By now, you are probably asking, are there any good white Bordeaux’s available for a reasonable price? Cristal Vinothèque: The ultimate luxury fizz? Read part one of the First Growths Series. Touches of spice and pepper add to the poise of the Courselle sisters’ stylish, full wine. Let it calm down a little and drink from late 2019. We begin our Bordeaux to Dordogne Biking trip in Bordeaux, where the riding is as smooth as a Château Mouton Rothschild (you’ll understand soon enough). —Roger Voss. –Château Lafite-Rothschild, Pauillac, 2015 This is the most highly sought-after style of White Bordeaux. Haut Brion Blanc is one of the greatest wines in the world. It was also a great vintage for the sweet white wines. Rich & Creamy White Bordeaux wines are made in a specific region (Pessac-Leognan) and tend to be expensive. But most of Bordeaux’s dry and semi-dry white wines come from the following three districts: The Pessac-Léognan district is the home of Bordeaux’s finest white wines. Bright, ripe and fruity, this is a rich wine. Full of apple and warm pear flavors, it is concentrated and intense. Loren Sonkin is an IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder/Winemaker at Sonkin Cellars. This area also produces great dessert wines. In my opinion the best whites of Bordeaux come from the communes of Graves and Pessac-Leognan (which was historically part of Graves). Remember to be careful pairing White Bordeaux with overly acidic foods that will overshadow the wine. The famous sweet white wine of Sauternes is a specialty that depends on local conditions and a very unusual winemaking technique. Tight and mineral driven, this wine is full bodied and will be fruity as it develops further. But Sauvignon Blanc is the predominate white grape of the region. Bordeaux is where Sauvignon Blanc originated and it’s very old. It would be a great idea to lay a bottle or two down in the cellar. Drinking white Bordeaux. Great cellars around the world are filled with wines from the different chateaus of the region. —R.V. Happily, the answer is yes. White wines made from Bordeaux are primarily blends of two grapes:  Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. CTS Distributing. Instead of giving the grapes a flavor of rot, the botrytis engineers the escape of a proportion of the water in them, leaving the sugar and the flavoring elements in the juice more concentrated than ever. I believe it was the best vintage for white wines in the past decade and probably since 1989, yet, it was not a great vintage for reds. With ripe white fruits that are lit by lemon acidity, this is a balanced, fresh wine. B&R: Fuel your Wanderlust. Other times, it’s because the wine has a place in history. Bordeaux – white. Like their red counterparts, Bordeaux’s white wines are most often blends. Best Buy. The remaining wines of Bordeaux offer exceptional value, if you know where to look! The five main red grape varieties in the Bordeaux region are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec, with Cabernet the dominant grape on the west side of the Gironde, Merlot to the east. The best producer of white Bordeaux is also one of the best producers of red. Drink this still-developing wine from late 2019. With age the wines show honey and figs and nuttiness to them. Almost all Bordeaux reds are a blend of two or more of the grape varieties. There are two major styles of White Bordeaux: Light & Fruity or Rich & Creamy. –Château Cheval Blanc, 2014  A few caveats. It also goes well with soft, mild cheeses; goat cheese is particularly fine with white Bordeaux. Joël Duffau has produced a beautifully ripe wine in his final year of transferring the vineyard to certified organic. –Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, 2014 Want to spend even less? The Priority Wine Pass gives you Complimentary or 2 for 1 tastings at 250 California wineries for an entire year. The finest dry white wines of Bordeaux are unique to the Bordeaux region; nowhere else in the world can you find such wines. Perhaps, take a splurge with some of the ones I have recommended. A quick reference wheel for identifying wine aromas. Saranty Imports. Don’t expect a wine resembling a New Zealand or Californian Sauvignon Blanc though. –Château Pichon Baron, 2nd Grand Cru, Pauillac, 2016 The soils here are gravelly and seem more suited to wines with more Semillion. –Chateau Lagrange, Saint-Julien, 2016, –Chateau Couhins-Lurton, Graves Cru Classe, 2012 Tangy lemon zest comes through strongly in this