Médoc

The southernmost red communal appellation of the Haut-Médoc and the largest of the six, Margaux covers five historic communes — Margaux, Cantenac, Soussans, Labarde and Arsac (Margaux and Cantenac merged in 2017 into the single commune of Margaux-Cantenac) — not merely the one it is named after. It holds twenty-one classified growths of 1855, more than any other Médoc appellation, around the first growth Château Margaux. Its fine gravel and lighter soils than Pauillac's give wines known for floral perfume and the fineness of their tannins.

A red communal appellation of the Haut-Médoc, recognised by decree on 14 November 1936, Pauillac is the only Bordeaux commune with three of the five first growths of the 1855 classification — Lafite Rothschild, Latour and, since its promotion in 1973, Mouton Rothschild — and eighteen classified growths in all. Its deep gravel mounds carry a dominant Cabernet Sauvignon that gives upright, tannic wines, slow to open and marked by cedar and graphite.

The northernmost red communal appellation of the Médoc, recognised by decree on 14 November 1936, Saint-Estèphe has five classified growths of 1855, among them the second growths Cos d'Estournel and Montrose, which face each other above the estuary. Its gravel sits on thicker clay beds than Pauillac's: water is better held, and the wines are firmer, higher in acid and slower to open.

A red communal appellation of the Haut-Médoc, recognised by decree on 14 November 1936. It is produced in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and on a few plots in three neighbouring communes. It has eleven classified growths, five of them second growths, across a vineyard of some 900 hectares. Its deeply coloured wines combine finesse and power.

A red appellation covering the southern half of the peninsula, from Le Taillan-Médoc to Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne over nearly fifty kilometres, the Haut-Médoc takes in the communal appellations. A given wine carries only one appellation, and Haut-Médoc is also the appellation of the communes that have none of their own. Five classified growths of 1855 sit here — La Lagune, La Tour Carnet, Belgrave, Camensac and Cantemerle — because no communal appellation covers their land.

The Médoc appellation, recognised in 1936, has a geographical area of fifty communes stretching for nearly 80 kilometres, from just north of Bordeaux to Le Verdon-sur-Mer; but its reds come mainly from the north, the southern half belonging first to the Haut-Médoc and the six communal appellations. They are deeply coloured, tannic reds built on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Since the July 2025 specification the appellation also makes dry whites from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle, part of which must spend time in wood.