Anyone who’s studied for a WSET award in wine (and no doubt many other wine qualifications as well) will have been taught that Left-Bank Bordeaux reds are predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, while Right-Bank reds are Merlot-dominant. There’s also a lot of talk about oak barrels. And all of this holds broadly true. Until it doesn’t.
Of course, the reality in Bordeaux is a lot more nuanced than that. (You’ll find the same with almost everything you’ve learned about wine. Like language, it’s full of exceptions.) The famous appellations, like Saint-Emilion or Pauillac, are largely sticking to the rules. But the rest of Bordeaux – including all the little sub-regions you’ve never heard of – are breaking them left and right.
I’ve spent the past month staying in a tiny hamlet just down the road from Blaye, on the right bank of the Gironde estuary. Our little house is called Gîte du Malbec – fittingly, it turns out. The majority of wines around here are from the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Bourg appellations (Bourg being about 20 minutes from Blaye by car) – and it’s anyone’s guess where the boundaries of the Blaye and Bourg appellations start and stop.
Almost every winemaker I spoke with alluded to the “wine crisis” besetting Bordeaux at the moment – and many wine writers here on Substack have outlined what’s caused that crisis in more detail. A combination of climate change, lower wine consumption (in France and elsewhere) plus evolving consumer tastes have led to vineyards being ripped out or simply abandoned. The Deputy Mayor of Bourg, who also gives winery tours at Château Monconseil-Gazin (because: France!) gestured at the fields running to seed in front of the winery: “these all used to be planted with vines,” she lamented.
But what to do about this sorry state of affairs? While some vignerons have shut up shop completely, there still seems to be a château around every corner. And they’re all looking for ways to survive the crisis. The younger winemakers I met were keen to try different grapes, techniques and even labels to attract a new audience. Far from the inward-looking, traditional French vignerons I recalled from 20 years ago, people in the Bordeaux trade are now actively looking to other wine regions (both in France and abroad) for inspiration.
After a few winery visits, I quickly noticed two trends emerging: the use of amphora for fermentation and maturation (in place of oak barrels) and the planting of Malbec grapes. Let’s look at what’s driving these choices.
Move over Merlot: it’s all about Malbec
Today’s global wine drinkers probably associate Malbec with Argentina, where it’s become synonymous with regions like Mendoza for producing ripe, supple reds. However, long before it became Argentina’s flagship grape, Malbec came from France. In fact, it’s been cultivated since at least the Middle Ages in southwest France, where it used to be known as “Côt”. It’s more closely associated with Cahors (where it produces powerful, tannic reds) though it was historically permitted in Bordeaux blends as well. From the 1950s onwards, however, Malbec was progressively sidelined in Bordeaux, in favour of Merlot and Cab Sav.
That is, until now. Here in the Blaye and Bourg appellations, Malbec seems to be staging a comeback. And while it’s often used in blends, it’s increasingly the star of the show – you’ll even see the old name of Côt being used occasionally. As a grape, it’s thick-skinned and well-adapted to heat and aridity, making it suitable for the changing climate around Bordeaux. As Guillaume from Château Roland la Garde explained: “A few years ago we started replacing Merlot vines with Malbec vines. We went from around 80% Merlot in 2015 to only 60% today. So our Malbec vines are still young, but they’re starting to fulfil their potential when well-managed.”
I had a particular style of wine in my head when I thought of Malbec, but again that assumption was challenged. “We’re able to make wines in very contrasting styles,” says Guillaume. “Malbec has the potential for great fruitiness and freshness on the one hand, and highly concentrated, complex wines on the other. We’re also able to keep the alcohol levels down to a more reasonable 14% by using Malbec in blends.”
Amphorae are the new oak
While climate change might be driving decisions in the vineyard, changing consumer tastes are as much of a factor in the cellar. Bordeaux reds have relied on barriques (small French oak barrels) for centuries – initially for transportation and storage, but later to add flavour and soften tannins. More recently, new oak has been used more sparingly and barrels have become larger, restraining their effect to varying extent. But today’s wine drinkers increasingly want to taste the grape and the terroir – not the barrel it’s been aged in.
