northernmost vineyards around the town of Saint-Vivien-de-Médoc to the southern edge of Graves, the region of Bordeaux spans over 130 km. At its widest point it extends over 75 km. It includes two major rivers, the Garonne and Dordogne, which converge into the Gironde Estuary before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. On paper, most land within the Gironde département, save for a band of coastal forest, falls within the basic Bordeaux appellation. The vast area is divided into the following subregions, each with its own set of appellations:

• Médoc
• Graves
• Entre-Deux-Mers
• The right bank
• Blaye and Bourg

On the western banks of the Gironde Estuary and Garonne River, the Médoc and Graves make up the “left bank” of Bordeaux. The “right bank” is a more compact set of wine-producing communes on the opposite bank of the Dordogne River—Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, Fronsac, and surrounding appellations. Blaye and Bourg, sometimes considered part of the right bank, are actually on the eastern bank of the Gironde, opposite the Médoc vineyards. Entre-Deux-Mers is the vast stretch of land between the Garonne and the Dordogne.