Bordeaux Wine Council Announces the 2012 Today's Bordeaux Selection

NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) announced the 100 wines featured in this year's Today's Bordeaux selection. The wines included in Today's Bordeaux are priced between $9 and $35 retail and are representative of the wide range of wines produced in Bordeaux, including red, white, rose, and sweet wines.

The appellations found within the Today's Bordeaux list are: Blaye - Cotes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur, Cadillac, Castillon - Cotes de Bordeaux, Cotes de Bordeaux, Entre-Deux-Mers, Fronsac, Graves, Haut-Medoc, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Margaux, Medoc, Pessac-Leognan, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion, Saint-Estephe, Sainte Foy, and Sauternes. The Today's Bordeaux exemplar features the balance, elegance, and charm consumers expect to find in more expensive Bordeaux, but are featured throughout Bordeaux wines below a $35 price point. All 100 wines can be found on http://www.bordeaux.com/us/wines and are categorized by color and tasting notes as well as occasions such as wines for holiday gifts, dinner parties, and everyday indulgences.

This year, five of the "Le Wine Buffs", a team of Bordeaux Wine Council-appointed wine connoisseurs, and three guest judges blind-tasted 300 wines submitted by importers. The guest judges included Mr. Levi Dalton, who worked for over a decade as a Sommelier in some of the most esteemed restaurants in the world before building a career as a prolific wine writer, lecturer, and the host of the I'll Drink to That! podcast series; Ms. Carson Demmond, Associate Editor of Wine & Spirits Magazine; and Mr. John Osborne, Wine Director and Sommelier at Raoul's, famed French bistro in Soho, who served as a head judge. Mr. Osborne has over 30 years of fine restaurant and wine trade experience.

The Today's Bordeaux criteria included that the wine be sold in one or more of the following U.S. states (which are listed by region):

• The Northeast: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington D.C.
• The South: Florida and Texas
• The Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan
• The West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Washington

56 percent of the wines in this year's Today's Bordeaux exemplar are 20 dollars or under. The scoring method for the 2012 Today's Bordeaux was derived from the New Wine Fundamentals Wine Evaluation Protocol developed by Tim Hanni MW. The system features a 0-7 ranking that focuses on assessing the wines at a more intuitive and hedonic level that is closer to the way in which consumers experience wine.

Editor's note: Interviews and samples of the wines can be made available upon request. Reporters can also receive detailed food pairings given by the judges during their two-day deliberation.

Editor's note: This campaign is supported by the European Union.

Contact:
Sona Rai at [email protected] or 212-966-3025

SOURCE The Bordeaux Wine Council