The wine of Bordeaux is often thought of as the pinnacle of perfection for many wine lovers and wine experts across the world. A prized bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus will go for about $2500, if you can find it. Bordeaux can be some of the most sought after, lovely, and expensive wine out there. But you need not be scared away. There are MANY high quality bottles of Bordeaux that can be found in any price range. You just have to know how to hunt them down.

When I first started to drink wine I heard people speak of Bordeaux but really had no idea what the style of wine was or how to go about trying it. I would stand in the French section of my local wine store and stare at the labels dumbfounded. I remembered a friend, years back, telling me that if a bottle of French wine with a chateau on the front had an even number of windows the wine was good and if there was an odd number it was bad. Or was it the other way around? You can see the problem with this. Not only was I getting dizzy, run over by shoppers, and eyed by the staff, but I was not finding any wine that I liked and I just knew that the wine snob in me was going to love this stuff.

One day, after again standing and staring for about 5 minutes I finally mustered up the courage to ask a staff-member to recommend a bottle of Bordeaux within my price range. This is when the barrage of questions started and I learned that to find a bottle of Bordeaux I would like I would have to learn about the actual geography of the region. Boo hiss!

Daunted by the fancy names and words I couldn't understand, I set off to learn all I could about this mysterious wine region. Many books, internet searches, and glasses of wine later, I can walk into a wine store with confidence and quickly focus in on which bottle of Bordeaux will please my palate and hopefully my pocketbook. Here are some of my quick tips for Bordeaux hunting.

The most important thing to learn is that the wine of Bordeaux is always going to be a blend of a few different grapes. The main grapes used in Bordeaux are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the major players and the others are the minors used balance out the composition. Now, here is where geography comes in. The Bordeaux region of France is split by the River Gironde. If a chateau is on the right side of the river the blend will be predominantly Merlot. The left, Cabernet. In the wine world, the terms Right Bank and Left Bank are used commonly to describe the style of Bordeaux. Being familiar with these two terms is crucial in really understanding Bordeaux.

The region/appellation from which the grapes are grown must be listed on a bottle of wine. So, now we must figure out which region produces which style of wine. Below is a quick go-to list for knowing which regions belong to which bank:

Right Bank: Pomerol (Where Petrus is made) and St.Emilion. There are no classifications of First Growth, Second Growth, etc. on the Right Bank. A growth is, for all intents and purposes, a level of superiority. A first growth wine will many times be more refined, sought after, and expensive.

Left Bank: You have the Medoc, Haut-Medoc, and Graves regions which are broken down into a number of lesser regions. But you only have to remember five, because you'll hear about them every day in the wine world. They are: Margaux, Pauillac, St.Estephe, and St.-Julien, and Graves.

Still a little confused? A quick trick when looking for value in Bordeaux is to look for a wine from a larger producer such as Bourthe, Sichel, and Moueix. They own many vineyards and produce wine at many levels across the price and quality spectrum. Another for buying quality Bordeaux at affordable prices is to look for lesser vintages such as 2001 and 2002. They aren't "bad" vintages, it is just that they will always struggle for recognition after the gangbuster year of 2000.

Just knowing these few simple tips can really alleviate stress and confusion when trying to buy Bordeaux. Now, when you walk into a wine store you can go right to the French section with confidence. Knowing you prefer Merlot, you will know to look for wine from Pomerol and St.Emilion. If you can't find the region or are completely boggled, be sure to ask a store professional to help you find a nice Right Bank Bordeaux in your price range or a high quality bottle from your favorite bank 2001 or 2002 vintage. You will feel like such a wine expert using your cool new lingo!

Happy Tasting!