Bordeaux (Stadt & Négoce)

The city of Bordeaux lies on the Garonne and is not itself a wine-growing area but the trading hub of the region. Along the quays, above all the Quai des Chartrons, wine merchants have been based since the 17th and 18th centuries, many of them from abroad. The trade through the Place de Bordeaux, in which négociants buy wines from the châteaux, blend, age and distribute them worldwide, is still called by that name. Today there are also wine bars, schools and the Cité du Vin.

The city stands on Garonne river terraces of gravel, sand and clay. The climate is oceanic and mild; south of the city the gravel soils of the Graves begin. To the north and east lie the Médoc and Entre-Deux-Mers areas.

Hardly any grapes are grown within the city itself. The wines traded here come from the whole Bordeaux region: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for reds, Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc for whites.