wine. —R.V. The Bordeaux Wine Brokers' Union went to work on the project and came up with what we now refer to as the Classification of 1855. Given Bordeaux’s red wine dominance today, it is hard to believe that until the 1950s this was a white wine region. Château Roquefort 2018 Bordeaux Blanc; $15, 87 points. This small but distinctive wine region produces opulent and glamorous red wines using mainly the Merlot grape. Principiano Ferdinando 2016 del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba (Barolo), By continuing to use our Services and/or submitting the above information, you agree to our use of cookies and the terms of our James Beard Award-winning author and Wine Communicator of the Year. Médoc, the most famous red wine district in Bordeaux, and perhaps the world. If you are a wine lover, wine connoisseur, wine aficionado or even if you just like to have a couple of glasses on a Friday night, it soon becomes obvious that there are some wines that are held in a higher esteem in the wine world. Some vintages are considered better than others, that is true. This allows for excellent drainage. Best Buy. From the Dubourg family’s home vineyard for more than 200 years, this blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle is concentrated and densely textured. The subsoil here is dominated by a local iron-rich clay, known as crasse de fer, of which Château Pétrus has a stratum particularly close to the surface. I am speaking of Chateau Haut Brion from Pessac-Leognan. Then, it’s eastward to the Dordogne Valley, land of medieval castles, Cro-Magnon cave paintings and exquisite cuisine. Another interesting white is Pavilion Blanc du Chateau Margaux. Capable of lasting for decades in a good cellar, the wine takes on a sublime honeyed and fig quality with layer after layer of complexity. The Best White Bordeaux Vintages in Recent History . After all, if the opportunity presents itself, go for it. The answer to the second question is a definite yes. In hotter vintages, mature vines can benefit from the extensive root systems encouraged by the gravel. Sometimes it’s because the wine is just that good. And the best part? Finally Muscadelle is less acidic and has lovely aromatics as well. 2017. Drink this ripe, full-bodied wine from 2020. If there’s basil, lime, avocado or garlic in your food, you will enjoy a bottle of White Bordeaux. While the region is famous for its high-priced collector wines, they make up less than 5% of the region’s production. There has also been a shift to more new French oak being used and allowing the wines to ferment in barrel and stir the lees (dead yeast cells) to give the wines a fuller profile. It also goes well with soft, mild cheeses; goat cheese is particularly fine with white Bordeaux. Nutmeg zing combines easily with the ripe yellow-fruit and lime flavors. —R.V. Cabonnieux, another white from Pessac-Leognan, is a great wine that can be found for under $30. Bordeaux is the world’s largest fine wine region, and one with a rich history dating back to the Romans. –Vieux Château Certan, 2015  Chantegrieve make a very nice wine for around $15. France’s white wines can be counted among the best in the world. It typically goes well with chicken, turkey, veal, and delicate fish entrées. Most of the better dry white Bordeaux, which are blends of both varieties, are crisp and lively when they’re young, but develop a honeyed, fuller-bodied richness with age. The wonders of this region were introduced to the world following Henry II’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine; three centuries of courtly commerce with Great Britain ensured that claret was served at the finest foreign tables. Of that, 58% is Semilion, 21% Savignon Blanc, 10% Muscadelle, and 9% Ugni Blanc. The grapes of White Bordeaux include Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle. Small quantities of rosé, light red claret, sparkling crémant, and fine brandy are also made. By using our website and/or subscribing to our newsletter, For around $75, look for Chateau Smith Haut Lafite, an excellent producer of both reds and whites. This article will explore the first question in more detail. It typically also sells for closer to $100 a bottle. Thank You! Not nearly as exciting as the reds, with lowish acidity a shortcoming. Château les Arromans 2018 Entre-Deux-Mers; $14, 90 points. Château de Bonhoste 2018 Bordeaux Blanc; $15, 90 points. The Médoc stretches northwest from the city of Bordeaux along the left bank of the Gironde estuary.