Hello everyone and welcome to our Webinar My name is cara and i work in wrct in The emea business development team Today’s webinar is being brought to you By wset The world leader in wine spirit and sake Education we have partnered with the Concert anto professional de van de Bordeaux to bring you the first of a Series of three webinars all about the Wonders of bordeaux The webinar will be recorded and made Available to watch on the wset global Events hub which can be found on youtube We have quite a quick session for you Today we’re going to try to keep it to About 20 minutes So if you have any questions during the Session please feel free to put them in The q a box and we will do our absolute Best as much to answer as many of those As possible at the end but my apologies If we don’t manage to get through all of Them So we’re really lucky today to be joined By the wonderful sabine silvestrini Sabine is a third generation onologist And wine grower at vignoble silvestrini Which is a winery which Comprises 36 hectares in total spanning Over three of the most prestigious Appellations in the liberty So we’re talking about lusak centimidian
Montagne And pomebol Sabine also crucially has been awarded The level 3 award in wines so she’s a Good wset ambassador so without further Ado i’ll hand over to sabine to talk you Through the red wines of bordeaux Hi everyone i’m very pleased to be with You today because uh Of course uh you know borderlines it’s Part of my History it’s part of my passion as well And As a Bordeaux educator in the border wine School i’m very pleased to of course Share my knowledge with you today so of Course i’m gonna introduce you the Vineyard of bordeaux we’re gonna speak About Uh what’s bordeaux today what does it Mean today with the woman and men And of course i’ll try to bring you the Five facts you have to know about borrow Wines nowaday So thank you for to join us and let’s Start with this introduction So just uh i think some key figures are Important just for you to to understand How bordeaux is important in the french Vineyard uh it’s about 5 500 wine growers Mostly family run estates the average Size property is almost 20 hectares
Which is about 49 acres The cells in bordeaux i have a specific Way to to run like we have one merchant The wine russian there are about 300 of Them Uh we have also 77 brokers it’s Important to understand that the brokers Never buy ones the brokers help the Exchange between the producers and the Wine merchants so the broker is just Like an intermediary that helps the Contract to happen And uh of course they have a um Two percent of the the the income uh In in the country each contract uh made Thanks to them but it’s um it’s very Specific to border this way to to run It’s also important to understand that The wine merchant deals about 75 Of the wine projection in bordeaux so It’s a significant volume when we Usually produce about Five Let’s say five Million actual liters per year which is Of course a significant volume we also Have one cooperative one cooperatives They are almost like wineries except That they don’t Earn they don’t own their own land most Of the time the growers would bring the Crop to the cooperative which would make The wine and sell the wine for them so We have about 29 cooperatives and three
Unions of cooperative in bordeaux Just um For you to understand the vineyard Of bordeaux is considered as the largest Aoc vineyard in france we have about a Hundred and ten thousand hectares Which is about 271 acres Um It’s the largest vineyard producing Mainly aoc’s wine the la the largest Vineyard and surface in area is the long Doc russian but bordeaux is meant to Produce only aeocs wine so it is the Largest Vineyard area producing only aoc’s wine We have about 65 appellations what i called aoc’s um Appellation of controlled origin and Well you definitely know most of those 65 appellations because it’s important To understand that It’s also a matter of colors we produce Of course um red graphite is white Gravities and out of those grapes we Would be able to produce about six Different colors of wine we produce red Wines about 85 percent of red wines reproduce about Four percent of clarets and rosy We also produce Dry white wine sweet white wine and Sparkling wine so that’s For the production the dry whites are
Nine percent and we have a very small Production of Sweet wines and and sparkling wines Which we would call cremo de bordeaux so That’s about the different colors of one We would be able to to produce um and It’s important to understand that Nowaday about 75 percent of the vineyard Area is certified with any environmental Approach So that’s the key figure for 2021 the target is to reach 100 Uh of the area certified by 2023 and We’re Running to this target of course What kind of certification would you be Able to find it could be either organic Certification it could be sustainable Certification with the The The terra vt certification it could be Hve it’s a high environmental value Or it could be demeter for the Biodynamic or biodynamic Wines When we go further If we want to to explain each part uh And before we go further i’d like to ask You a quick quiz Um Just to see if you follow just what i Just said could you Tell me
What percent of the bordeaux vineyard is Red or white of course you can answer in The q and a you have the choice between 89 percent red 11 percent wine 72 red or And 28 white or 61 red and 39 white You just have a couple of seconds to Answer because it’s an easy question i Almost gave you the answer Before Yeah most of you you have the right Answer of course you’re right it’s 89 percent red of course out of this 89 Percent of red it’s 85 red wine and um Four to five percent Of uh claret and rosie are different Definitely think consider that you all Know the difference between rose and Cleret i truly think it’s important to Remind you that uh rosie has to be Coming from a direct pressing when the Clergy Is made out of what we called in francis Senior it’s a cut it’s uh we bleed the Tanks so it needs a Certain time maceration pre-maceration Between juice and skin before we Separate the juice from the skin so That’s the main difference between the Rosie and the cleric and of course the Claire would be much Deeper in color even though it’s still a Light wine and more concentrated in Aromas and And
