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Bordeaux is red, right? It’s Cabernet isn’t it? It’s so much fun to surprise visitors to Bordeaux with wines they are not expecting. I do not wish to deflect from the glory from some of the great Cabernet-driven wines of the Left Bank but there is often a preconception amongst visitors that Bordeaux is all about Cabernet.
Check out the percentages of current red plantings and you’ll see the error. 63% of Bordeaux planting is currently under Merlot and only 25% under Cabernet Sauvignon. 11% is Cabernet Franc and the remaining 1%, for those if you doing the maths, is Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenère.
Given that, as I type, the first white grapes are now making their way into the cellars this is a great time to look at the white wine production. It’s relatively small, only 11% of Bordeaux vineyard land is planted to white grapes. The dry white wine production, coming in at around 70 million bottles accounts for the lion’s share of this (8% compared to 3% for sweet wines of total Bordeaux vineyards).
This is a dramatic change – only 60 years ago white grapes represented half of Bordeaux planting. So why the change? White grapes were originally planted in the 17th century to supply the Dutch, much of which was destined for distillation. The big production area was the Entre-Deux-Mers, which is still uniquely a dry white wine appellation, despite the fact that the area is now the powerhouse for red Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur production.
In 1956, Bordeaux was hit by a severe frost and this area particularly suffered, obliging farmers to uproot vines destroyed by the cold. Responding to the demand for Bordeaux reds (yes the Bordelais do listen to market forces), farmers replanted with red varietals. This also explains the dominance of Merlot mentioned earlier; the soils of the Entre deux Mers region have a limestone subsoil with varying depths of clay and some patches of gravel but it is really clay that dominates the ‘terroir’ making the planting of Cabernet Sauvignon a risky business if you want your red grapes to ripen – which is the objective after all. With the memory of the frosts, there was a push in the 70’s to plant later-budding Cabernet on these soils as they are more frost-resistant, but this was soon abandoned in favour of the Merlot to meet the demand for the more easy-drinking fruit driven wines which it produces on these soils.
Dry whites may be in a minority in Bordeaux but the incredible rise in the quality of these wines astounds newcomers. As for the reds, most Bordeaux whites are blends. The majority of planting is Semillon; 53% against 38% for Sauvignon Blanc and 6% of Muscadelle and again, for those of you with the calculator handy, 3% of a few lesser-known varietals. It was in the 1990’s that Professor Denis Dubordieu and his team at the Bordeaux Faculty of Oenology first identified the molecular structures that give the characteristic citrus and vegetal aromas responsible for the aromatic complexity of Sauvignon Blanc. Once identified, it was then a matter of experimentation to find out how to increase, enhance and preserve these precious molecules, be it in the field, in the cellar or in the bottle.
It’s easy to recognise the influence this research has had by tasting many of the dry whites of Bordeaux from the Entre-Deux-Mers to the Graves and Pessac-Léognan. This is one of the examples of how research and development at the faculty is quickly shared throughout the Bordeaux wine making community by the actions of the wine consultants, of which Denis Debourdieu is one, as well as the training programmes initiated by the CIVB. The Bordeaux Wine Council co sponsors much of the R & D in Bordeaux to the tune of 1.3 million Euros on both the agricultural and wine making side.
Dry whites are popping up all over. Outside of the classic appellations of Bordeaux Blanc, Entre deux Mers, Graves and Pessac-Léognan, don’t forget the Côtes appellations and even in the sacrosanct land of red – the Medoc. Along side the famous Pavillon Blanc and Aile d’Argent, look out for Les Arums de Lagrange and Caillou Blanc amongst others. These dry white wines are delightful young and those that have enjoyed barrel fermentation and battonage offer lovely ageing potential and, in the main, represent wonderful value for money. More and more Bordeaux Blanc are available in screw caps, such as Château de Sours and Chateau Bauduc from the Entre-Deux-Mers, which seems to be the perfect closure for these wines that are best served young, but also some of the more venerable whites from the Pessac Léognan stable of André Lurton , Château La Louvière and Château Couhins-Lurton, are available in screw cap along side his Château Bonnet.