Personally, I have tasted some great wines from this region. Visiting the region two years ago was amazing and we cannot wait to return. There are so many great wines here not available in the US.
The Haut-Medoc region in France is the Appellation d'Orgine Controlee or AOC for wine in the Bordeaux wine region in southwestern France. It is located on the left bank of the Gironde estuary.
The Dutch settlers drained the region in the 1700s. Large beautiful chateaus were built along the Gironde river that are still there today. The region was originally salt marshes mostly used for grazing animals rather than viticulture. The British market was emerging and the Dutch wanted to offer the British alternative wines. Graves and the Portuguese regions dominated the British market.
The region allows Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Carmenere, and a small amount of Malbec grape varieties to grow here. Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant grape in this region.
The soil in this region consist of mostly gravel, chalk and clay. There are just shy of 400 vineyards in this region of France. You will notice on the map above, there are several sub regions of Medoc that include Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, Sain-Julien, Pauillac, and Saint Estephe. These areas were split off in 1936 and created their own AOC
You must put this region on your travel list.