More full-bodied even though we’re not Talking much about tannin in clary Let’s keep going and And talking further on about what’s Going on in bordeaux I told you that we produce a majority of Uh Red grape varieties the melon is the King of the Uh of the region uh for one main reason Reason sorry it’s a matter of terroir It’s known as the rye ban variety but The melo is found all over the border Vineyard just because it suits perfectly To clay and limestone soils which is the Main type of source that we would find In bordeaux of course on the right bank In between the dordon river and the Garron river and in some parts of the Left bank as well where you don’t have That much travels because the left bank Is much more well known for the gravel Souls When we have lots of gravels the great Variety that we love to use is the Cabernet sauvignon it represents about 22 percent of our Grape production it’s a lake rubbing Grapes it’s very powerful very elegant Very um Expressive on the nose But definitely because it’s a late Brightening grapes it needs some heat to Warm up and the grapes and to mature
Properly so that’s why the carbon is Sauvignon suit so well to the gravel Soils and that’s why we have so much Mellow all over the border vineyard Because on clay and limestone soils then It’s much cooler And it suits much more to early ripening Grapes such as the melo We love the cabernet franc as well That’s why it represents about nine Percent of our varieties because it’s a Good In between the two grape varieties let’s Say um it’s A Later ripening grape than the mellow but Not as late as the cabernet sauvignon so It could suit too good um limestone soil With a good sun exposure that’s why lots Of people would use the cabernet franc Especially on the right bank or in Between the dardon river and the gowan River Of course we have all the gravities that We could use there are six red grape Varieties in bordeaux we use the petit Verdo which is as well a late ripening Grape that suits much better to gravel Salt but we also use carmenere and Malbec i would say that carmine is Probably the one that we use the less Even though some people are replanting Those great varieties uh because with The global warming and the change of
Climate Maybe we could obtain much better Results with the carminer and the malbec That we used to do 50 years ago so That’s something that is In people’s minds at the moment If we keep talking about the Specificities of bordeaux and and switch Slides Um just to answer the question about the The new uh varieties of pro approved Actually they are approved because they Are already planted What happened is that in uh 2014 the civ So our Wine concealed um Offered to or started an experimentation So There’s about a hundred growers that Were volunteered to um Keep some of their plots to experiment Those gravities so they’ve been planted For Almost six years now and now that they Are starting to produce Grapes and And make you know interesting style of Wise Uh we recently accepted those new grape Varieties in the aoc bordeaux and Bordeaux superior so nowadays the Hundred wine growers that are involved In this experimentation are able to use Those
Experimental varieties in their blend um But the maximum would be five percent of The final glance so that’s a about that Your um your question so of course it’s Already a load only for the people who Are involved in this experimentation Because at some stage of course those People are volunteer And they are working all year long on Their plots and of course At some stage you have to enable them To make some wine with those grapes so It is already the case For uh So there are Five different grape varieties or six Different gray varieties four red and Two whites i guess you already know the Name but i can answer later the question If you want to know more about those Grapes Let’s talk about the the red ones um and So where do we produce red wines of Course pretty much all over the the Bordeaux vineyard area because it’s A large percentage of our production Mostly in eoc’s bordeaux and bordeaux Superior so it’s about 51 percent of the Production of red wines Um Then the Medoc And graviosis of course are really Focused uh on red wines even though you
Could find some dry white in the graph And per second on your appellation it Represents just a very small proportion Um Then About the coat the border represent About 14 percent of their projection Some of the coat also produced a little Bit of dry white And a little bit of sweet white but it’s Going to be For another webinar and Of course sentiment palmhole franca Group so the 10 appellation in the Liberni are only for houston red wine so They produce 13 percent Of red wines and they are only allowed To produce red wines Um Then to talk about um the specificities Of the The bordeaux vineyard about res and how Men and women are involved um maybe we Can switch slides And um And just to of course it’s important to Understand about the the terroir Uh we tried to have Minimal interventions in the vineyard Basically The notion of terroir is something that Works if you consider that the nature is Able to give anything The vine and the grapes would need to
