Saint-Émilion Explained: A Hermit, a Limestone Hill & a Wine Civil War

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Saint-Émilion is the most beautiful wine town in Bordeaux: a golden medieval village carved into a limestone hill, named after an 8th-century hermit, sitting on a labyrinth of underground caves. It's also home to the most dramatic story in modern wine: a classification system so contested that three of its four top estates quit in protest. In this video: the full history (Romans, the hermit, the monks), the limestone terroir, the Merlot–Cabernet Franc wines, the famously confusing "Grand Cru vs Grand Cru Classé" problem, the garage wine revolution, the satellite appellations for value, and the 2022 classification meltdown, explained.

Watch the Bordeaux classifications video:

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00:00 Introduction

01:18 Orientation on Saint-Émilion

02:43 History of wines in Saint-Émilion

05:38 Limestone: the terroir of Saint-Émilion

07:33 Merlot and Cabernet Franc: kings of Saint-Émilion

09:59 Grand cru de Saint-Émilion vs Grand Cru Classé