1. Chateau Lafite Rothschild (Chateau Lafite)
Chateau Lafite Rothschild is the most famous winery and top wine in Bordeaux and the most famous winery in the world. As early as the early 18th century, Chateau Lafite was famous throughout Europe. In the first officially recognized classification in the history of Bordeaux in 1855, Chateau Lafite ranked first in the first category. Its status has not changed to this day. Lafite has always been at the top of the most collectible wines.
Wine tasting: classic blackcurrant and pencil lead aroma, pencil lead, cedar, cedar wood aroma and mineral gas; pure and fragrant, rich in layers, elegant and perfect, delicate and strong tannins, aging potential Very long; the aftertaste with unique aroma lasts for a long time, and the aroma lingers for a long time, making it unique among top wines.
Winemaking: Grapes are harvested entirely in traditional and classic ways. Grapes are picked manually and picked on transport vehicles in the vineyard. The grapes are then transported to the winery, poured directly into a large tank at the entrance, destemmed and crushed, and then put into the fermentation tank. There is no cold soaking of the skin before fermentation. The fermentation basically proceeds naturally, and human intervention is minimized as much as possible. The oak barrels are 100% new oak barrels. The characteristic of Chateau Lafite is that it makes all its own oak barrels, and the oak barrels are roasted to a moderate degree, so the Lafite wine does not have a strong smoked flavor. Oak barrel aging is generally 18-20 months, with slight clarification before bottling.
Vineyard: Chateau Lafite has 103 hectares of vineyards, located in the best location in Pauillac Village. The gravel layer of the soil in Lafite Vineyard is several meters thick, 30%-80% is sandy gravel soil, and 11%-15% is clay soil. The average age of the grapes is 30 years, and the grapes used to make the top wine come from vines that are 40 years old.
2. Chateau Latour
In French, Latour means "tower". If it is called in the 60s or 70s, Latuor is equivalent to " "Pagoda" (named because there is a tower with a long history in the winery). Don’t make fun of the old-fashioned name. In the minds of many young Bordeaux red wine drinkers, it is the king of wines among wine kings! Because Latuor's style is vigorous and uncompromising, some drinkers who originally loved spirits have to switch to red wine due to health reasons, and Latour has become their first choice. Latour Winery has also become one of the most expensive first-class wineries because of the support of many wine drinkers.
Chateau Latour controls the grape yield more strictly. In bad years, the grapes after picking must undergo strict manual screening. In this regard, it is higher than Lafayette wine. Chateau Lafite is one step ahead. The wine of Chateau Latour is very green when it is first brewed, even hard to drink, and needs to be matured in the bottle for at least 10 years. For example, vintages like 1945 and 1947 will still maintain their strength for 50 years and can continue to be stored. Chateau Latour's wines are always strong and thick, with rich black currant aromas and delicate black cherry aromas. The famous British wine connoisseur Hugh Johnson said when comparing Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour that if Lafite is a tenor, Latour is a bass, and if Lafite is a lyric poem, Latour is an epic masterpiece. .
3. Chateau Haut-Brion
As one of the most prominent and expensive red wines in France, its winery Chateau Haut-Brion is located in Bordeaux The village of Pessac in the Grave region. It is only 2 kilometers away from the city of Bordeaux. The winery covers an area of ??109 acres and is the smallest manor among the "Big Five". The red wine it produces also reflects the intellectual and gentle style of a small woman. The annual output is 12,000 to 15,000 boxes. This is also the only winery among the five famous wineries that is not in the Medoc area.
As early as 1855, Chateau Obiang was already famous. If it were missing from the ranking of first-class wineries, its authority would be questioned. The Hauptbahnhof is now owned by the Americans. The red wine also produced in the manor has the special earthy and mineral aroma belonging to the Graves area, with a strong taste and endless aftertaste. In addition to being famous for its red wine, Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc is also recognized as one of the top white tartaric acid products in Petit Bordeaux.
Obiang wine was once favored by many royal families and was called the "star wine". In order to make Obiang wine worthy of the title of "star", the winemaker paid attention to the balance of Cabernet Franc and Merlot in the wine's ingredient ratio. These wines were aged quietly in the cellar to ensure that The aroma of the wine is unique. Only wines made from grapes grown in Haut-Bihan have this character.
4. Chateau Margaux
Margaux is one of the Bordeaux red wine producing areas, but it is also the name of the winery. Being able to use the production area as the name of the winery, the tartaric acidity naturally has its own merits and has a very long history. Chateau Margaux is the designated wine for French state banquets. Mature Chateau Margux has a smoother taste and a complex aroma. If it comes in a good vintage, it will have a floral aroma of violet. If Latour is the "wine king" of the Murdoch region, then Chateau Margaux should be the "wine queen".
Drinking Margaux wine feels like dancing a tango: the steps are fast and orderly, the dancers are elegant, and the figure is long and never looks thin. The wine has a soft yet strong body, bright color, long-lasting storage, and unparalleled fragrant aroma.
5. Chateau Mouton Rothschild
"Mouton" is also called "Wudang", which is the transliteration of French Mouton. Its original meaning is "sheep", wine. The winery was originally a "sheep farm" (according to the fact that the location of the winery was originally a hillside for shepherds to graze their sheep). In 1973, France made an exception and upgraded Chateau Mouton to a first-class winery. So far, it is the only winery to receive this honor. The owner of Chateau Mouton is very business-savvy. Not only does the annual production of ordinary table wine Mouton Cadet reach millions of bottles, the chateau also invites a world-renowned artist to design the label for the "signature wine" Mouton Rothschild every year. . Because the wine label itself has considerable artistic value, even if the wine of that year does not taste good, the bottle alone is already a precious collection. It is reported that it would cost more than RMB 500,000 to collect a complete set of Mouoton wines from 1945 to the present. The characteristic of Mouton red wine is that after opening the bottle, the quality and aroma of the wine change a lot, usually with coffee and chocolate aromas.
