Crémant de Bordeaux

The place

Crémant de Bordeaux may be made in 501 communes of the Gironde, nearly the whole department and very nearly the ground of the appellation Bordeaux itself. It is small and growing fast: 1,930 hectares and 337 growers, the area up 278% in 10 years, making an average of 13,000 hectoliters. White is by far the greater part of it, and rosé the rest.

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%. 72 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 (the appellation’s official rulebook) 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 Crémant de Bordeaux, arrêté du 4 juin 2026 · Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux, Crémant de Bordeaux