Bordeaux AOC

The place

The appellation Bordeaux is drawn over 494 of the 535 communes of the Gironde: the department with its edges trimmed, not a district inside it. Under it lie the marls, molasse and limestone of the Eocene and the Oligocene, with gravel and sand of the Pliocene and the Quaternary laid over parts of them. It is best measured by what it makes: an average of 300,000 hectoliters of white, 200,000 of rosé and more than 2,000,000 of red. The same land serves 2 other appellations, Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux, each laid over it with rules of its own.

The rules

Red, white and rosé, and within them 2 named styles: claret, a lighter red, and clairet, a darker rosé. The red comes from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenère and Petit Verdot; Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan, Touriga Nacional and Vidoc are admitted as varieties of interest, to 5% of an estate and 10% of a blend. The white is Sémillon, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle, with Colombard, Merlot Blanc and Ugni Blanc as accessories to 30%, and Alvarinho, Floréal, Liliorila, Sauvignac and Souvignier Gris admitted as varieties of interest, to 5% of an estate and 10% of a blend, Alvarinho only in a dry white of 4 g/l of sugar or less. The rosé takes the black varieties, with Sémillon and the Sauvignons to 20%, the Sauvignons alone to 10%. The vines stand at least 4,000 to the hectare, or 3,300 under special provisions, in rows no more than 2.50 meters apart and no closer than 0.80 in the row. Yields are 60 hectoliters a hectare for the red, with a ceiling of 68; 62 and 72 for the rosé; 67 and 77 for the white. Natural alcohol is 10.5% for the red, 10% for the white and rosé, and 11.5% for the white of Haut-Benauge. A red that is not a claret is raised until December 31 of the harvest year and sold from January 15. The cahier des charges, the appellation’s official rulebook, was last homologated on May 13, 2026.

The names

No classification reaches Bordeaux, nor Bordeaux Supérieur, and what separates the 2 is written in their rulebooks. Bordeaux Supérieur is an appellation of its own, recognized on October 14, 1943, against November 14, 1936 for Bordeaux, and it is the stricter at every point that can be measured: red and white only, no rosé; at least 4,500 vines a hectare against 4,000; 58 hectoliters a hectare for the red against 60, and 49 for the white against 67; 11% of natural alcohol for the red against 10.5%, and 12% for the white against 10%. Its red is raised until June 15 of the year after the harvest and sold from July 1, where a Bordeaux red is raised until December 31 of the harvest year and sold from January 15. It makes on average more than 450,000 hectoliters of red and 2,000 of white.

Color

Red, white, rosé; claret, a lighter red, and clairet, a darker rosé

Communes

494 of the 535 of the Gironde

Production

An average of 300,000 hectoliters of white, 200,000 of rosé and more than 2,000,000 of red

Soil

Marl, molasse and limestone of the Eocene and the Oligocene, with gravel and sand of the Pliocene and the Quaternary

Grapes, red

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenère, Petit Verdot; Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan, Touriga Nacional and Vidoc to 5% of an estate and 10% of a blend

Grapes, white

Sémillon, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Muscadelle; Colombard, Merlot Blanc, Ugni Blanc to 30%; Alvarinho, Floréal, Liliorila, Sauvignac, Souvignier Gris to 5% of an estate and 10% of a blend, Alvarinho in a dry white only

Grapes, rosé

The red varieties; Sémillon, Sauvignon and Sauvignon Gris to 20% of an estate, the 2 Sauvignons to 10%; the adaptation varieties to 5% of an estate and 10% of a blend; a clairet from the red varieties only

Density

4,000 vines a hectare at least, 3,300 under special provisions

Yield

Red 60 hectoliters a hectare, ceiling 68; rosé 62 and 72; white 67 and 77

Alcohol

10.5% natural for the red, 10% for white and rosé, 11.5% for the white of Haut-Benauge

Release

A red that is not a claret, from January 15 of the year after the harvest

Bordeaux Supérieur

A separate appellation of October 14, 1943: red and white only, 4,500 vines a hectare, 58 hectoliters for the red and 49 for the white, 11% and 12% of alcohol, the red raised to June 15 and sold from July 1; more than 450,000 hectoliters of red and 2,000 of white

The same soil

The delimitation of Bordeaux also serves Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux

Classified

No classification

AOC since

November 14, 1936; cahier of May 13, 2026

Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges Bordeaux, arrêté du 13 mai 2026 · FGVB, cahier des charges Bordeaux Supérieur, arrêté du 4 juin 2026 · Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations