Economy

Bordeaux is a major centre for business in France as it has the sixth largest
metropolitan population in France. It serves as a major regional center for trade,
administration, services and industry.
As of 2014, the GDP of Bordeaux is €32.7 billion.[citation needed]
Wine[edit]
Main article: Bordeaux wine

Château Haut-Brion
The vine was introduced to the Bordeaux region by the Romans, probably in the
mid-first century, to provide wine for local consumption, and wine production has
been continuous in the region since.[29]

Saint-Émilion aerial view
Bordeaux wine growing area has about 116,160 hectares (287,000 acres)
of vineyards, 57 appellations, 10,000 wine-producing estates (châteaux) and
13,000 grape growers. With an annual production of approximately 960 million
bottles,[30] the Bordeaux area produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as
some of the most expensive wines in the world. Included among the latter are the
area's five premier cru (First Growth) red wines (four from Médoc and
one, Château Haut-Brion, from Graves), established by the Bordeaux Wine
Official Classification of 1855:
Both red and white wines are made in the Bordeaux region. Red Bordeaux wine is
called claret in the United Kingdom. Red wines are generally made from a blend of
grapes, and may be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit
verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years, Carménère.
White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon,
and Muscadelle. Sauternes is a sub-region of Graves known for its intensely sweet,
white, dessert wines such as Château d'Yquem.
Because of a wine glut (wine lake) in the generic production, the price squeeze
induced by an increasingly strong international competition, and vine pull
schemes, the number of growers has recently dropped from 14,000 and the area
under vine has also decreased significantly. In the meantime, the global demand
for first growths and the most famous labels markedly increased and their prices
skyrocketed.
The Cité du Vin, a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie
projections and academic seminars on the theme of wine opened its doors in June
2016.[31]
Others[edit]
The Laser Mégajoule will be one of the most powerful lasers in the world,
allowing fundamental research and the development of
the laser and plasma technologies. This project, carried by the French Ministry of
Defence, involves an investment of 2 billion euros.[citation needed] The "Road of the
lasers", a major project of regional planning, promotes regional investment in
optical and laser related industries leading to the Bordeaux area having the most
important concentration of optical and laser expertise in Europe.[citation needed]
Some 20,000 people work for the aeronautic industry in Bordeaux.[citation needed] The
city has some of the biggest companies including Dassault, EADS
Sogerma, Snecma, Thales, SNPE, and others. The Dassault Falcon private jets are
built there as well as the military aircraft Rafale and Mirage 2000, the Airbus
A380 cockpit, the boosters of Ariane 5, and the M51 SLBM missile.
Tourism, especially wine tourism, is a major industry. Globelink.co.uk mentioned
Bordeaux as the best tourist destination in Europe in 2015.[32]
Access to the port from the Atlantic is via the Gironde estuary. Almost nine million
tonnes of goods arrive and leave each year.[33]
Major companies[edit]
This list includes indigenous Bordeaux-based companies and companies that have
major presence in Bordeaux, but are not necessarily headquartered there.

Dassault Falcon 7X assembly line at Merignac

 Arena
 Groupe Bernard
 Groupe Castel
 Cdiscount
 Dassault
 Jock
 Marie Brizard
 McKesson Corporation
 Oxbow
 Ricard
 Sanofi Aventis
 Smurfit Kappa
 Snecma
 Solectron
 Thales Group