Wine Treasures in the Castle: Bordeaux Wine

Author: Lin Yushen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Perhaps because of its fame and accessibility, Bordeaux is one of the first wines many people encounter. Just like my own journey into wine, Bordeaux has accompanied me through many times filled with confusion and passion. However, once curiosity about wine is sparked, it often leads people to leave Bordeaux, their first wine love, and rush into a more novel and ever-changing world of wine. But this detachment from Bordeaux is often constructive. At least, in the process of leaving, I discovered the unique and irreplaceable qualities of Bordeaux. Before encountering the rich and thick Cabernet Sauvignon wines of Napa Valley, California, and South Australia, I never knew how refined and elegant the red wines of Bordeaux’s Médoc region truly were. Without the recent popularity of Merlot, it would have been difficult to appreciate the importance of Cabernet Franc in the blends of Bordeaux’s right bank. Without tasting the intensely sweet and tart ratio of German Riesling’s Trockenbeerenauslese, I might never have come to love the lavish and complex sweetness of Sauternes’ noble dessert wines. Through countless such experiences, Bordeaux has continuously revealed new meanings to me, and I’ve come to realize how versatile Bordeaux truly is, worthy of repeated exploration.
Of course, as I’ve grown older, a more mature perspective has allowed me to appreciate the classical spirit of Bordeaux red wines: balanced, proportionate, like Greek and Roman temples. If Bordeaux has a style, it should not be overly romantic. Bordeaux values grandeur and scale; lyrical, small-scale works are not considered strengths. Such wines are majestic and elegant, but as the French say of the people of Bordeaux, proud, aloof, and unemotional. Perhaps it is this sense of distance that makes Bordeaux a wine that ages well, capable of racing against time forever.
Before the harvest season of 2000, I moved to Margaux, a village near Bordeaux, to begin a seven-month interview project. This was my ninth visit to Bordeaux, the capital of the wine world, but it was the only time I could walk through the castle, which looked like a stage set, and delve into the backstage of Bordeaux, where I could rediscover the styles of various Bordeaux chateau wineries and experience the essence and greatness of Bordeaux wine. I found that amid the changing tides of the times, the Bordeaux wine industry is in a state of unease and turmoil. While Bordeaux remains one of the most important wine regions in the world, the era when it exclusively dominated top-tier wines has long passed, and it is no longer the model that emerging regions strive to emulate. Faced with the challenges and competition from the ever-expanding elite wine regions globally, the stubbornly conservative Bordeaux chateau wineries have, with astonishing speed, sparked a trend of innovation and change. Traditional terroir-driven wines and international-style wines eager to sever Bordeaux’s ties are clashing fiercely on both banks of the Gironde. However, I prefer to believe that amid the chaos and disorder, tradition and modernity will intertwine and collide to forge a new, anticipated spirit of Bordeaux for the new era.