A bluffer’s guide to Bordeaux wines

The vineyards cover 280,000 acres around the Gironde estuary and its tributaries, the Dordogne and Garonne rivers. This is the biggest appellation wine zone in France, but is outranked in sheer quantity terms by Languedoc.

Some 80 per cent of the wines are red, and divided into 57 or 63 appellations, depending on who’s counting. The vast majority are neither grand crus nor even particularly expensive. Around 50 per cent are in the catch-all “Bordeaux” or “Bordeaux Supérieur” categories, which cover the whole region. Despite the name, “Bordeaux Supérieur” is the second-lowest rank of Bordeaux wines, superior only to straight “Bordeaux”.

Within these two general appellations come lots of more tightly-drawn district appellations (Médoc, Graves) and, within them, village appellations which are tighter yet (St Estèphe, Pessac-Léognan).

Some of the best bargains are found in lesser-esteemed, but friendlier appellations — BlayeCôtes-de-Bordeaux, Côtes de Bourg, Entre-Deux -Mers — where fine bottles may come at significantly less than a tenner.

Should someone ask you what are the three main grape varieties in Bordeaux, say cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot — then move rapidly on. This is not a conversation you want to be involved in.

A fine way to experience all this will be at the Bordeaux Wine Festival. Europe’s biggest biennial wine thrash celebrates its 10th edition from June 23-26 with wine tasting pavilions and food trucks along two kms of river-front, art shows, son-et-lumières onto the Place de la Bourse, firework displays and gaiety agogo. But please book right now. The city is expecting 700,000 festive folk. And book your tasting pass online at the same time: it’s £12, as opposed to £16 during the festival (bordeaux-wine-festival.com).