Bordeaux vs Burgundy. France’s two great wine regions, compared.

Blends versus single grapes

The biggest difference is in the grapes. Red Bordeaux is almost always a blend, mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, sometimes with a little Petit Verdot or Malbec. Dry white Bordeaux blends Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, and the same grapes, touched by noble rot, make sweet Sauternes.

Burgundy is the land of single varieties. Red Burgundy is Pinot Noir, white Burgundy is Chardonnay. Because there is no blending of grapes, every difference in the glass comes from the place and the winemaker.

Left Bank, Right Bank

Bordeaux lies near the Atlantic, with a mild maritime climate. On the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary, in the Médoc and Graves, gravel soils suit Cabernet Sauvignon, giving structured, long-lived wines. On the Right Bank, in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, clay and limestone favor Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with rounder, plusher wines.

Bordeaux estates are often large, and the wine is sold under the name of a château. The famous 1855 classification ranks the top châteaux of the Médoc and Sauternes, and Saint-Émilion has its own classification.

A mosaic of tiny vineyards

Burgundy is further inland, with a cooler, continental climate. Its heart is the Côte d’Or, a narrow strip of slopes where the soil can change from one row of vines to the next. Burgundians call these precisely defined plots climats, and they are recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage.

The quality pyramid follows the land: regional wines at the base, then village wines, Premier Cru and, at the top, Grand Cru vineyards. Because vineyards are divided among many owners, one Grand Cru can be made by dozens of different producers, which is why the producer’s name matters so much.

How they taste

Young red Bordeaux tends to be firm and structured, with blackcurrant, cedar and tobacco notes and tannins that soften with age. Red Burgundy is lighter in color and body, with red cherry, raspberry and earthy, forest-floor notes, and a silky texture.

You can even see the difference on the shelf: Bordeaux comes in a straight bottle with high shoulders, Burgundy in a bottle with gently sloping shoulders.

Two families, two worlds

The first season of WineMasters visits both regions. In Bordeaux, Tim Atkin MW and Jeannie Cho Lee MW visit Château Angélus near Saint-Émilion, where the eighth generation of the de Boüard de Laforest family crafts wine from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Watch this episode for free.

In the Burgundy episode, available to members, they meet Véronique Drouhin of Maison Joseph Drouhin, a family that has made wine in the heart of Beaune since 1880, to see how Burgundy’s mosaic of vineyards shapes its two great grapes.

Go furtherStudying Bordeaux and Burgundy in depth? The Bordeaux and Bourgogne Master-Level programs from the Wine Scholar Guild are a natural next step after this episode.