Crémant de Bordeaux
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Sparkling white and rosé by the traditional method from 501 communes of the Gironde, picked by hand, pressed whole at 100 liters of must to 150 kilograms of grapes and kept 9 months on the lees.
The place
The rules
The harvest is by hand and the bunches go whole into the press, neither crushed nor destemmed, at 100 liters of must for every 150 kilograms of fruit. For the white the principal varieties are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Muscadelle, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon, together at least 70%, with Colombard, Merlot Blanc and Ugni Blanc as accessory; for the rosé the black varieties must make at least 70%. Seventy-two hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 78, and 9% of natural alcohol. The wine spends at least 9 months on its lees in the bottle, and may not be sold until 12 months have passed since the tirage, the day it is bottled with its yeast for the second fermentation, at least 1 month of them after disgorging. Clearing a plot by chemical weeding alone is forbidden, and every grower records the treatment frequency index of his plots. The cahier des charges in force, the appellation’s official rulebook, was homologated by the arrêté of June 4, 2026.
The names
No classification touches the sparkling wines of Bordeaux. The region made them long before it named them: Bordeaux mousseux dates from 1943, and the tighter rules that make a crémant, with the hand harvest, the whole-cluster press and the time on the lees, were recognized by the decree of April 3, 1990, which brought Bordeaux into the family of French crémants.
- Color
- Sparkling white and rosé
- Communes
- 501, nearly the whole of the Gironde
- Vineyard
- 1,930 hectares and 337 growers, the area up 278% in 10 years; an average of 13,000 hectoliters
- Grapes, white
- Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Muscadelle, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon, at least 70% together; Colombard, Merlot Blanc, Ugni Blanc accessory
- Grapes, rosé
- The black varieties, at least 70%
- Harvest
- By hand; whole bunches into the press, neither crushed nor destemmed
- Pressing
- 100 liters of must for 150 kilograms of grapes
- Yield
- 72 hectoliters a hectare, ceiling 78
- Alcohol
- 9% natural at least
- On the lees
- At least 9 months in the bottle
- Release
- 12 months from the tirage at the earliest, and at least 1 month after disgorging
- Farming
- Clearing a plot by chemical weeding alone is forbidden; the treatment frequency index is recorded
- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
- April 3, 1990; Bordeaux mousseux from 1943; cahier of June 4, 2026
Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges
The stack
The same land in
It shares named communes with
The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map
The pyramid of names shows what each step promises: vines a hectare, bottles, ripeness, day of sale, grapes. Climb from here
Terroir
The sea has come over this soil and left it, again and again. Deep structures make the country a hinge between the continental shelf to the west, under the sea at various times, and the land that stood above it to the east.
After a long age of rivers and lakes, the sea returned in the Oligocene, fairly warm and shallow, home to sea urchins, small corals and the starfish that gave its stone a name: the starfish limestone (calcaire à astéries). It filled a triangle between La Réole, Bergerac and
In the Miocene the sea reached in twice more and left shell sands (faluns), limestones and marls, a family that covers 0.5% of the delimited soil. In the ice ages it drew far out: beaches of that time lie 90 to 120 m deep in the ocean, and by their end the Gironde estuary already existed. Then the sea rose and the low valleys filled with clay and peat, the river marshes (palus). The
- Slope wash and cover8.5%
- River and estuary deposits of today5.1%
- Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles21.3%
- Landes sand and the oldest river deposits5.0%
- Shell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the Miocene0.5%
- Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone19.8%
- Starfish limestone and marine marls12.7%
- Lake limestones and clays3.5%
- Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes19.8%
- Older sea limestones and marls3.8%
Shares of the delimited area, measured on BRGM’s geological map, in families by the age and rock its legend prints, youngest first.
Half its delimited soil lies above 48 m, and 9 tenths lies between 5 and 101 m. 12.2% of it is steeper than 10%.
The same delimited soil as Bordeaux AOC and
Measured section
The line runs 68.4 km, from 61 m to 40 m. Inside the delimited area it lies between 3 and 103 m.