Mature properly So i Consider that the growers are just there To You know look after the vineyard but not To change the vineyard and not to change The nature of the therma we’re just There to help the wine to The vine to grow properly produced Properly we protect it it’s like you Know parents for their child You’re not there to oblige them to go One way you’re just there to guide them And educate them so that’s what we try To do with the vineyard just to You know Let it grow Naturally Um As much as it could Try to make sure that it we find the Perfect terroir To Help to express the better the grape Could express So grapes would be Harvested early most of the time this Year it seems like we’re going to have a Quite early Harvest we’re talking about the 10th of September for the earliest red And we Of course try to reach different level Of ripeness even though we used to work
With only the technical ripeness we also Work a lot now with the phenolic Rightness and the aromatic ripeness From um harvest to the end of Vinification the wines are treated in Individual batches because we try to Separate each terroir each great Varieties of course just to make sure That each terroir would express its own You know components And then of course that’s thanks to the Blending that we would obtain the Complexity the elegance the harmony that We expect for our wines Of course um producers are planting Vines on cooler plots that have less Exposure to the sun in order to preserve The qualities of each terroir And especially with the global warming We are thinking a lot about maybe Adapting the way we work the vineyard to Manage more Shade more freshness Instead of thinking of Changing our gravities that’s uh what We’re trying to do at the moment So plot management is really really the Most important um because that’s where Everything starts everything’s begin And That’s if the plot management is good Then We’re pretty sure to obtain Great
That are perfect you know to make great Wines and that’s what we expect If we switch slide [Music] Then Of course we’re going to speak about the The aim we want to reach in bordeaux With our red wines Bordeaux Red you could have different style of Red wines everybody has in mind Uh bordeaux wines as ones that are meant To be aged one that would uh be With a certain style like elegant could Get some Tertiary aromas by aging uh it’s Important i think to understand that Bordeaux it’s not only based on aging You know we have so many different aoc’s We produce so many different red wines That um we work a lot to express the Fruit we try to um Shorter and be more gentle on maceration Cycles to have less Tannic extraction we tried to have A certain finest subtlety in the tanning The pumping over um Is less systematic now Some people would Work with pisjach some people would do Juan de lestage But as long as the maturity the Phenolic maturity is perfect It’s you can have very smooth pumping
Over it’s sufficient you know to have The the body we expect for border winds So we have less intervention just to Make sure that we wouldn’t have Um ones that are going to be too harsh To astringent in mouth Then of course there’s a lot of Innovation in alternative uh aging Vessel people using stainless steel it’s Well the style is still really developed In bordeaux in the 80s But lots of people are going back to use Concrete tanks which was you know Even before the stainless steel but lots Of people are switching now they’re Stainless steel against concrete tanks Even though they have a more modern Shape let’s say Um The the amphoras their terracottas are Very um trendy at the moment as well and The food are coming back you know the Oak food are coming back as well just Because we’ve noticed that the shape Of the tank more than just the The material because the material is Important in terms of Temperature and how we manage to control The temperature but the shape of the Tank is also very important for all the Convection movement For the The electromagnetic You know the electronics um
Or electrons i don’t know how you say in English properly but All the Electromagnetic waves in the tank are Important you know to remove the leaves To give some smoothness some roundness To the wine so that’s something that we Are working a lot and also because we Know that some Materials are very interesting uh to Help To have a little bit of micro Oxygenation Natural Micro oxygenation which is really really Important either to stabilize the color Uh and help the the anthocyanins to bond With the tennis so that’s something very Important and it helps to have ones that Are much smoother Rounder even though they are Full bodied and powerful The the tannin and the balance would be Much better with this kind of containers Can we just switch maybe to this Following slide Of course um When we speak about you know technique In the in the cellar it’s also to Understand what we’re having in our Glass And so Um A growing number of bordeaux properties
Um offer now vegan wines or sulfite free Options as well uh something very trendy I wouldn’t say that it’s something that Is getting like a standard in bordeaux But lots of um growers would have a a Specific batch that they work this way In their ranch so they would have maybe Their first growth which is the one that They promote as the aging one they have Their their second growth with um a more Fruity style uh easier accesses to to it And maybe then they have a either a Vegan or a certified free a wine just to Enlarge their range and make sure that They would reach also different Consumers Uh of course those one would pair with Today’s gastronomy preferences uh we eat Lighter like even earth french you know We we are known to have a an hour and a Half break For lunch it’s not the case anymore like Most of the time like anyone else we Have just 30 minutes we don’t want to Have um heavy reds uh with a such a Short lunch so we also need fresh old Style of wine to this kind of lunch time Or lunch break And of course We also have tried to have lighter Lunches so more vegetarian or Lighter weight dishes in general so That’s something that we would Appreciate to have fresher or
