Bordeaux - Wine And History

Bordeaux is a city in South-West France, capital of the Aquitaine region and the department of Gironde. It's crossed by the River Garonne, and it's the place where you'll meet the Bordelais!

Of historical interest is the fact that Bordeaux actually belonged to the English from the 12th century and for the following three hundred years, due to the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former wife of the King of France. During the following years, the city became increasingly prosperous due its emerging commerce with England. Its second burst of prosperity came in the 17th century due to the development of its port for international trade.

Being located on a line dividing northern and southern France, climatically Bordeaux is a bit of a crossover point. The city also exudes a sort of composure or elegance, arising from its previous English domination. Bordeaux is clearly a professional town with regular trade around the world, particularly the ports of Holland. The architecture itself highlights this with its regular classical style and numerous castles made of a typical white stone.

But Bordeaux also lives to a Latin rhythm, due to its proximity to Spain... and here it shows its opposite character, one of being a glutton for festivities.

Returning to the weather, the climate of Bordeaux is Oceanic, such that there isn't too much difference between summer and winter temperatures. This is due to the proximity to the sea. In general summers tend to be hot, but not overtly so, and the winters are normally quite mild without being too cold. The region does however succumb to its fair share of rainfall spread throughout the year, although droughts have been known to arise from time to time. However in Bordeaux, only one thing is a constant, and that's the enduring popularity of its fine wines!

The greater part of Bordeaux is situated on the left bank of the River Garonne. This comprises chiefly wide and marsh plains. There are some hilly areas, but in the main they are low. Nevertheless, they are ideal for vine growing, and here we encounter the famous Grave and Medoc varieties of wine.

On the right bank of the River Garonne, the situation is quite different, since the earth is made up almost exclusively from chalk. It's here on the right bank that many of the most famous wines in the world have their origin. Here you will find vineyards bearing the almost mythical names such as Fronsac, Pomerol and Saint Emilion. Such wines are justifiably famous around the world, and they possess price tags to prove it!

Bordeaux is the world wine capital. In the Bordeaux region, a major wine grower will produce several wines, a number of them being amongst the most prestigious in the world, designated collectively as "Vins de Bordeaux", or simply "Bordeaux". Around Bordeaux there are in fact about 14000 wine producers with an annual production of about 700 million bottles. These are both white and red wines, the latter being the origin of the Bordeaux color.

And what about the cuisine of Bordeaux? In fact Bordeaux cuisine, indeed the cuisine throughout the whole of the Gironde, is considered to be one of the finest in France, a veritable way of life. Here the visitor will have his senses delighted by names of dishes such as "palombe" (wood pigeon, in English), "cepes de Bordeaux" (a variety of mushroom), "sauce aux echalotes" (a special shallot sauce), etc. Evidently, this will need to be accompanied by the classic Bordeaux wines.

And what to say about the famous little "canele"? A cake, speciality of Bordeaux, made of soft and tender pastry, perfumed with rum and vanilla, then covered with a thick caramel crust. The Bordeaux canele was given birth to by a convent in the 16th century, with the nuns gathering flour in boat stocks to make these little cakes for the poor. They are also delicious with a white wine. However they do have a tendency to soften the next day (that is if you haven't eaten them already). However it's just necessary to put them back in the oven for a few minutes, and they'll be crusty once again!

Another unforgettable encounter in Bordeaux is with the "lamproie" (lamprey, in English), a very unusual fish. This fish possesses neither scales, nor jaws, nor bony backbone. You could compare it with a large eel. And don't forget "la sauce d'escargots" (snail sauce), known jokingly as the "Bordeaux truffle", which includes chocolate, grape and alcohol. Not to mention the famous Tome d'Aquitaine, a goat's cheese refined with a Sauterne wine, and the delicious "foie gras".

So I hope you spend a wonderful and delicious time in and around Bordeaux, meeting the many colourful Bordelais characters!