Discovery / Wines & Blends / Bordeaux Blends
Wines & Blends · Follow your curiosity
Bordeaux Blends
A family name, a place, and a cellar conversation: Bordeaux brings different grapes together without giving every bottle the same recipe.
A little acquaintance, at a glance.
- Wine family
- Red and white Bordeaux
- Grape story
- Usually a blend
- Place
- Bordeaux, France
- Cellar question
- Which lots belong together?
What does the name tell us?
Bordeaux is a protected place of origin, not a grape variety. Its appellations produce a range of wines, from dry reds and whites to sweet wines. “Bordeaux-style blend” on a wine from elsewhere describes an inspiration; it does not make that bottle a wine from Bordeaux.
What goes into the blend?
| Wine | Principal grapes | Possible companions |
|---|---|---|
| Red Bordeaux | Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc | Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carménère, depending on the appellation and wine. |
| White Bordeaux | Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc | Muscadelle and, in some appellations, other authorised white grapes. |
These are building blocks, not compulsory equal shares. The familiar Left Bank tendency towards Cabernet Sauvignon and Right Bank tendency towards Merlot are useful starting points, with plenty of estate and vintage variation. Some Bordeaux wines are made from one grape.
Inside the cellar
Keep the choices open
Parcels and grapes can be fermented separately. The team can then judge each lot before choosing the final combination.
Taste, measure, revisit
Bench trials explore fruit, freshness, tannin and texture. A small addition can change how the whole wine feels.
Let the vintage speak
Blending may take place before or after separate maturation. Oak, steel and other vessels are choices, rather than a universal Bordeaux formula.
The vineyard percentages of a region are not the percentages in your bottle. For an exact blend, find the producer’s technical sheet for that wine and vintage.
A small Cork Dork discovery
Give your curiosity a little room.
Compare two Bordeaux reds whose producers disclose the blend. Note which grape leads, then describe freshness, grip and fruit in your own words. Do the differences follow your expectations?
Your observations, your words. Small pours welcome.
A few questions worth uncorking.
Is every Bordeaux a three-grape blend?
No. The grapes and proportions vary, and single-grape examples exist.
Does a Bordeaux-style wine have to come from France?
The style description is used internationally. The Bordeaux appellation itself refers to wines from the defined French region.
A Washington example: the blend takes its own path.
Avennia’s 2022 Estate Vineyard Red Wine from Red Mountain combines 42% Cabernet Franc, 38% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. These grapes connect with the Bordeaux family of varieties; this is a Washington wine, not a Bordeaux appellation wine. Our producer profile records its vintage-specific fermentation and oak details.
Where shall we wander next?
Explore Bordeaux, the region →Meet Merlot →Meet Cabernet Sauvignon →Meet Cabernet Franc →Blending Wine →Wine Barrels & Sizes →Behind this introduction
Editorial sources checked 23 October 2026. Composition, production rules and cellar practices can vary by appellation, producer and vintage. The producer’s notes are the place to check a particular bottle.
Meet two more Bordeaux ingredients.
Sémillon opens the dry and sweet white-wine connection; Petit Verdot introduces a dark, structured red blending grape. Their profiles explain the ingredients, while this entry follows the finished wine.