When people look for affordable, everyday drinking wines, they often overlook Bordeaux. In supermarkets, New World wines dominate with their strong branding, easy-to-understand labels and consistency in quality.
Locally, Bordeaux is often associated with the exorbitant prices fetched at auctions and media attention that focuses on the mainland's seemingly insatiable demand for luxury brands.
It is easy to forget that first growth producers represent only a tiny percentage of Bordeaux's production. This is France's largest wine region, with about 8,500 producers putting out 700 million bottles a year. British wine author Hugh Johnson says: "Twenty-four bottles of Bordeaux are now bought every second around the world."
But most of the volume is in lower-end wines. Selecting high-quality Bordeaux is a relatively simple task if money is no object. But finding the region's good-value wine for everyday drinking requires more time and effort. Here are a few tips for selecting "bargain" Bordeaux.
Bear the complex appellation system in mind when buying. There are 57 Bordeaux appellations. Adding to the complexity are multiple classification systems, which will have an impact on pricing depending on how the wine is classified. The first growths are some of the most expensive wines and include Haut-Brion, Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Mouton-Rothschild. But for entry-level wines, look for labels marked "Bordeaux", which is generic Bordeaux and includes half the region's producers.
The designation "Bordeaux Superieur" is considered to be higher in quality to basic "Bordeaux", with higher minimum alcohol levels, lower yields and longer ageing requirements.