Bordeaux Wine Essay

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Bordeaux wine In Bordeaux almost all wines are blended wines. Only a few producers make single-variety wines, though the lack of varietal on labels makes that fact almost redundant. The typical blend consists of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (and/or Cabernet Franc) with small additions of Petit Verdot and Malbec. Merlot is favored on the right bank and Cabernet on the left, though Merlot has been increasing on the left bank over the last decade or two. Today winemaking in Bordeaux is a highly controlled process with widespread use of stainless steel vats for fermentation, cooling apparatus and a high degree of hygienic discipline. In 1951 chaptalization became legal (it had likely taken place illegally prior to 1951). The use of chaptalization is common in Bordeaux except in the warmest of vintages and especially on the left bank where Cabernet Sauvignon dominates and ripens later than Merlot. Today, sorting and destemming are common techniques in Bordeaux and have been for some time. Great lengths are made to advance technology that improves these processes. Technology has also impacted on the crushing on the grapes. From ancient times this process was done by treading the grapes by foot, later with machines that were cheaper and safer, but less gentle with the grapes where breaking the pips was a problem, as they release unwanted tannins into the must. Today some châteaux such as Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte simply don't crush the grapes and let the fermentation begin within each grape (a process widely used in the Beaujolais region). After the crushing a number of wineries have stopped using pumps and instead raise the grapes by conveyor belt. This is a more gentle process as it uses gravity to move the grapes rather than a pumping system. The fermentation usually takes place in stainless steel vats—a technique introduced in the 1960s (lined
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