White Bordeaux can be a bit of an enigma. With these often-overlooked wines, the question is how to establish their place in today’s wine world. Looking at the history of Bordeaux’s dry white wines and their evolution over the past 30 years, this paper examines the Bordeaux growing environment, the vineyard, the winegrowing, and the cellar considerations critical to the production of high-quality dry white wines. It also addresses the challenges and opportunities facing the white wines from a region so lauded and famed for its long-lived red wines.
Until the end of the 1950s, there were more plantings of white grapes than red in Bordeaux—and white wine accounted for more than 60% of total wine production. As far back as the 18th century, Bordeaux had a history of producing high volumes of white wine, much of which was exported to Holland and other places for distillation. Of course, some of these plantings were for the great sweet white wines of Sauternes, Barsac, and other areas of Bordeaux.
Source: CIVB
Fast-forward to 1957, when a frost devastated much of the Bordeaux vineyard land, necessitating a major replanting. The combination of a shift in consumer tastes toward red wine, the existing reputation of Bordeaux for great red wine, and a better understanding of which grapes are best suited to different terroirs resulted in a major swing in favor of planting red grapes, in particular Merlot.
As of 2019, there were 12,000 hectares of white grapes planted in Bordeaux, representing just 11% of the total planted vineyard area. Plantings specifically for dry white wines accounted for 8% of the total plantings (just over 9,000 hectares), and the volume of dry white accounted for about 9.2% of all Bordeaux wine produced.
Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc plantings were equal in 2019, each representing about 46% of total white grapes planted. The remaining 8% comprises Muscadelle, Sauvignon Gris, and smaller
Thanks for the wonderful paper Mary, the SWOT analysis was especially helpful. I had a quick question about Semillon. Apart from your paper, I’ve read several sources that all say the grape enhances the ageing potential of dry white Bordeaux but it’s never specified in what way. Is it that Semillon brings higher levels of acidity and lowers the wine’s pH,, or it brings more extract, or more interesting flavours with age, or something completely different? Thanks again.
Great paper, thanks Mary! I found your mention of there being no strong brand in the $20-30 range especially illuminating. It seems like something a producer with means could easily do, even if it was just bottled under a basic Bordeaux or Graves AOP.