Henri Enjalbert
Encyclopedia
Henri Enjalbert was a French
professor of geography
at the University of Bordeaux
. He was considered an eminent specialist in wine
geology, whose expert opinion frequently overlapped into the fields of oenology
, and wine and terroir
history, within the Bordeaux region
and beyond. Among other credits, he has been called "Bordeaux's most diligent geologist" and "the discoverer of Mas de Daumas Gassac
. Among his contentions are that Albania
, the Ionian Islands
of Greece, and southern Dalmatia
in present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina
may have been the last European refuge of the grape vine
after the Ice Age
.
, Château Haut-Brion
and Saint-Émilion
, to book titles such as Les Grands Vins de St-Emilion, Pomerol et Fronsac (English translation: Great Bordeaux Wines), L'Origine de la Qualité and L'histoire de la vigne & du vin (The History of Wine and the Vine) with his son Bernard. The latter book launched a revised perspective on the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
, and for which he posthumously received the Prix littéraire de l'Académie du Vin de Bordeaux in 1984.
at the University of Bordeaux
, Enjalbert completed his work Les Grands Vins de St-Emilion, Pomerol et Fronsac which included an extensive history account of the Pomerol
wine region
derived from the memoir
s of estate owners as well as official reports and the documentations from notaries. On item that was noted was the early presence of Cabernet franc
and Malbec
in Pomerol in the mid 18th century at Château Trochau (now Château Haut Tropchaud) when the grapes were known under the synonym
s Bouchet and Noir de Pressac as well as a Cabernet vine that may be an early mention of Cabernet Sauvignon
in Bordeaux on the Right Bank long before it would establish itself in the Left Bank estates of the Médoc
and Graves
. Enjalbert also discovered that white wine grapes were prevalent throughout the Pomerol region in the mid-18th century but were just then started to be pulled out in favor of red grape varieties. His work also included the early history of the Pomerol estates Château Pétrus
, Château Trotanoy
, Château La Conseillante
, Château Nenin
, Vieux Château Certan
, Château Gazin
and Château Beauregard
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
professor of geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
at the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
. He was considered an eminent specialist in wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
geology, whose expert opinion frequently overlapped into the fields of oenology
Oenology
Oenology,[p] œnology , or enology is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which is a subfield called viticulture. “Viticulture & oenology” is a common designation for training programmes and research centres that include both the...
, and wine and terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
history, within the Bordeaux region
Bordeaux wine regions
The wine regions of Bordeaux are the area around the city of Bordeaux within the Gironde department of Aquitaine. The region is naturally divided by the Gironde River into a Left Bank area which includes the Médoc and the subregions of St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien, and Margaux and a Right Bank...
and beyond. Among other credits, he has been called "Bordeaux's most diligent geologist" and "the discoverer of Mas de Daumas Gassac
Mas de Daumas Gassac
Mas de Daumas Gassac is a French wine producer from the wine region Languedoc, classified as Vin de Pays de l'Hérault due to its use of grape varieties outside specifications of its AOC. The winery, producing both white and red wine, is located in the south of France, in the commune of Aniane...
. Among his contentions are that Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
of Greece, and southern Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
in present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
may have been the last European refuge of the grape vine
Vitis
Vitis is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce...
after the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Publications
Enjalbert's publications range from studies on Château LatourChâteau Latour
Château Latour is a French wine estate, rated as a First Growth under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Latour lies at the very southeastern tip of the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc region to the north-west of Bordeaux, at its border with Saint-Julien, and only a few hundred metres from the...
, Château Haut-Brion
Château Haut-Brion
Château Haut-Brion is a French wine, rated a Premier Cru Classé , produced in the Gironde region. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of Graves...
and Saint-Émilion
Saint-Émilion
Saint-Émilion is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-History:Saint-Émilion's history goes back to prehistoric times and is a World Heritage site, with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.The Romans planted...
, to book titles such as Les Grands Vins de St-Emilion, Pomerol et Fronsac (English translation: Great Bordeaux Wines), L'Origine de la Qualité and L'histoire de la vigne & du vin (The History of Wine and the Vine) with his son Bernard. The latter book launched a revised perspective on the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855
The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world...
, and for which he posthumously received the Prix littéraire de l'Académie du Vin de Bordeaux in 1984.
History of Pomerol
While a professor of geographyGeography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
at the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
, Enjalbert completed his work Les Grands Vins de St-Emilion, Pomerol et Fronsac which included an extensive history account of the Pomerol
Pomerol
Pomerol is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is located near Bordeaux.-Population:-Wine:The mostly small-sized producers in this area of about produce red wines. As in the neighbouring appellation of Saint-Émilion, the predominant grape variety is Merlot,...
wine region
Bordeaux wine regions
The wine regions of Bordeaux are the area around the city of Bordeaux within the Gironde department of Aquitaine. The region is naturally divided by the Gironde River into a Left Bank area which includes the Médoc and the subregions of St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien, and Margaux and a Right Bank...
derived from the memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s of estate owners as well as official reports and the documentations from notaries. On item that was noted was the early presence of Cabernet franc
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
and Malbec
Malbec
Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West...
in Pomerol in the mid 18th century at Château Trochau (now Château Haut Tropchaud) when the grapes were known under the synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s Bouchet and Noir de Pressac as well as a Cabernet vine that may be an early mention of Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
in Bordeaux on the Right Bank long before it would establish itself in the Left Bank estates of the Médoc
Médoc AOC
Médoc is an AOC for wine in the Bordeaux wine region of southwestern France, on the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary that covers the northern section of the viticultural strip along the Médoc peninsula. The zone is sometimes called Bas-Médoc , though this term is not permitted on any label...
and Graves
Graves
Graves is an important subregion of the Bordeaux wine region. Graves is situated on the left bank of the Garonne river, in the upstream part of the region, southeast of the city Bordeaux and stretch over...
. Enjalbert also discovered that white wine grapes were prevalent throughout the Pomerol region in the mid-18th century but were just then started to be pulled out in favor of red grape varieties. His work also included the early history of the Pomerol estates Château Pétrus
Château Pétrus
Pétrus is a Bordeaux wine estate located in the Pomerol appellation near its eastern border to Saint-Émilion. An estate of limited size, it produces a limited production red wine almost entirely from Merlot grapes, on occasion with small amounts of Cabernet Franc, and produces no second wine...
, Château Trotanoy
Château Trotanoy
Château Trotanoy, archaically Trop Ennuie, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
, Château La Conseillante
Château La Conseillante
Château La Conseillante, previously Château Conseillante and simply La Conseillante, is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
, Château Nenin
Château Nénin
Château Nénin is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
, Vieux Château Certan
Vieux Château Certan
Vieux Château Certan is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
, Château Gazin
Château Gazin
Château Gazin is a Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
and Château Beauregard
Château Beauregard
Château Beauregard is a Bordeaux wine estate from the appellation Pomerol. The winery is located on the Right Bank of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Pomerol in the department Gironde...
.