PAUILLAC

Photo from Angell Guillèn on unsplash

No commune in the Médoc shares the allure of Pauillac. In it reside three of the fabled five First Growth châteaux of Bordeaux—Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild and Latour. No trio like them exists in the world, much less elsewhere in the region.

Another 15 classified châteaux make Pauillac their home—and few have slipped much in quality since the original classification in 1855.

Pauillac always has held such a lofty position. Activity at its comely harbor pre-dates the wine trade by millennia, being a point of departure for copper ore as long ago as 2,000 B.C.

While winemaking châteaux did not proliferate in Pauillac until the 18th century—the Médoc had become the playground of the merchant elite of Bordeaux city—the port of Pauillac was so conveniently located between the Atlantic and Bordeaux, and so hospitable to sailing ships, that it profited from maritime trade for centuries before wine was made there.

It is difficult to generalize about the wines of Pauillac. Though all three are magnificent, for example, Latour, Lafite and Mouton differ significantly.

However, descriptors such as “lead pencil shavings,” cedar wood, black currants, licorice and “silky texture” pop up in the scents, tastes and textures of enough Pauillacs to make for a familial resemblance.

The general soil type is the classic Médoc gravel, good for reflecting sun and draining rain, though substrates of limestone here and there make for variations in wines (notably at Lafite, giving the wine its amazingly complex aroma).

By and large, Pauillac does not come cheaply, although Châteaux d’Armailhac, Clerc Milon, Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Pontet-Canet offer relatively good value. A development in the 1990s toward more seconds vins (“second wines or second labels”) of famous estates continues to promise value pricing.

Pauillac is generally made of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a general predominance of the former but a growing use of the latter.