Saint-Julien is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

(AOC) for red wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 in the Bordeaux

Bordeaux wine

A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...

 region, located in the Médoc

Médoc

The Médoc is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the département of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from Medullicus, or "country of the Medulli", the local Celtic tribe...

 subregion. It takes its name from the commune Saint-Julien-Beychevelle

Saint-Julien-Beychevelle

Saint-Julien-Beychevelle is a commune on the left bank of the Garonne estuary in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-Wine:...

 and is one of the six communal appellations in Médoc. A number of classified (Grand Cru Classé) Bordeaux estates are located within the appellation.

History

The tradition of wine-growing in Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and the way in which its terroir

Terroir

Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...

has come to prominence parallels the history of the Médoc wines in general.

Area of designated origin

Saint-Julien wines are mainly produced in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle, but a few plots can be found elsewhere in Cussac-Fort-Médoc

Cussac-Fort-Médoc

Cussac-Fort-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Fort Médoc in Cussac-Fort-Médoc, together with several buildings in nearby Blaye, was listed in 2008 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Fortifications of Vauban"...

 and Saint-Laurent-Médoc

Saint-Laurent-Médoc

Saint-Laurent-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...

.

Saint-Julien-Beychevelle is located between the Margaux and Pauillac appellations, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary

Gironde estuary

The Gironde is a navigable estuary , in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just below the centre of Bordeaux...

.

Geology and orography

The vineyards lie on a bed of sedimentary rock. Unlike the surface soil, which is an unbroken expanse of pebbles, the subsoil is surprisingly complex and is the reason why Saint-Julien wines vary so much in character.

Grape varieties

The grape varieties grown under this appellation are the same as those found throughout the Médoc area, i.e. predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, along with Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...

, Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Malbec

Malbec

Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West...

, Petit Verdot

Petit verdot

Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen, it is added in small amounts to add tannin, colour and flavour to the...

 and Carménère

Carmenère

The Carménère grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines and occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot....

 (traces only).

The maximum permitted yield

Yield (wine)

In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...

 per hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 is 45 hectolitres, wherever the density

Relative density

Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity usually means relative density with respect to water...

 of planting is between 6,500 and 10,000 vines per hectare. This appellation is traditionally divided into two areas, although this is a matter of some controversy. The southern wines, which are smoother and more feminine, are closely related to the Margaux wines, while the northern wines, which are more robust and powerful (the Léoville wines, for example, bordering the vineyards of Latour

Château Latour

Château Latour is a French wine estate, rated as a First Growth under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Latour lies at the very southeastern tip of the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc region to the north-west of Bordeaux, at its border with Saint-Julien, and only a few hundred metres from the...

), have more in common with the wines of Pauillac.

Estates

In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855

The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world...

, there are no First Growth

First Growth

First Growth status refers to a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France.-Bordeaux reds:The need for a classification of the best Bordeaux wines arose for the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. The result was the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, a list...

s in Saint-Julien, but several rated Second Growths.

Seconds crus
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Ducru-Beaucaillou is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...	Château Gruaud-Larose Château Gruaud-Larose Château Gruaud-Larose is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. It is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...	Château Léoville-Barton Château Léoville-Barton Château Léoville-Barton is a vineyard in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Léoville-Barton is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...
Château Léoville-Las Cases Château Léoville-Las Cases Château Léoville-Las Cases is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Léoville-Las Cases is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...	Château Léoville-Poyferré Château Léoville-Poyferré Château Léoville-Poyferré is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Léoville-Poyferré is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...
Troisièmes crus
Château Lagrange Château Lagrange Château Lagrange is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Lagrange is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...	Château Langoa-Barton Château Langoa-Barton Château Langoa-Barton is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Langoa-Barton is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...
Quatrièmes crus
Château Beychevelle Château Beychevelle Château Beychevelle is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of ten Quatrièmes Crus in the historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The chateau makes a second label wine called Amiral de Beychevelle.-...	Château Branaire-Ducru Château Branaire-Ducru Château Branaire is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Branaire is also the name of the main red wine produced by this property and which was classified as one of the ten 'Fourth Growths' in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of...	Château Saint-Pierre Château Saint-Pierre Château Saint-Pierre is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of ten Quatrièmes Crus Classés in the historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855....
Château Talbot Château Talbot Château Talbot is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. Château Talbot is also the name of the red wine produced by this property...
Unclassified
Château Gloria Château Gloria Château Gloria is an unclassed Bordeaux wine from the Saint-Julien appellation. The winery is located in the central part of France’s Bordeaux wine region Haut-Médoc, in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle....