The Bordeaux wine region is situated on the Atlantic coast of south-western France. Flowing right through the core of the region are the Gironde Estuary and its two major rivers, the Dordogne and the Garonne. Nearly all of the region’s finest wine estates call the areas close to the Gironde or one of its tributaries home. France’s fourth largest city, the city of Bordeaux, is located in the heart of the region.

The region of Bordeaux is fairly large, with more than 250,000 acres of vineyards. Per annum, the region produces 660 million bottles of wine, or about 10 percent of France’s total production. Due to the substantial size of the region, climate and soil conditions vary across different areas. Bordeaux is renowned for its four major wine producing districts, each with its own unique terroir, as well as several minor districts.

The four major districts are:

Haut-Médoc (oh meh dock), the most important district, located on the southern portions of the Médoc peninsula, occupying the Gironde’s western bank.

Graves/Pessac-Léognan (grahv/peh sack lay oh nyahn), situated south of the Médoc, and south of and around the city of Bordeaux

St.-Emilion (sant em eel yon), east of the city of Bordeaux

Pomerol (pohm eh roll), east of the city of Bordeaux

Wines with the Haut-Médoc, St.-Emilion, or Pomerol appella¬tions are all red; whilst Graves or Pessac-Léognan wines may be either red or white.

Owing to particular similarities between the wines, as well as for historical reasons, these four major districts for red Bordeaux are usually grouped together into two entities, commonly referred to as the Left Bank and the Right Bank of Bordeaux.

The Left Bank comprises of The Médoc peninsula and Graves/Pessac-Léognan, because they lie on the left or western side of the Gironde and Garonne as they flow to the sea. St.-Emilion and Pomerol make up the Right Bank districts.

Wines from these four districts represent the crème de la crème of red Bordeaux in terms of quality.