When you plant one you must think in advance to your children and grandchildren. It takes about 3 years to produce the first grapes, about 5 years to make the first wine with them. The wine must then age between 5 to 10 years. This timeframe is indeed in the mind of every wine maker. The wine you make comes from the grapes which were planted by your parents and the ones you plant will be used by your children to make their own wine. Wine making is truly a way of life and part of an art de vivre.

You will find that the wines there are now superb and quite often, you will be surprised in tasting them. You may even try them in a blind-tasting against some more prestigious names. Then you will be still more surprised in looking at the price tag. They are not expensive at all and are indeed a really good value for your money. You will find most of them between $5 to 20 street price. Don't hesitate to try several ones, as they can be truly different from one producer to the other, from one appellation to the other, due to the differences between the soils, the micro-climates, the wine making uses. No doubt you will find some which will suit your palate and taste.

Just don't forget that the French wines in general and particularly the Bordeaux wines are almost always blends of wines issued from different grape varieties. Then, they are much more complex in every way, smell, color, taste,… than the mono-variety wines.

If you can't come to Bordeaux, which is a very lovely city to visit, you can still taste these wines in the States, as many of them are now widely available.

Premières Côtes de Bordeaux

Premières Côtes de Bordeaux

This appellation was created on July 31st, 1937. The area is a long and narrow band of land (60 km by 5) along the right bank of the Garonne river. Facing South and East, the vineyards slopes are ideally exposed to the sun's rays and benefit from the climatic influence of the river.

The soils are mostly clay-limestone with gravels on the tops of the hills. In 1999, the 500 winegrowers (300 independents and 200 in two cooperative cellars) of the appellation produced 180,000 hectoliters on the 3,000 hectares of Premières Côtes de Bordeaux.

The grape varieties found there are the traditional Bordeaux ones : Merlot (55%) for the roundness, Cabernet Sauvignon (25%) with its spicy aromas and tannins, Cabernet Franc (15%) and its subtle nose, Malbec (5%) to add a note of originality, fruit and lightness.

When young the wines can be drunk with delicatessen or grilled meats. They are much better after aging, at 5 to 10 years and they can wait much more. They will then offer a perfect pairing with meats with sauce or game.

Touring the area from Bordeaux to Langon along the Garonne river is a pure pleasure and you can visit old castles, like in Langoiran or Cadillac, and Roman churches along the road.

Château de Plassan

Château de Plasson Classic Architecture

This is a superb estate in Tabanac, an exquisite village on the top of the hills over the Garonne River. It is located just in the middle of the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux appellation. They have been making wine there for a long time, and the castle was rebuilt in the late 1700s by the Clauzel family, coming back from the Caribbean after the French Revolution. It is an almost unique example of this period architecture in the Bordeaux region. It was designed in the true and pure Palladian style and hasn't changed since then. They first dug a cellar on the top of the hill, then built the noble master's house over it, and flanked it with two aisles, one for the wine making facilities, and the other for the vine culture. In 1986, Jean Brianceau bought the domain and he is now running it with his son Gilles.

Cellars of Château de Plassan with owner Jean Brianceau

The grapes are harvested both mechanically and manually, depending on the plots, de-stemmed and lightly crushed before going to stainless steel tanks for macerating and fermenting following the traditional rules, with a constant temperature control.
To age the wine, the domain has its splendid cellars above which were built 200 years ago. All the red wines are aged for 10 to 12 months in oak barrels coming from Allier or Nivernais forests.

The Château de Plassan is powerful, concentrated, with aromas of very ripe fruit, slightly spicy. It is rather round, slightly tannic when young, and very well balanced. It reaches its peak when 5 to 10 years old.

Since 1986, the wines have enjoyed much press coverage, including the Hachette and the Parker guides and have been awarded many distinctions, in France and abroad.

Château de Birot

L>R: Renée-Claire Staéhlé, Eric Gaudet, and Eric Fournier, electd President of the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux Syndicate

This is the domain of Eric Fournier, elected President of the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux Syndicate in May 2000, after having been one of the Saint-Emilion Syndicate. He bought this 28 hectares domain in 1989, located in Béguey, near Cadillac, on the hills which overlook the river. Built in the 18th century, the estate has been dedicated to wine growing for more than 200 years. Here also the motto is quality, which the Syndicate tries to promote worldwide, and the vines are worked with the utmost care and passion which Eric shares with his peers of the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux.

Premières Côtes de Bordeaux – La Closière
104-106 rue Cazeaux-Cazalet
33410 CADILLAC
Tel : 33 (0)5 57 98 19 20
Fax : 33 (0)5 57 98 19 30
e-mail: premieres-cotes@vins-bordeaux.fr

Château de Plassan – Tabanac
33550 LANGOIRAN
Tel : 33 (0)5 56 72 53 16
Fax : 33 (0)5 56 81 16 72
Visit by appointment only.

Château de Birot
33410 BEGUEY
Tel : 33 (0)5 56 62 68 16
Fax : 33 (0)5 56 62 68 16