Ep. 942 Map 3 Bordeaux Right Bank | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This episode is brought to you by Vinitally International Academy, announcing the twenty fourth of our Italian wine Ambassador courses to be held in London, Austria, and Hong Kong from the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Are you up for the challenge of this demanding course? Do you want to be the next Italian wine Ambassador? Learn more and apply now at viniti international dot com. Welcome to jumbo shrimp wine study maps. We have specially created this free content for all our listeners who are studying for wine exams. This has been a journey of development since Stevie Kim discovered Rosie Baker's hand drawn maps on Instagram through two years of work by our in house editorial and graphics team, and now the maps are available to purchase in beta form while they undergo the final briefing and editing by our expert advisory board. It's a three layered project because we know everyone learns differently. We now offer the complete box set of thirty nine maps, this series of podcasts with the maps narrated by our crack team of wine educators. And finally, the study guide book, which will be published later this year. Our map project is in no way a substitute for the material set out by other educational organizations. But we hope all the wine students out there will find our map project, a new exciting and useful tool for learning. For more information and to buy the maps, please visit our website at mama jumbo shrimp dot com. The right bank of Bordeaux and Montreal Demur map. In the last couple of episodes, we've been looking broadly at Bordeaux and then focusing on the left bank Bordeaux where we tend to see cabernet sauvignon dominated wines. We also took a little bit of a dive into the Appelastion system there. In this podcast, we're going to focus on the right bank Bordeaux wines, which are the red wines that are dominated by Merlo rather than Cabane in the blend, we're also going to look at entre de meux. Let's start by looking at the Appalachian system here because it is different to that that we find in the left bank. Here, the Appalachian system is based upon Grand Cruise. And the shadows can be ranked in the Centameleon classification. Now the Centameleon classification differs from the classification in the Medock because it is a classification that is updated roughly every ten years. And within this, shadows can be promoted or demoted up and down the Appalachian Grand Crew pyramid. For example, taking Grand Crew, Grand Crew class a premier Grand Crew class B or premier Grand Crew class A. This is quite an exciting system because of this constant updating and reclassification, and it does tend to mean that it's slightly more focused on quality because each of the wines is tasted blind and then classified. So speaking of Santemilian, this Appleassian on the right bank border, let's take a little look in more detail about what makes Santemilian so special. It's merlot dominated here because it tends to be too cool for cabernet sauvignon to ripen successfully. Now you do see cabernet sauvignon in the blend, but you will also see cabernet franc, which is a little bit easier to ripen in this area. One of the reasons that we see a high dominance of merlot is the soils here. We have a real mix with small pockets of gravel where you tend to find the small plantings of cabernet sauvignon. But also then with clay limestone escarpments and sandy soils on the plains. So these are soils that are a lot cooler. Take longer to warm up a lot more dense, particularly when you come to the clay. And therefore harder to keep warm, so much more suited to the easier ripening grapes of merlot. As a result, the wines from Santameleon in general tend to only have medium to high tannins. Medium to high acidity and both red berry and black berry flavors. Often taking notes of tobacco and cedar and tend to be softer and more fruity than the wines of the left bank. Also classically ready for drinking younger. So less aging needed here to integrate the wines. Are you enjoying this podcast. Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp for fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local food, and taking in the scenery. Now, back to the show. Nearby to the Afelastion of Santemilian, we have Pomerol. This is an area that is really well known for rich spicy, blackberry, fruited wines of great quarcter. They're full bodied, right, and made in relatively limited quantities. There's lots of small plots of land here. So it's not large vineyards. There's also lots of high production costs. It's more difficult here. Also around this region, you have smaller appallations of the Blier côte de bordeaux, Frank côte de bordeaux, and castillon côte de bordeaux. So these cote de Bordeaux wines tend to be dominated by merlot, fruitier, much more similar to a Bordeaux superior, than, for example, a pomerole or a centimedium. Across the Apelacian, so the other side of Andre de Maeuron, we have also Calia, which is another coat de bordeaux in a similar style. It's just across the river. All of these coat de bordeaux wines, I find offer great value for money with merlot based blends. Really a little bit more intensity and richness than Bordeaux superior Bordeaux Appelacium, but without the price tag of the other Bordeaux wines. Finally, let's discuss entree demerneur. This is an Apelacium, which is literally between the seas. And sits between the two rivers of the garage and doe doeing in this kind of central area where the Geron estuary splits. Now here, it's really well known for white wines. Because the red wines from this area can only be labeled with the Apolacian name of Bordeaux Apolacium. If you see entre de Merr wines, these are gonna be dry wines from sauvignon blanc And occasionally some semillon, fresh, fruity, and light. Finally, before we wrap up, just a couple of notes on key things to be considering when we talk about the right bank. Again, really, this focus on soil type here and its impact on grapes what you can grow and their ability to ripen. You may well get questions about style for the comparison between a Santemilian or Pomerole wine and those of the communes of the left bank. So Margo or Poyak, for example, and really you're trying to think here about soil impact, percentage of particular grapes in the blend, etcetera. Common questions often include a picture of a label from either a right bank or left bank, Apolasion, and the need to discuss the style of the wine using a systematic approach to tasting note. So using the correct terminology of WSET. And then a discussion about why there is this style. So you could be talking about the natural factors of soils, which lead to grape choices. You could then be talking about grape choices and the connection to winemaking, so use of new oak or less use of oak depending on the grape varieties. Etcetera. Join me next time, other Appellations in Southwest France. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast, brought to you by Vinitally Academy, home of the gold standard of Italian wine education. Do you want to be the next Ambassador? Apply online at benitely international dot com. For courses in London, Austria, and Hong Kong, the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth of July. Remember to subscribe and like Italian wine podcast and catch us on sound flat, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find our entire back catalog of episodes at Italian wine podcast dot com. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. This is a labor of love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. Of course, this takes time and effort not to mention the cost of equipment, production, and editing. We would be grateful for your donations, suggestions, requests, and ideas. For more information on how to get in touch, go to Italianwine podcast dot com.