When a vineyard investor is starting to consider a Bordeaux vineyard for sale, sometimes it is helpful to just get an overview of the market to provide context from which to launch further investigations. In the outline that follows below, I have tried to make it personal since a list of numbers and market facts can be a bit dry.
- The Bordeaux Vineyard area – about 110,000 hectares or 270,000 acres of vineyards
- Bordeaux Vineyard history. Evidence that the first Bordeaux vineyards were planted by the Romans 2000 years ago launching the wine industry. The second boom arrived with the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England which forged a new Anglo-French wine market. Then in the 17th century when the Dutch drained the marshes of the Medoc, it attracted the landed aristocracy to fertile lands adjacent to the transport waterways of the Gironde estuary – the result was the 19th century boom that established Bordeaux at the top of the world wine hierarchy.
- Appellations – 57 appellations (to remember, think “Heinz 57 varieties”). Appellations used to be called AOC’s but are now referred to as AOP – Appellation d’Origine Protegée
- Regions – two distinct regions – Left Bank and Right Bank (of the Garonne river)
- Most famous right bank appellations: St Emilion, Pomerol and Fronsac
- Most famous left bank appellations: Margaux, Pauillac, St Estephe. Pessac Leognan, St Julien and Sauternes.
- My favourite appellation – St Emilion
- Most under rated appellation in my opinion – Puisseguin St Emilion
- Bordeaux red grape varietals: There are 6- Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Carménère. From July 2019, and as a result of warming temperatures, Bordeaux wineries are authorized to use of four new red grapes. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
- Bordeaux white grape varietals : Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle. Other less used but nonetheless permitted grape varieties include Sauvignon gris, Ugni blanc, Colombard, Merlot blanc, Ondenc and Mauzac. Recently permitted additions include Alvarinho, Petit Manseng, and Liliorila.
- Number of Chateaux vineyards in Bordeaux – about 7,500
- Number of wine brands in Bordeaux – about 13,000
- Number of bottles produced per year from Bordeaux vineyards – about 800,000,000
- Typical plant density in Bordeaux vineyards is about 5000 plants average. Vineyard density ranges from about 2500 plants up to over 10,000
- Typical Bordeaux production per hectare about 50 hectolitres or about 6500 bottles (75cl).
- Fun fact – a Bordeaux “chateau” does not need to have a chateau to use the word chateau in its name or wine trademark.
- Odd fact – water irrigation is still illegal in Bordeaux.
- Unbelievable fact – 99.9% of all of the root stock in Bordeaux is originally from the US
- Total number of Bordeaux Chateau vineyards sold each year – between 25 and 35 (we typically do about 10 of those)
- Vineyard valuations – 80% of the vineyard market are chateaux valued under 5m Euros. Therefore, the bulk of Bordeaux vineyards are relatively inexpensive contrary to what many believe.
- Price range for an operating Bordeaux vineyard business Eur 500,000 up to over Eur 1 billion (Chateau Petrus with only 11 hectares was recently valued at Eur 1 Billion)
- Most famous Bordeaux wine making consultants: Stephane Derenoncourt, Michel Rolland, Hubert du Bouard, Louis Mitjaville.
- My favourite Bordeaux red wine under Eur10 – Domaine de Courteillac – Bordeaux Superieur.
- My favourite Bordeaux white wine under Eur10 – Chateau Milord – Bordeaux Superieur
- My favourite Bordeaux rosé under Eur10 – Le Mythe d’Amphorie by Despagne.
- Useful website when starting to research Bordeaux vineyards https://www.bordeaux.com/fr/
- Useful email to ask questions about Bordeaux vineyards: Michael@VineyardsBordeaux.com
Written by Michael Baynes