Saint-Estèphe is an ''

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' (AOC) for red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

in the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

region, located in the

Médoc The Médoc (; oc, label= Gascon, Medòc ) is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the ''département'' of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from ''(Pagus) Medull ...

subregion. It takes its name from the commune of Saint-Estèphe and is the northernmost of the six communal appellations in Médoc. Five classified growths of 1855 (Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés en 1855) are located within the appellation area. Saint-Estèphe has held AOC recognition since 1936.

Historical background

Vines were already being cultivated on the land around Saint-Estèphe in Roman times.Page of AOC Saint-Estèphe
on the website ''medoc-bordeaux.com'', accessed 30 January 2010. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the wine business expanded, thanks to English buyers who regularly came to the port of

for their wine. The draining of marshland, which began in the 17th century, made larger areas of land available for cultivation.

Location

Geographical area

This designation can only be used to denote wines produced in a clearly defined area, corresponding to the commune (or municipality) of Saint-Estèphe.

Geology and orography

The ''sol de grave'' (a soil type containing a mixture of gravels, clay and sand), shared by all AOC wines from the Médoc, contains a slightly higher proportion of clay in this particular area.

Climate

The Saint-Estèphe vineyards enjoy the same weather conditions as the Bordeaux-Mérignac meteorological station. The local climate is, however, affected by the nearby River

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – a ...

. It has the effect of making it more temperate.

Vineyards

Grape varieties grown

The varieties allowed for this appellation are

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

Carménère The Carménère grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines and occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot. A member of t ...

Côt Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

and

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, c ...

Datasheet for AOC Saint-Estèphe
on the website ''legifrance.gouv.fr'', accessed on 15 January 2010. The AOC regulations do not stipulate the exact proportions to be combined, but in practice most blends consist predominantly of Cabernet Sauvignon. The proportions according to which the six varieties are combined give the wines from each château or estate their own distinctive personality. While some châteaux increase the proportion of Merlot in order to make their young wines easier on the palate, others continue to grow a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon. The châteaux of Cos d'Estournel,Château Cos d'Estournel
on the website ''estournel.com'', accessed 31 January 2010. Lilian LadouysSection ''vin''
on the website chateaulilianladouys.com, accessed 31 January 2010. and Meyney,Section présentation, le vin
on the website ''meyney.fr'', accessed 31 January 2010. for example, use 60% or more of the latter variety.

Methods of cultivation

The density of planting required is at least 7,000 vines per hectare. The rows should be positioned no more than 1.5 metres apart and the distance between any two vines within a row should not be less than 0.8 metres. The vines are pruned every year before the first leaves have opened fully. The aim is to keep a maximum of 12 renewal buds per vine (each renewal bud will produce a side branch bearing a cluster of grapes). Authorized pruning methods include the so-called "médocaine" method (the local name for

Guyot In marine geology, a guyot (pronounced ), also known as a tablemount, is an isolated underwater volcanic mountain ( seamount) with a flat top more than below the surface of the sea. The diameters of these flat summits can exceed .Cordon de Royat (unilateral cordon) or éventail (fan). For vines planted less than 1.4 metres apart, the height of the foliage must be at least 0.6 times the distance between rows, while for vines planted between 1.4 and 1.5 metres apart, the height should be increased to at least 0.7 times the distance between rows. This rule is designed to ensure the growth of sufficient foliage for the grapes to ripen well.

Harvesting

By law the yield per plot is restricted to 9,500 kg per hectare, which is the equivalent of 14 bunches per vine for Petit Verdot grapes and 12 bunches per vine for other varieties. This quantity should (only) give a yield per hectare of 57 hectolitres (per hectare) once the process of wine-making has been completed. The harvesting method is not stipulated in the AOC regulations. In fact many estates now use harvesting machines, although some prestigious estates, such as the châteaux of Lilian Ladouys and Meyney, still harvest by hand. This practice is defended on the basis that it is possible to sort at the same time as harvesting, not to mention the further round of sorting that takes place when the harvest is loaded onto a sorting table in the wine shed.

Wine-making

On arrival in the chai, the grapes are destemmed and crushed before being transferred to non-oxidizing concrete or wooden tanks. The maceration of grape skins mixed with grape must begins. Alcoholic fermentation is activated using selected commercial yeasts or yeasts that are naturally present in the bloom on the skins of the grapes. The wine sheds are equipped with temperature-controlled tanks, making it possible to direct the fermentation process by preventing temperatures from rising too high and then, at the very end, reheating the harvested materials. This procedure is designed to maintain an environment in which the yeasts can efficiently transform the sugar into alcohol, and the colour (

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...

s) and

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

s can best be extracted. Fermentation is a long process, lasting between two and four weeks, depending on the estate and varying from year to year. Once the wine has been drained off, the grape residue is pressed. The pressed wine is tasted. Based on the outcome of this test of taste and smell, which takes into account grape variety and vintage, a decision is made as to whether or not the press wine is good enough to be included in the final blend. The next step is to store the wine in a tank (or sometimes in a barrel) at a temperature situated between 20 and 25 °C, which allows

