Regional Blends / Wine Basics

Wine Baby’s Guide to: White Bordeaux Blends

Although the phrase “Bordeaux Blend” may conjure up images of powerful and elegant reds, the white blends that come out of Bordeaux are also incredible in quality, despite making up approximately only 10% of the wine produced there.

Bordeaux produces both sweet and dry white wines, but in this article we will be focussing on the dry style. The sweet nectar known as “Sauternes” will be covered off in depth when we dive into our series on sweet wines.

White Bordeaux blends, also known as Bordeaux Blanc, are a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, occasionally with some Muscadelle as well, but not always. The different amounts of each grape used determines what the overall style of the wine will be. As a result, there are two distinct styles of white Bordeaux available: fruity and light, or rich and full.

The fruity and light style is the most widely available, but the rich and full style is the most sought after, and from the highest quality vineyards. Try both and see which style you prefer!

Tasting White Bordeaux Blends

A white Bordeaux blend is greater than just the sum of it’s parts, so let’s talk about what each of the players brings to the table.

Semillon is one of the two key building blocks in this formula, and can account for up to 50-75% of the blend. It provides a solid base of texture and age-ability, but on it’s own, it lacks acidity and isn’t very aromatic.

That’s where Sauvignon Blanc comes in. It provides that needed zip and bursts of fresh citrus notes. Classic Bordeaux whites need to contain at least 25% Sauvignon Blanc.

Although Sauvignon Blanc is also extremely common throughout the world as a single varietal wine, it doesn’t have much to give in the way of long-term aging. Blending it with Semillon really takes it to that next level.

Together, they are much more rich, complex, and age-worthy than either would be on their own, even at the highest quality.

Those highly sought-after rich and full blends, with their creamy textures, are going to be composed of a much higher ratio of Semillon, whereas the lighter and fruitier blends will place more emphasis on Sauvignon Blanc and will bring in some Muscadelle as well.

Let’s run through what to expect in a tasting, shall we?

Colour

Most young white Bordeaux is going to be pale gold in colour, even edging into the realm of gold-green for those particularly fresh styles.

Because this is a bottle you can hold on to for quite some time, you will see that older ones will start to shift more towards rich gold tones and into amber.

Nose

White Bordeaux blends are a beautiful combination of contrasting aromas as a result of the two very different grapes used to produce it.

Sauvignon Blanc is going to give us fresh citrus notes and hints of grass. Whereas Semillon leans more towards yellow peaches, chamomile, beeswax and saline.

As a result, our fruity and light blends are going to burst with aromas of grapefruit, lemon, gooseberry, lime, hints of grass and gravel, and are rounded out with notes of honey and honeysuckle flowers.

The richer blends, on the other hand, will emphasize creamy aromas of baked orchard fruit, caramelized citrus, ginger, figs, lemon butter, and chamomile. With age, these wines will also amp up the honey notes even further, along with butterscotch notes and even a bit of spice.

Palate

On the palate, this blend is going to be very well balanced. The Sauvignon Blanc brings the acidity, and the Semillon brings the body. It will feel lighter or fuller depending on the percentages in the blend, but it will never feel weak.

As discussed at the beginning, the wines we are talking about today are dry, but there is a very well-known sweet wine that relies on the same grapes, called Sauternes.

Both Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon sit in the medium alcohol range.

Pairing

So what should you be pairing with this standout? You’ll want a dish that plays into the fresher side of things, but without so much acidity that it overshadows the acidity in the wine, thus making it taste dull.

You can certainly get fancy with this one, along the lines of lobster or oysters, but you can also get away with something as casual as fish tacos. How about something in the middle? Buttered or blackened cod would both be good options.

Additionally, dishes involving basil, avocado, lime, or garlic would all do well. You want it to be flavourful, just not a punch in the mouth. Let the wine do the talking.

SHOPPING FOR WHITE BORDEAUX BLENDS

Just head straight to the French section of your local liquor store to start. I don’t know if I know of any other countries that can truly pull of an imitation.

Within the Bordeaux wine region, the most well-known area for white blends is going to be the Graves district, named for it’s gravelly soils, although it does produce red wines as well.

Within Graves, there are two highly notable appelations: Sauternes for the sweet whites, and Pessac-Leognan, which produces the absolute highest quality dry whites. But anywhere within Graves is a great place to look for these blends.

Another option is Entre-Deux-Mers, which is south-east of the city of Bordeaux. It produces quite a bit of white Bordeaux as well.

The classification ranking system in Bordeaux seems to be much more specific when it comes to the reds, but it’s still worth knowing that “Bordeaux AOC” is going to be the beginning tier, “Bordeaux Superieur” is above that, and if you can get your hands on a bottle that specifies it’s exact production location, well then you’re really winning.

Want to learn about red Bordeaux next? Check it out here.

Want to learn more about Sauvignon Blanc? Check out my Wine Baby’s Guide to Sauvignon Blanc, here.

Have you tried any white Bordeaux yet? Have you been lucky enough to snag any from Pessac-Leognan? Let me know in the comments!