You have probably heard about the differences between the Left Bank and the Right Bank of the River Seine in Paris, but this Right Bank vs. Left Bank comparison concerns a different part of France. Recently, I visited a wine shop to purchase a red Bordeaux for a dinner with friends. I found the wines to be divided between the right and left banks. They were then roughly grouped by area, such as the Margaux area on the Left bank and the Pomerol area on the right bank.

This can be intimidating and confusing. Look at a map of the southwestern French Bordeaux region bordering the Atlantic. You will see the river Gironde entering the area from the northeast then splitting into two rivers (Dordogne and Garonne) before emptying into the Atlantic.

So, what does this have to do with the wine? Terrior (terwar), a French term, describes the land from which the grapes are grown because this gives a wine a unique quality specific to that growing site. As Wine Folly states, “One of the most significant differences between the Left and Right banks is what’s in the soil. The Left Bank has more gravel, and the Right Bank has more clay and limestone.”

Cabernet Sauvignon has bold black fruit flavors, high levels of tannin and acid, and herbaceous notes. It needs gravel soils to ripen successfully, so we see more Cabernet Sauvignon on the Left Bank. Thus, Left Bank reds tend to have Cabernet Sauvignon as the dominant grape in their blends and are more tannic, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines with aromas of tobacco, leather, and smoke.

Wine Folly says Merlot, with its smooth tannins, full body, and mix of red and black fruit flavors, isn’t nearly as fussy. It can be planted on clay soils and be just fine. You guessed it, the clay soils on the Right Bank favor the Merlot grape, and those red blends tend to have Merlot as the dominant grape in their blends.

So, there is logic to this seeming confusion. The French are working within the stage Mother Nature set. And as we might have guessed, working with Mother Nature is much better than working in opposition to her. Here’s to Mother Nature. Cheers!