Hence why many of the wineries around Blaye and Bourg are experimenting with amphorae: large clay vessels that allow micro-oxygenation of the wine, while not imparting any oak flavours. And when I say “experimenting”, that perhaps doesn’t capture the scale or longevity of their expertise. I noticed that some of the region’s most exciting wineries were selling essentially two product lines: A “traditional” range, with the grape varieties you’d expect, aged in oak, and labelled in the classic style. And a “modern” range, with labels to match – these might include amphora ageing, orange wines, atypical grape varieties or anything else that you wouldn’t associate with classic Bordeaux.
Guillaume explains the thinking behind the amphorae, which they’re currently using for five of Château Roland la Garde’s wines: “After a bit of trial and error, in 2016 we started buying TAVA amphorae from Italy. They’re big, with a rounded shape, which allows for more volume and movement of the wine inside them. Compared with wooden barrels, the wine has a certain purity of fruit and terroir – I’d replace them all if they weren’t so expensive!” (For reference, the TAVA amphora cost over €4,000 each, although they should last a decade or two.)
Having tasted many of the wines at Château Roland la Garde, and several other wineries in the same region that are embracing new (or rather old) grapes and techniques, I dearly hope that it’s enough to see them through the current crisis. It’s heartbreaking to see abandoned vineyards, but equally heartening to see passionate winemakers doing their level best to overcome adversity.
Five wines from Blaye and Bourg that subverted my expectations of Bordeaux
Château Piron la Romaine 2019, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
Château Monconseil-Gazin actually rents the vines from Piron la Romaine (which was apparently inherited by someone who didn’t want to make wines themselves) to create this blend of 20% Malbec and 80% Merlot. It’s in a completely different style to Château Monconseil-Gazin’s more classic wines: ripe black fruits and smoky tannins.
Château Bellevue Amphorae 2016, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
Made by the Chéty family (Château Mercier), this Merlot-led blend from the commune of Plassac spends 13 months in clay amphorae being “hand-turned”. That means the lees are kept in suspension, rather than being stirred. The bottle we opened was ten years old, lively but velvety, mineral but with Christmas pudding fruits.
L’Atypic, Château Peybonhomme-les-Tours 2023, Vin de France
“Atypical” because it’s a blend of 50% Malbec and 50% Cabernet Franc from biodynamic winery Château Peybonhomme-les-Tours. The two grapes are co-fermented (as opposed to separately fermented and only blended at the end) using native yeasts. The wine is as fruity and fresh as it is deep and powerful: a contradiction in a glass.
Jaja d’Or, Château Roland la Garde 2023, Vin de France
This one is 100% Malbec, and was the first “new-style” cuvee made by Château Roland la Garde a few years back. Their “Tradition” entry-level wine was getting too heavy, so they were looking for ways to create a lighter style of red wine. In 2020, they cut the maceration time to five days, finishing the fermentation with the juice alone, leaving the wine for six months in amphorae and bottling it unfiltered. Their 2023 edition is a brilliant purple, with corresponding fresh blueberry flavours. Guillaume told us that “jaja” in French is synonymous with something easy drinking and not fancy – like glouglou or slurpwijn.
Blouge, Château Roland la Garde 2025, Vin de France
Blouge is France’s answer to Spanish clarete or Portuguese palhete: a co-fermentation of red and white grapes, to create something super-fresh and gluggable (best served chilled). This is the first year that Château Roland la Garde has made a blouge, and I’d say it’s a roaring success: 50% Merlot and 50% Sauvignon Blanc, co-macerated for 48 hours, fermented and then aged for a couple of months in amphorae. Take it to a barbecue or a summer garden party: it’s a killer combination of red fruit and floral lift.
Having become perhaps over-familiar with the boisterous St Emilion reds it’s been interesting to explore the different styles from just up the road. Thanks for the wine guiding over the last month.
I visited Roland la Garde in 2016 apparently right before they got the Tava vessels. At that time they were using smaller clay vessels along with the barriques.