Inside the book

The first part, Bordeaux à vol d'oiseau, traces the city's development from its early foundations through the civil wars between 1451 and 1700 and its subsequent expansion. It concludes with a portrait of Bordeaux in 1867, when its population approached two hundred thousand, describing its principal thoroughfares and a harbor capable of accommodating eighteen hundred ships. The second, Les Vignes de la Gironde, opens with a general account of the vine, distinguishing the wild Vitis labrusca from Linnaeus's cultivated Vitis vinifera, and discusses its productive life and principal enemies, including spring frost, insects, hail, and oïdium, still causing considerable damage at the time of writing. The author then examines Gironde viticulture, cultivated area, average yields, and the four principal types of terrain (côteaux, graves, palus, and hautes-plaines) identifying the gravel soils of the Médoc as the source of its finest wines. Cépages Bordelais catalogues the principal red varieties of the Gironde, among them petit verdot, gros verdot, merlot, carmenet, carmenère, and malbeck, recording several of their contemporary local synonyms. De la Vinification concludes the section with observations on winemaking and the trade's distinction between a domaine, producing several wines from scattered parcels, and a propriété, producing only one. For the chemistry of fermentation, the author directs his reader to Pasteur. The third part, Les Vins de Bordeaux, begins with a defense of wine's healthfulness and a short history of the Bordeaux wine trade. Particular attention is given to the great growths, with ownership histories, anecdotes, and production figures for Château-Lafite, Château-Margaux, and Château-Latour. Lafite is associated with the Maréchal de Richelieu and Louis XV; Margaux is described as the "Versailles of the Médoc"; and Latour's succession of owners is traced into the Société civile du vignoble de Latour. The survey continues with Château-Haut-Brion, the first growth of Graves, renowned since the reign of Louis XI, and Château-Yquem, the great white wine of Sauternes. The author recalls personally purchasing the 1848 Yquem for a friend in Turin at seventeen francs a bottle. Further chapters cover Saint-Émilion, described as the Burgundy of the Gironde, the wider Médoc, Blaye, Bourg, Fronsac, the palus wines, and the whites of Sauternes, Barsac, Cérons, and Graves. Conseils vinicoles provides practical guidance on choosing, tasting, and serving Bordeaux and warns against fraudulent intermediaries and counterfeit wines sold under invented sociétés de propriétaires. The book closes with the proper order of wines at a formal dinner, from Xérès before the soup to chilled Champagne at the end, followed by the author's playful promise that, whatever the faults of his prose, the wines he sends will be irreproachable.