Saint-Julien 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 Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and is one of the six communal appellations in Médoc. A number of classified (''Grand Cru Classé'') Bordeaux estates are located within the appellation.

History

The tradition of wine-growing in Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and the way in which its ''

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 ...

'' has come to prominence parallels the history of the Médoc wines in general.

Appellation

Area of designated origin

Saint-Julien wines are mainly produced in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle, but a few plots can be found elsewhere in

Cussac-Fort-Médoc Cussac-Fort-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Fort Médoc in Cussac-Fort-Médoc, together with several buildings in nearby Blaye, was listed in 2008 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as p ...

and Saint-Laurent-Médoc. Saint-Julien-Beychevelle is located between the

Margaux Margaux (; oc-gsc, Margaus) is a former commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Margaux-Cantenac.Pauillac Pauillac (; oc, Paulhac) is a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The city is mid-way between Bordeaux and the Pointe de Grave, along the Gironde, the largest estuary in western Europe. Popul ...

appellations, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary.

Geology and orography

The vineyards lie on a bed of sedimentary rock. Unlike the surface soil, which is an unbroken expanse of pebbles, the subsoil is surprisingly complex and is the reason why Saint-Julien wines vary so much in character.Data sheet for AOC Saint-Julien
on the website ''medoc-bordeaux.com'', 1st Feb. 2010.

The vineyards

Grape varieties

The grape varieties grown under this appellation are the same as those found throughout the Médoc area, i.e. predominantly

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' ...

, along with

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 ...

, Merlot,

Malbec 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 ...

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, ...

and

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 ...

(traces only). The maximum permitted yield per

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

is 45 hectolitres, wherever the

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of planting is between 6,500 and 10,000 vines per hectare. This appellation is traditionally divided into two areas, although this is a matter of some controversy. The southern wines, which are smoother and more feminine, are closely related to the Margaux wines, while the northern wines, which are more robust and powerful (the Léoville wines, for example, bordering the vineyards of

Latour Latour may refer to: People * LaTour, American musician Surname * House of Baillet ** Alfred de Baillet Latour (1901–1980), **Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876–1942), Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the International Olympic Comm ...

), have more in common with the wines of Pauillac.

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-Julien, but several rated Second Growths.

References

Saint-Julien
Bordeaux.com, Le Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) ;Footnotes

External links

Médoc wines
Conseil des Vins du Médoc Bordeaux AOCs {{Portal bar, Wine, France