Staten Island Advance Food News

  STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If there is a hierarchy in wine, the undisputed king -- at least for red wines -- is Bordeaux.

  I am not saying that the best red wines produced are Bordeaux, although many professionals are inclined to that opinion. Bordeaux is, however, the wine with the highest reputation. It is the wine that most often fetches the highest prices on retail shelves and wine lists and at wine auctions.

  Ask a 100 wine collectors to bring out their most prized bottles of wine, and 90 will bring out a bottle of red Bordeaux. The world wine market is driven higher by the prices of red Bordeaux, and when the wine market takes a tumble, you can be sure that this event is somehow tied to the wines of Bordeaux.

INFLUENCING OTHERS

  How can one wine region be so famous? How can it have such an effect on so many others?

  Bordeaux has simply been doing it better than anyone else for the longest stretch of time. How long? Since long before the Romans showed up in 56 B.C. -- for over 2,000 years, in fact -- Bordeaux has been cultivating vineyards and wine.

  History shows that at least some of the credit for the fame and worldwide recognition of Bordeaux must be given to the English. In 1152, a royal marriage put the region under English control, and Bordeaux soon became a bustling seaport providing the perfect opportunity for its wines to be exported and accepted into the important and powerful English market.

  And accepted Bordeaux's wines were, as they quickly became England's wine of choice, a relationship that continues to this day. "Clairet" was the name the English gave these wines ("Claret" today), which were made in a much lighter style at that time than they are today.

SOUTHWESTERN FRANCE

  Bordeaux is located in southwestern France and situated on the Garonne River. To the north, the Garonne meets the Dordogne River to form the Gironde. The Gironde is a tidal estuary, as well as the name of the department where Bordeaux is located.