Pauillac AOC

One of the six communes (in addition to Listrac-Médoc, Margaux, Moulis, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien) within the French Haut-Médoc area which are independent appellations and are allowed to bear the commune name on the label. Pauillac is the best known of these and is located between Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien. It was here, in the 18th century, that the sulphurization of wine in barrels was introduced, following the Dutch example, to prevent secondary fermentation. The town of Pauillac, situated at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, is rightly considered the wine capital of the Médoc. It was from this port that Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) set sail to join the American rebels and to fight actively.

Pauillac is the region of Cabernet Sauvignon par excellence, nowhere else is this grape variety (in addition to Cabernet Franc and Merlot) more present in wines with a typical cassis flavour than here. It is the typical Bordeaux blend of the Rive gauche (left bank). The red wines are deep dark, powerful, rich in alcohol and tannin, full of finesse and storable for many decades and are among the most excellent in Bordeaux. The area covers almost 1,200 hectares of vineyards and is divided into two extensive plateaus northwest and southwest of the city of Pauillac. Both are deep gravel banks with optimal water drainage. In the west, the soil consists of sand over stony subsoil, in the centre and south of gravel over local stone layers. It is a three km wide and over six km long strip of land divided by the Gaët stream. The climate is very similar to the rest of the Médoc.

The Pauillac area contains 18 of the 61 châteaux included in the Grand Cru list at the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. In terms of area, this represents almost a third of all the Grand Cru estates in the Médoc. The pride of the commune are the three (of the five) Premier Cru Classé wineries Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Latour and Château Mouton-Rothschild, as well as the two Deuxièmes (2nd place) Château Pichon-Longueville Baron and Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse. This impressive list is continued by the Quatrième (4th rank) Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild and twelve Cinquième-Châteaux (5th rank). Many of the famous vineyards are associated with the names Rothschild and Ségur.

From Domenico-de-ga from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, link
Changes from the original by Norbert Tischelmayer 2017