Bordeaux wine online - dry red, or sweet white

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"I can certainly see you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn't know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret."
Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), Fawlty Towers

The tradition of exporting Bordeaux wines to England began during the 300-year period when Bordeaux was under English rule, from the time of Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, to the defeat of Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1453. Henry II tried to win the favour of his new subjects by granting them tax-free trade with England, which meant that Bordeaux wine (or claret, as the English call it) was the cheapest imported wine.

Bordeaux wines are primarily dry reds, with the exception of the sweet whites from the Sauternes district. The most used grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot for the reds, and Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc for the whites. Famous names include St Emilion, St Estephe, St Julien, Margaux, Pauillac and Pomerol (home of the exclusive Pétrus). Bordeaux is a reliable producer of quality French wines and produces about a quarter of France's appellation contrôllée wines.

Bordeaux wine classifications:

Bordeaux wines are classified on the basis of a hierarchy of those geographical areas known to produce the finest wines. These geographical areas were identified in 1855 and distinguished no fewer than 61 types of Bordeaux wine. Based on the selling price at the time, Napoleon III classified the Bordeaux wines as Premier, Deuxièmes, Troisièmes, Quatrièmes and Cinquièmes Crus Classés, in other words as First to Fifth Growths, with First Growths being the most expensive wines. This list of 61 wines has not changed since 1855, except to move Château Mouton-Rothschild up to Premiers Crus in 1973.

The best wines are given the appellation d'origine contrôllée (AOC), which means that they have been approved according to rigorous standards of how and where they are grown, fermented and bottled. The hierarchy's largest division is the region, within which there are districts, then communes, and within the communes are individual vineyards or châteaux. For example, a wine that is Appellation Bordeaux Contrôllée is not subject to such stringent controls as a wine that is Appellation Château-Latour Contrôllée, which must comply exactly with standards of geographical location, grape variety, techniques of vine growing and harvest, wine making and alcohol content.

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