Colors: Slope wash and coverRiver and estuary deposits of todayIce age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebblesLandes sand and the oldest river depositsShell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the MioceneStarfish limestone and marine marlsLake limestones and claysMolasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes
The units, as BRGM prints them
| Code | Name and age, as printed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Slope wash and cover | 8.5% | |
| CFp | Formations superficielles | 7.0% |
| CF | Formations superficielles | 1.4% |
| and 3 more units under 1% each, 0.1% in all | ||
| River and estuary deposits of today | 5.1% | |
| Fy3-z | Alluvions subactuelles à actuelles indiféernéciées (sic), Pré-boréal à actuel | 4.4% |
| and 4 more units under 1% each, 0.7% in all | ||
| Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles | 21.3% | |
| Fy | Terrasses sous-flandriennes indiférenciées, Weichsélien - "Wurm" | 1.7% |
| Fxb3 | Basses terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse d'Izon (type 6), Saalien - "Riss" | 2.0% |
| Fxb2 | Basses terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse d'Izon (type 6), Saalien - "Riss" | 1.6% |
| Fwb(D) | Moyennes terrasses - Terrasses du Malleret sup. indifférencié (type 3 à 5), Esltérien - "Mindel" | 1.3% |
| Fwb(G) | Moyennes terrasses (RG Garonne) - Terrasses de Léognan, terrasse de Martillac et terrasse de St Selve indifférenciés (type 3 à 5), Esltérien - "Mindel" | 3.4% |
| Fvb(G) | Hautes terrasses (RG Garonne) - Terrasse de Martillac (type 2) indifférenciée et terrasse d'Arsac, Ménapien à Bavélien - "Gunz" | 5.4% |
| Fva(G) | Très hautes terrasses (RG Garonne) - Terrasse de Léognan (type 1) indifférenciée et terrasse de | 2.4% |
| Fu | Très hautes terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse de Cénac, Eburonien - Donau | 1.1% |
| and 4 more units under 1% each, 2.5% in all | ||
| Landes sand and the oldest river deposits | 5.0% | |
| Ft(Sa) | Fmt de Sadirac, Tiglien - "Biber-Donau" | 2.7% |
| Ft(Bn) | Formation de Belin, Tiglien - "Biber-Donau" | 1.9% |
| and 6 more units under 1% each, 0.4% in all | ||
| Shell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the Miocene | 0.5% | |
| and 10 more units under 1% each, 0.5% in all | ||
| Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone | 19.8% | |
| g2-A | Molasse de l'Agenais sup. à faciès argileux dominant, Chattien continental | 7.5% |
| g1-A | Molasse de l'Agenais inf. à facies argileux dominant, Rupélien continental | 11.9% |
| and 2 more units under 1% each, 0.4% in all | ||
| Starfish limestone and marine marls | 12.7% | |
| g1-As | Calcaire à Astéries, Rupélien marin | 12.1% |
| and 3 more units under 1% each, 0.6% in all | ||
| Lake limestones and clays | 3.5% | |
| g1-Cc | Formation du Calcaire de Castillon s.s., Rupélien basal continental | 1.5% |
| and 6 more units under 1% each, 2.0% in all | ||
| Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes | 19.8% | |
| g1-2b | Formation de Boisbreteau sup., Rupélien terminal à Chattien continental | 1.0% |
| g1a | Formation de Boisbreteau moy. et formation de la Garde, Rupélien inf. continental | 2.4% |
| e7-g1 | Molasses du Fronsadais indifférenciées, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 4.4% |
| e7-g1-A | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies argileux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 1.8% |
| e7-g1-S | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies sableux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 3.9% |
| e7c-A | Molasses du Fronsadais inf. à moy. (facies argileux dominant), Priabonien sup. continental | 1.4% |
| e6-7 | Argiles à Paléotherium, Bartonien sup. à Priabonien inf. continental | 1.1% |
| e5-6 | Formation de Guizengard sup., Lutétien sup. à Bartonien sup. continental | 1.9% |
| and 7 more units under 1% each, 1.9% in all | ||
| Older sea limestones and marls | 3.8% | |
| and 16 more units under 1% each, 3.8% in all | ||
Informative figures, computed from INAO’s digitized parcel delimitation of October 12, 2026 and BRGM’s harmonized geological map (BD Charm-50); heights from IGN’s RGE ALTI 5 m. The plans held at the town hall are the legal reference. The delimited area is always somewhat larger than what is planted.
Sources: BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Pessac à 1/50 000, 1978; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Bordeaux à 1/50 000, 1977; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Libourne à 1/50 000, 1995; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Lesparre-
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News from Crémant de Bordeaux
6
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Bordeaux begins the earliest harvest of all time
On Aug. 7, 2026, Bordeaux began harvesting the first grapes for
Crémant de Bordeaux , nearly 15 days earlier than in 2025, opening what Bordeaux wine officials called the region’s earliest harvest ever. The 2026 vintage is expected to be smaller than usual. -
Bordeaux begins the earliest harvest ever recorded
On Aug. 7, 2026, Bordeaux began harvesting the first grapes for
Crémant de Bordeaux , nearly 15 days earlier than in 2025, opening what Bordeaux wine officials called the region’s earliest harvest ever. The 2026 vintage is expected to be smaller than usual. -
Bordeaux Begins Its Earliest Harvest on Record
Bordeaux began its 2026 harvest on Aug. 6 with the first grapes for
Crémant de Bordeaux , nearly 15 days earlier than in 2025. Wine officials say it is the earliest harvest on record, with dry weather pointing to a smaller vintage. -
It is already starting in Bordeaux for Crémant
Bordeaux growers have begun the 2026 harvest with grapes for
Crémant de Bordeaux , marking the traditional start of picking in the region. The trade body says this could be the earliest harvest Bordeaux has ever seen. -
Crémant de Bordeaux bucks Bordeaux’s downward export trend in 2025Crémant de Bordeaux exports rose 35% in 2025 to 622,222 9-liter cases, according to the CIVB. Shipments to Germany increased 66% by volume, while Bordeaux’s overall shipment volume fell 8% in the 12 months to the end of February. -
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Crémant de Bordeaux production has quadrupled over the past decade, with 2025 exports reaching 56,000 hectoliters.