New Bordeaux dry whites to look out for. 

An often overlooked category, representing just 9% of the production of Bordeaux, although across 12 different appellations, dry whites just seems to be getting better and better and more and more exciting. 

The big news this year in White Bordeaux is the release of a second white wine from Château Margaux. There’s nothing new about second wines in Bordeaux. Often a way to ensure the quality of the first wine remains excellent but also a more affordable and more approachable wine for punters whilst waiting for the first wine to be ready to drink. 

White wines are rare in the Médoc, there is no specific white appellation here (yet) and they are sold as AOC Bordeaux Blanc or Vin de France for the more adventurous blends – see below. Given the prestige of some of the labels, price wise however they tend to hit well above the average of the appellation. 

Château Margaux has produced a white wine since the 1600s, introducing the name Pavillon Blanc in the 1920s. Only 10 000 bottles of this 100% Sauvignon Blanc are produced on average. Fermentation starts in the small stainless steel tanks in the dedicated, and very cool, Norman Foster cellar built in 2015. The wines finish their fermentation and age on their lees for eight months in new French oak.  

As the selection of Pavillon Blanc becomes more and more rigorous, both in the field and in the cellar, the chateau announced the release of a second white wine in January this year (2024). 2022 is the first vintage of ‘Le Deuxième Vin de Pavillon Blanc’. Also 100% Sauvignon Blanc accessible earlier but with a drinking window of 20  years. 8000 bottles were released onto the Place de Bordeaux. 

They are not the only Medoc château to introduce a second white wine. Château Lagrange, Classified growth of Saint Julien has been producing  Les Arums de Lagrange, since 1996, from white vines planted on Haut Médoc land. Dominated by Sauvignon Blanc, it is blended with some Sémillon and some Sauvignon Gris. It has been so successful, extra land was purchased specifically for white plantations and in 2011 they introduced a second wine Les Fleurs du Lac. Both wines named after the arum lilies that grow around the lake in front of the château. 

There be dragons 

I discovered a new, and very hard to find ‘Margaux’ white in 2023, so hard to find, last year you had to go to Chateau Marquis d’Alesme to taste it. Which is not a hardship as they serve it by the glass in their delicious restaurant La Table de Nathalie. 2022 was the first vintage of Saam Long, an ‘experimental’ new white wine. 

The name reflects the Asian heritage of the chateau owners (and the decoration of the fabulous cellars) and translates to ‘three dragons’ referring to the non-Bordeaux blend of three grape varieties  Chardonnay, Alvarinho and Petit Manseng. They are putting the finishing touches to the final blend and the label of the 2023 – watch this space for more news. 

To learn more about whites from the Medoc, you can find a round-up of some of my favourites here.

Château Guiraud announced last week the release of the 2023 vintage of G de Guiraud, the dry white that dates back to the 1980s. Certified organic like the rest of the vineyard, a plot by plot selection is made from ripe berries before the arrival of noble rot. The blend is 60% Sémillon and 40% Sauvignon Blanc as you would expect from the Sauternes terroir. Unusually for Bordeaux white, some of the selection undergoes malolactic fermentation.

It is aged for six months on the lees with regular stirring. 50% is in stainless steel to keep the vibrant freshness and 50% is in barrels previously used to age the Grand Vin de Sauternes, which gives a fabulous mouth feel and a hint of sweetness. 

Guiraud has taken a different approach to introducing a new white label. Rather than introduce a second wine, with the 2020 vintage they went up-market introducing the Grand Vin Blanc Sec de Château Guiraud. A different label and a different bottle representing a top quality dry white. Selected from 16 ha of specific plots, it is fermented for 80% in barrels that previously held the Sauternes 1er Cru and 20% in new oak and then aged for 10 months. Dominated by Sémillon, around 11000 bottles are produced. The 2022 Grand Vin Blanc Sec 2022 will be released end March – again watch this  space for more news. 

There’s still descent in the ranks as to whether there should be a dry white appellation specific to the terroir of Sauternes and Barsac, but while the debate rages, please check out here a selection of some of my favourite dry whites from the region. 

Small but perfectly formed and constantly evolving the dry whites of Bordeaux, even from unexpected corners of the region are worth exploring.

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