Mouton’s wine label itself has collection value. Many people buy Mouton wines just to collect wine labels. Chateau Mouton continues this practice to this day and has become a symbol of it. Chateau Mouton Winery not only has distinctive wine labels, but its wines are also very attractive. It is characterized by rich aroma, rich throat and rich tannins. In Bordeaux, the wines produced by many well-known wineries have very stable personalities, but Mouton wine looks strange in comparison. The changes of this wine are like a meandering river, changing continuously in 90 years. Sometimes it tastes soft, sometimes it's strong and powerful.
6. Chateau Cheval Blanc
The 1947 Cheval Blanc is, in the eyes of many professional wine connoisseurs, the best wine in Bordeaux in the past 100 years! In the 1996 Saint Emilion district ranking list, Cheval Blanc was ranked as a "super premium first wine". The Cheval Blanc label is white with gold, very elegant, and very consistent with the quality of the wine. When Cheval Blanc is young, it will have a grassy taste, but when it matures, it will exude a unique floral aroma, and the wine quality is balanced and elegant.
The unique climate and soil are also important factors in the success of Chateau Cheval Blanc. The wine produced by Chateau Cheval Blanc is full-bodied, fruity and very aristocratic. Compared with wines with classic personality and the right bank of Bordeaux, the wines of Chateau Cheval Blanc taste more like those produced in the Medoc region.
7. Chateau Ausone
In the 1996 Saint Emilion winery ranking, there was only one Chateau Ausone in the same level as Chateau Cheval Blanc. Chateau Ausone is also the least known winery among the eight wineries. Because the new owner of the winery carried out major reforms in the winery in the mid-to-late 1990s, he strictly required the quality of the wine. All grapes that do not meet the specifications are used to make the second wine Second Labet, or are sold to other brewers to make low-end table wines. Therefore, in recent years, the annual output of the signature wine Ausone has been less than 2,000 cases, making it extremely rare. The characteristic of Ausone is that it is durable and needs to be aged for a long time before drinking. The wine is rich in quality, with the aroma of coffee and wooden barrels, and is very atmospheric.
The name of Ausone Village originated from a legend. Around AD 320, there was a famous Roman poet named Ausonius, who was the tutor of the Roman emperor (the emperor's teacher when he was a child). Obtained a fief in Bordeaux, became the governor of the Bordeaux region and concurrently served as the president of the local supreme academy (equivalent to the president of the University of Bordeaux today). This man was not only powerful but also highly accomplished in literature and deeply respected by people. Ausonius was a wine enthusiast. He not only promoted wine in many poems, but also put his hobby into action, opened up many grape plantations, and became the earliest pioneer in making Bordeaux wine. It is said that the garden of Auson was the former residence of Ausoniusr, which is the origin of the name of Auson. In fact, the name Ausone Village was officially used in 1781.
The wine produced by Chateau Ausone is just like its name: when you first drink it, the wine body is as smooth as velvet, sweet and intoxicating, and then the throat notes are harmonious and mellow, the fragrance is elegant, the aftertaste is long, and the lips and teeth are happy. Fragrance lingers.
8. Petrus (Petrus House)
The success of Petrus is of course based on quality first. The high quality comes from its perfectionist attitude towards the pursuit of the art of winemaking. Chateau Petrus covers an area of ??twelve hectares and has an annual output of approximately 5,000 cases of wine. More than 90% of the grape varieties selected are Merlot, so it is also The greatest Merlot of the world. The planting density of Petrus vineyards is quite low, generally only 5,000 to 6,000 trees per hectare.
Each vine is limited to a few bunches of grapes to ensure the concentration of each grape juice. The trees used are all between 40 and 90 years old. They are all picked in the dry and sunny afternoon to ensure that the sun has dried the dew left on the grapes the night before. If there is not enough sunshine or wind, they will use a helicopter to dry the grapes on the estate before picking. When picking, they will use 200 people to pick the grapes at the same time. In the brewing process, Petrus is also different. First they all use new oak barrels. During the one to two years of barrel aging, they change barrels every three months to allow the wine to fully absorb the aroma of different oaks. This no-nonsense approach remains unparalleled to this day.
The wine quality of Petrus is very stable. In years with poor climate, they will carry out deep selection of grapes for winemaking, so the yield will be reduced. In order to preserve the gold paint on the sign, production was even discontinued in some bad years. For example, there was no Petrus in 1991. The characteristics of Petrus wine are deep color, full aromatic aroma, balanced body, delicate and rich, with aromas of ripe blackcurrants, pears, chocolate, milk, truffles and various types of oak. Its taste is very broad, showing the personality of the king of wines. Petrus currently outstrips other Bordeaux wine kings in terms of quality and price and has become the veritable king of wine kings.
Petrus is not named after the winery, but its wine is the most famous Merlot wine in the world. The owner of the winery carefully brews the nectar produced in this small vineyard in the Pomerol region. Among the eight major Bordeaux wineries, only Chateau Petrus is not named Chateau, and the winery does not have a beautiful big house or castle, only a small house. The production of Petrus red wine is also pitifully small, so its price is also that of the eight major wineries. The most expensive among them.