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often p ...

to take place. At this stage the quality of each tank is assessed individually before small amounts from each batch are combined in test conditions. This sample blend then serves as a yardstick for the blends about to be created, each estate preserving the distinctive character of its own wines while reflecting the overall style of that particular vintage. This process, which is carried out by the wine-maker and an oenologist, is crucial to the end result. Once the wines have been blended on a large scale, they are matured in tanks (in the case of smoother vintages) or in barrels (in the case of more robust vintages). Maturing a wine means storing it for long periods in cellars where the temperature is controlled and where it remains undisturbed apart from rackings that take place every three months. Maturing a wine that is stored in barrels can take between six and eighteen months.

Wine

Analytical criteria

The minimum alcohol content is set at 11% by volume. When it is decided that a wine needs enriching, the alcohol content should not exceed 13.5% by volume. When the harvest is of such exceptional quality that it does not need enriching at all, there is no upper limit to the naturally occurring alcohol content allowed. In the case of batches of wine produced for the commercial market, the process of alcoholic fermentation must be halted (less than two grams per litre of fermentable sugar) and malolactic fermentation carried out. (less than 0.30 grams per litre of

malic acid Malic acid is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, contributes to the sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms ...

). The volatile acidity of the wine must not exceed 13.26 milliequivalents (i.e. 0.79 expressed as grams per litre of acetic acid or 0.65 g/L of H₂SO₄) in the first year of aging (up to 31 July). After that the limit is set at 16.33 mEq. (i.e. 0.98 expressed as grams per litre of acetic acid or 0.80 g/L of H₂SO₄).

Tasting

Considerable variations in

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

(the soil, weather conditions and wine-making traditions associated with a particular vineyard) mean that the wines produced differ according to the estates from which they originate. Nevertheless, they all share certain typical characteristics. The authoritative French wine guide published by Hachette, refers to Saint-Estèphe wines as having a finer acidity, tannic structure and colour than other Médoc wines. With maturity this wine acquires stronger fruit flavours and becomes more rounded and elegant. It is definitely a wine that improves with age, and can be kept for some considerable time. In his book ''Bordeaux'',

Robert M. Parker Jr. Robert McDowell Parker Jr. (born July 23, 1947) is a retired U.S. wine critic. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter ''The Wine Advocate'' are influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting t ...

states that the wines of Saint-Estèphe "have the reputation of being the slowest to mature, and the toughest, most tannic wines."

Matching food and wine

Saint-Estèphe complements red meats particularly well. In his book, ''L'École des alliances, les mets et les vins'' (A Course in Match-making, Food and Wine), Pierre Casamayor writes, "red meats have one essential quality, which is that their proteins render even the most virile tannins attractive." Thanks to its powerful structure, Saint-Estèphe is a match for

red meat In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw and a dark color after it is cooked, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before and after cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified as ...

s such as roast rib of beef or ''agneau de Pauillac à la cuisson de sept heures''Château Phélan Ségur
on the website ''phelansegur.com'' (local Pauillac

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

cooked for seven hours according to a traditional recipe) or, once it has aged, for a

truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''Peziz ...

sauce or for furred game meats cooked in a marinade or when aged, with game.

Production

The Saint-Estèphe vineyards cover , and in 2008 they produced 54,200 hectolitres of wine. This volume of wine represents on average 8.7 million bottles per year. The wine is produced by 136 different producers: 80 of them are members of cooperatives and 56 are private estates.

Classified Saint-Estèphe estates

In the

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...

, there are no

First Growth First Growth (french: Premier Cru) status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The best of the best wines were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru; only five wines, Château Lafite Rothschild, Châtea ...

s in Saint-Estèphe, but two Second Growths. The classified estates of Saint-Estèphe are: *Second Growths **

Château Cos d'Estournel Château Cos d'Estournel is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. It is also the name of the red wine produced by this property. The wine produced here was classified as one of fifteen ''Deuxièmes Crus'' ( ...

** Château Montrose *Third Growths **

Château Calon-Ségur Château Calon-Ségur is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Troisièmes Crus Classés'' (Third Growths) in the historic Bordeaux Wine Offi ...

*Fourth Growths ** Château Lafon-Rochet *Fifth Growths ** Château Cos Labory Saint-Estèphe also has the distinction of having produced a large number of other wines (

Cru Bourgeois The Cru Bourgeois classification lists some of the châteaux from the Médoc that were not included in the 1855 Classification of ''Crus Classés'', or Classed Growths. Notionally, ''Cru Bourgeois'' is a level below ''Cru Classé'', but still of ...

or non-classified) that are nevertheless of excellent quality, some of them being comparable to or better than some of the Grand Cru Classé wines. Château Phélan Ségur, Château Les Ormes de Pez, and Château Haut-Marbuzet are just a few such wines.

References

Bordeaux AOCs {{Portal bar, Wine, France