Fruitier style of wine Borrow red as well For lunch for example of course There’s many many changes also in the Appearance of our bottles It’s quite difficult to be honest Because most of the markets for water Wines they want the very traditional Bottle shaped bottle they want Square or rectangular Labels they want the chateau on it But like fully tends to change and We have More and more colorful Labels we have Uh sometimes some bottles that change Shape with uh coming from other part of France or coming from Uh with an old style of bottle so lots Of Things are changing I would say it’s not that the growers Didn’t want to do this kind of change Before it’s just probably because the Market wasn’t ready for it and i’m Pretty sure that nowadays the market is Ready for it and that’s why we have Noticed so many changes in the in the Marketing and in the the labeling of our Bottles of photo rates So if you uh of course have to summarize What we want you to Uh to memorize about these border raids Uh is that
We are very very involved in um Environmentally friendly uh methods We are uh very conscious of the Difference on the different style of res That are expected by the market at the Moment And the large the range of border reds Is huge because we have many different Ascs different prices level as well And um i would say that there’s a Red for each taste you know um and i Think that’s uh definitely something Important so i’ve told you pretty much Everything i wanted of course If you have some question i’ll be very Happy to Answer your question cara So sabine we have a lot of questions oh Great A lot of questions Though i’m not sure we’re going to be Able to get through all of them but we Will start off so What is the percentage split of right Bank versus left bank of red of red Production Well uh Actually i don’t have the key the data But well um Well 13 is the red production in Centimeters Then the board the code de bordeaux it’s Uh regarding that it’s blaico de Bordeaux
Castillo de golo franco de bordeaux i Would say that about two thirds of the Coats are located on the right bank as Well So i would say that um It’s probably something like uh even Though the medic is large you know and And all the the middle calculations of The eight meter calculation only produce Red so it is still a a quite significant Percentage of redwines i would say that Uh there’s probably About one third of the production on the Left bank great thank you Um and we’ve got a question from ken Asking are the higher average Temperatures causing changes in the Flavor of the grapes Not really well actually even though We’ve noticed a little bit of change in The average temperature of course it has Changed like within the last 20 years We’ve noticed like about 0.5 degrees More than that it was Um It’s just a matter on How when we peak so it’s just not just a Matter of you know the weather changing It also depends on when we decide the Grape would be mature so if we want to Keep the freshness and the elegance of Our merlot we know how to do it like we Just have to pick um i like this story
Like you know when i finished my studies In 2004 in analogy um my You know famous teachers i had had the Mr glory mr dubois at school i was quite Lucky to meet those wonderful people and They teach us that the maturity was 110 Days after the flowering season Let’s say that within the last 20 years We’ve probably picked 120 Or 125 days after the fluorescent so let’s Say that if we’re going back to what the The engine Um Teach us maybe we’re going to be closer To what we expect from a proper mellow In bordeaux so that’s i think the key And that’s why we are more focusing on How to manage the canopy manage the Freshness to make sure that it wouldn’t Change the typicity of our grapes yeah No it’s really important Um and we are very tight on time so i’m Going to give you about 20 or 30 seconds To answer this last question i’m sorry If you haven’t had your question read Out we have a lot of them um so what are The new experimental grape varieties Well uh it’s the I think you you better see them written Actually because it’s the video It’s
Noah It’s uh National Um The I forgot the other ones um You’ll find them on the internet and for Sure it’s going to be much easier for You if you can read them because their Names are just horrible And they’re they are not so well known Apart from the turigan national that you All know the other one they are very Ancient gravity so you better read them Okay fantastic well thank you so much Sabine that’s been really really Insightful i’m impressed at how much you Managed to fit into quite a short Session um so there’s lots for people to Think about and i hope everyone’s going To go away and open a nice bottle of red So thank you also to the civb without Whom this would not have been Possible at all thank you to everyone Who has attended today And just to remind you that this session Will be made available on our wset Events hub which is on youtube so you Can find a whole host of different Videos there on different topics Different great varieties different Regions it’s a really good um source of Information so please do have a look at That if you’ve enjoyed this today
Um and also so this is the first of a Series of three webinars that we’re Doing on bordeaux so next week at the Same time we will be looking at the White wines of bordeaux and then on the 26th of january we’re going to be Looking at cremel and rose wines so Please join us again for that If you would like to know more about the Wset qualifications please visit our Where to study Page which is at wsetglobal.com Thank you so much everyone and have a Great evening thank you cara Bye-bye