(Video) The Best Wines For Your Bordeaux Wine Cellar

This video has suggestions for wine to buy for your Bordeaux wine cellar. 

The Best Wines For Your Bordeaux Wine Cellar

(Video Transcript) Hi, this is Pascale Bernasse with French Wine Explorers. Our company provides wine tours in France designed exclusively to help wine lovers become connoisseurs.

This is the third video in a series we call Pascale’s Picks where we discuss several different wine themed topics. And this month’s topic is, Building a Bordeaux Wine Cellar.

When guests return from one of our tours, often they ask me, “How can I create a Bordeaux wine cellar so that I always have wonderful wines available?”

Before deciding which wines to buy for your Bordeaux wine collection decide how you’re going to use the wines. What I mean by this is, what are your goals for your Bordeaux wine collection?

• Do you want wine to drink now?
• Do you prefer to buy wine to hold for a special occasion?
• Or, do you want the most exclusive wines you can get your hands on?

The best goal may be a combination of these three ideas. So we’re going to give you suggestions based on these three goals. And keep in mind the vintage chart we discussed in the last video. This will allow you to know which vintages of which wines to buy.

So how do you build a diversified Bordeaux wine cellar? It’s really not as difficult as you may think. Let’s focus on the wines of the major sub-regions of Bordeaux.

First, let’s look at the wines from Pauillac.

The wines from Pauillac are very often considered quintessential Bordeaux wines. Pauillac has three of the five First Growths.

• Château Mouton Rothschild
• Château Lafite Rothschild
• and Château Latour

So I would recommend one of these First Growths for your most exclusive option.

Now let’s look at the wines of St. Julien.

• The wines of St. Julien are considered the perfect balance between the wines of Pauillac and Margaux, and they tend to be my favorites.
• The wines of northern part of St. Julien will resemble more the wines of Pauillac, with stronger structure. And the wines of the southern part of St. Julien will have more finesse, similar to the wines you’ll find in Margaux.
• So I recommend you start with a Second Classified Growth such as Leoville Las Cases. This wine rewards you if you drink a vintage that’s 15 to 20 years old, so it’s perfect for a special occasion.

The wines of Margaux are also considered to be full bodied.

• However, they may have less intense structure than their neighbors in Pauillac and St. Julien.
• Château Palmer is a wine both collectors and enthusiasts agree on. I’d recommend buying a vintage that’s ready for a special occasion.

Let’s move on to the region of St. Éstephe.

• The wines here have good firm tannins and structure so they have the potential to age well.
• The wine I recommend from this region is Château Cos d’Estournel. This is a great representation of the region. Although it deserves 20 years before it shines, so please make sure you buy an older vintage so that you need not wait too long to enjoy.

St. Émilion is the oldest wine-producing region in Bordeaux.

• The Romans first planted vines here in 56 BC.
• From here I recommend Château Canon La Gaffeliere. The blends tend to have a higher Cabernet content than others.
• Another fine option is Château Figeac, which is always a favorite among our guests.

There are other appellations to consider, as well. Such as:

• Sauternes
• Pomerol
• and Graves

To learn more about the wines of Bordeaux and the region itself, check out our blog post, Bordeaux Wine: Your Essential Guide.

And that’s it! That’s our pick for this month. Please make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay tuned to our next video in Pascale’s Picks or in our Tuesday Tips in About a Minute series.

And visit us at wine-tours-france.com.