"The French are so proud of their wine that they have even named some of their cities after a vintage wine" : although Oscar Wilde meant this as a joke, it does, however, reflect the reality of Bordeaux and its very special Graves Great Growths ...! Well-appreciated estates that have made the reputation of this region and at last a publication that enables us to better appreciate them. We can now immerse ourselves into the Heart of Bordeaux without moderation...
At last a reference guide !
They are considered, and obviously rightly so, to be the greatest wines of Bordeaux, of which they are the backbone. The Graves Great Growths fascinate wine connoisseurs throughout the world, thanks to their finesse, their complexity and their formidable aptitude for ageing. That is why, it was about time that a reference guide be dedicated to them, to compile at last everything about their story and the properties of these prestigious wines whose classification was officially established in 1953 (updated in 1959) by the French wine regulatory body (the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine -INAO). All throughout these 224 pages, we therefore, become familiar with these sixteen domains to the south of the Bordeaux conglomeration and its 13 red wines and 9 dry white wines that come from over 500 hectares; we discover that their name, far from being the echo of some alarming symptom, actually refers to the stony soil, so characteristic of this region, these more or less stretched out plains, this arid sand and this impermeable subsoil, not very favourable to growing crops in general, but ideal for vineyards. To sum it up, we enter into the heart of these classified areas, so proud of perpetuating their long history. In a nutshell, an oenological odyssey if there ever was one.
Chefs and Graves
Because each of the vintage wines call for a specific tasting mode and offers a complete range of aromas for a careful selection of dishes, the greatest Chefs today (Anne-Sophie Pic, Georges Blanc, Régis Marcon…) have examined the prestigious regional products of Bordeaux to create a recipe for each vintage, then giving the floor to chefs sommeliers of Bordeaux restaurants for their comments on the optimal food-wine match. A lesson on gastronomy that ends our immersion into the heart of Bordeaux on a very happy note.
