Why look for new grape varieties elsewhere when Bordeaux hasn’t fully explored its own ?

Today, the instinct is simple:

Introduce resistant grape varieties 🍇

As if the solution had to come from the outside.

I don’t share that vision.

At Domaine du Carrelet | the smallest vineyard in Bordeaux,
we made a different choice:

✅ Stay within Bordeaux AOC
✅ Work with authorized grape varieties
✅ And above all: push them to their full potential

Because Bordeaux is not a problem to fix.
It’s an underexplored potential.

Let’s take our Carménère.

A historic grape of the region.
Long set aside.
Not gone—just forgotten.

Today, it actually ticks many boxes:

✔️ Lower alcohol levels
✔️ Greater disease resistance
✔️ Adapted to climate change
✔️ A strong identity as a single varietal

So the question is simple:

👉 Why try to reinvent Bordeaux?

Instead of bringing back into the spotlight
what Bordeaux already has within.

This isn’t about being conservative.

I truly believe the future of the vineyard won’t rely only on adding new varieties,

but on intelligently reinterpreting its heritage.

So I’d like to hear your thoughts:

Do you think the future lies in introducing new grape varieties?

Or in better understanding the historical ones?

#wine #bordeaux #grapevariety #winemaking #vineyard #wineindustry #france