Transcript:
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Hello, bonjour, and welcome to your new Bonner Private Wines video, where we learn together everything that you need to know about wine, weekly. I'm your host, Julien, Bordeaux trained wine maker. And today I want to start with you a new video series called wine in 5 or 5 things that you need to know about all the top wine appellations around the world.
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Five things that you possibly didn't know about them in about five minutes (if you exclude the intro and outro). Today we're looking at one of the top vintage appellations in the Bordeaux region of France, the one that counts with the most prestigious chateaux, Pauillac. At the end of the video, I'll reveal which are the most expensive and best wines from Pauillac that you should probably try and we will score as a wine appellation to see how it ranks compared to others in our new Bonner Private Wines appellation leaderboard.
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They wine, we wine. Stay tuned.
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Remember that if you know those five facts about Pauillac, you can definitely claim after watching this video that you are a genuine wine connoisseur on your way to become a real wine expert and no sommelier is going to be able to ever tell you otherwise. So it's important that you follow along. Pauillac is a town and wine appellation located on the left bank of the Gironde River, which will get important when we talk about the grapes.
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It's north of the city of Bordeaux, about midway through this famous northern peninsula called the Medoc. It's about an hour drive from Bordeaux city and located right between Margaux to the south, and Saint-Estèphe, which is way up north. And we'll get to comparing with those other appellations.
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And because we are on the left bank, Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant grape here over merlot, which thrives better on the right bank. The soil, the terroir, is mainly composed of gravel, so draining soils, a little sandy too, but still there's a fair amount of clay which gives the wines the density. The best gravelly slopes are those directly overlooking the river, which is where all the top chateaux are located.
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Cab sauv it is then in Pauillac. Of course, being Bordeaux wines are blended here, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a bit of merlot, say, usually between 20 to 40%. In a lesser amount comes also some Petite Verdot or Petit Verdot, as we say in French. Rarely a little bit of cab franc too.
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Pauillac wines are known to be very, very dense, the denser and bigger in Medoc and possibly in Bordeaux too. They’re definitely bigger than the Graves in the south of Bordeaux, which are definitely thinner. Margaux is generally considered a more elegant wine than Pauillac, while Saint-Estèphe wines can be just as big, sometimes a little more rustic, however, but often not quite as dense in their tannins; Pauillac is the perfect balance.
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Very big, very dense. But still, with this great Bordeaux finesse. No white wines are made under the appellation.
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And it is the appellation that counts with the most first growths. In the 1855 classification of the wines of Bordeaux, with three chateaux out of the five Premier Grand Cru classes. So the five top ones, three of them are in Pauillac. Those are Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Out of 61 classified chateaux of Medoc, Pauillac also counts with the largest number, with 18 chateaux located in the appellation.
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And unsurprisingly, those three most expensive wines are the 1855 First Growths led by Chateau Lafite Rothschild at about $900 a bottle as a worldwide average across all vintages, followed by Chateau Latour, which goes at about $800 a bottle. Then comes Mouton Rothschild at about $700 a bottle. After those, it drops to about $200 a bottle. With the next priciest bottle being Chateau Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande.
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That's a mouthful. Time for us to rate Pauillac so we can compare it to other prestigious wines in the world in the future, and place Pauillac as our first wine appellation in our new Bonner Private Wines appellation leaderboard.
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Quality is as high as it gets. In fact, some of the finest wines in Bordeaux, some of the finest wines in France, some of the finest wines in the world. It gets a ten out of ten. Prestige is also very high, with some of the most prestigious chateaux in France being located here. But for some reason the name is a little more obscure to the general global wine audience than other names like Saint Emilion or Chateauneuf du Pape.
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So if you pull out a nice bottle of that, chances are some people that are not diehard wine connoisseurs will have no idea what it is and certainly won't be able to pronounce it. So it gets a nine out of ten. Prices of wines are solid, but not nearly as high as many Burgundy wine. So even compared to many cult California wines, even in Bordeaux, the most expensive Pauillac is only the fifth most expensive Bordeaux wine, topped by wineries of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.
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So it gets an eight out of ten. Pauillac wines aren't very scarce at all, as the appellation is large, and even the top wineries produce tens of thousands of bottles a year each, so production is quite high. But demand for them is solid too, which makes them not unattainable at all. They're pretty easy to find, but not incredibly common either.
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So it's a seven out of ten. Finally, our quality price ratio. If you buy a relatively affordable Pauillac, not one of the top ones, is it going to be any good value? Generally, yes. You can buy a solid product for, say, $50 to $80, and for that price, you're going to have a world class wine with great finesse.
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That certainly competes with many US wines or even many premium Europeans, especially in concentration, finesse and age worthiness. But the prestige of the appellation makes them always a little pricey relative to the quality. So they get a seven out of ten and our grand score is 41 out of 50 points. This is our first appellation on our leaderboard this week, but if you want to see how wines like Margaux, Chateauneuf du Pape, Burgundy, or Napa Valley compare, make sure to subscribe to never miss any new uploads from us!
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Like this video if you found it informative, we thank you for that. Share it with your fellow wine enthusiast and I will see you soon in the wonderful world of wine. Cheers!
