Located the middle of the Médoc, 50 km/31 miles northwest of Bordeaux, Pauillac is home to 18 of the 61 châteaux classified 1855, just under a third of the list. There are three first growths, two second growths, one fourth growth, and twelve 5th growths. The first growths are Château Latour, Château Lafite-Rothschild, and Château Mouton-Rothschild.

Pauillac is north of St-Julien and south of St-Estèphe with the manmade Landes Forest to the west, sheltering the vines from Atlantic winds.

The commune has 1,213 ha/3,000 acres of vines (7.5% of the Medoc) and makes about 7 million bottles a year. The AOC Pauillac is only for still red wines, famous for their balance of power and elegance that is rare in Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends. These wines have strong aromas and flavors but with great acidity and tannin – the best are not overripe or overly tannic -- and are balanced.

In this show, I cover everything about Pauillac -- history, terroir, climate, sustainability, and then the top Châteaux. I break it down by terroir, location, and some details on top chateaux and then tell you to save your pennies to get these wines!

Here is a link to the 1855 Classification

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Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!

To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes

As part of the Back to Basics series, in which I update previous podcasts on practical topics that can be helpful to everyone, I update podcast Episode 28 from September 2011! Rick was the co-host then and it was a much shorter, less detailed show.

Image: Assembled on Canva by WFNP

Some of the suggestions from those many years ago were great, and some have changed or I’ve augmented them.

The goal of this show: to give you some ideas to motivate you to try new wines and new ways to explore. Ideas include: exploring different grapes from the same regions you like, joining a wine club (hint hint: the Wine Access/WFNP Wine Club, going to tasting events, and more! It's a short and sweet re-do of a show from long ago. I hope you get some ideas from it!

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!

On the heels of my trip with a group of Patrons to Campania, I wanted to do a show on Taurasi while it was still fresh in my mind.

Taurasi, a small (472 ha / 1,166 acres) DOCG region, is indisputably one of Italy’s greatest red wines along with Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, Chianti, Vino Nobile, and Montefalco Sagrantino. Taurasi, made of the ancient Aglianico grape, is in Campania, more specifically in hills northeast of Irpinia/Avellino and is centered around the town of Taurasi, a small town with a 10th-century castle that was rebuilt by the Normans.

Over the 17 towns within the denomination soils and altitudes range dramatically. Higher altitudes create complex, more acidic styles due to a longer growing season with great diurnal swings. Towns with more clay create extremely tannic wines, while those with sand have certain warmth and fruitiness that makes them easy to drink in their youth. There are a multitude of styles and, with soils in the region layered like a lasagna, the flavors you get from the Aglianico grape depend largely on the site on which it grows.

Aglianico is a misunderstood grape, as is Taurasi as a wine. Aglianico is a red with complex, terroir driven flavors of dark fruit, red fruit, spice, black pepper notes, and excellent acidity and tannin. Taurasi, made from a biotype of Aglianico that is particularly dark-skinned, small berried and flavorful makes exquisite wines that have the aging capability of a Barolo or Bordeaux.

The grape translates the terroir into the bottle and both where the grapes grow and who makes the wine determines the style – it’s an area you could explore for ages and keep discovering new expressions of Aglianico. In fact, Taurasi is called the “Barolo of the South” for nuance and depth of flavor, and variation of its terroir.

In this show I cover the extensive history of the region, with all its ups and downs, the climate, altitudes, and land and then discuss the expression of the Aglianico grape and why it makes such fascinating wines.

If you haven’t had a Taurasi, get on it. Vis a vis other top wines, it is insanely affordable (top wines are less than US$100) and it is a wine that will hold your interest with every sip!

Certainly for its history and for its quality, Taurasi is one of the great wines of the world.

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can’t go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up!