Bordeaux Blends

A Bordeaux Blend is a blended red wine that contains only those varieties that are authorized for use in the red wines of the Bordeaux region of France. The six varieties are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere.

In the United States, wines labeled as 'Meritage' are included in this category. Wines that are Bordeaux Blends are usually of good to excellent quality and may be the best wine that a winery produces. In most countries, the regulations regarding wine labels only classify these wines as "Red Table Wine" since there is often not enough of a single grape variety to allow the wine to have Varietal labeling. This means that the winery has to somehow show the consumer that their bottle of red wine selling for $50+ per bottle is really different from some generic red wine that is selling for less than $10. Both are classified as "Red Table Wine".

A typical Bordeaux Blend will have either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot as the primary grape but the other grapes will make up from 15% to 50% of the blend. Very few Bordeaux Blends use all six of the allowed grape varieties. The use of three or four varieties is much more common.