Best Bordeaux White Wines Worth Seeking Out (for the money)

IntoWine asked our panel of experts to share their recommendations for the best Bordeaux white wines for the buck:

We don’t typically think of Bordeaux and white wine. Bordeaux is known for red wines. But there is a small island of white that is in fact quite good and entirely worth its price. Bordeaux white wines typically sell for a fraction of what a red wine from the same chateau would cost. The traditional grapes included in the region’s white wines are Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanc, and Colombard. Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc are the two grape varieties used for dry white wines. A good example of what Bordeaux does when it’s not making age-worthy and collectible red wines is the Grand Village Blanc, made by Chateau Lafleur. The rich tree fruit of the Semillon (apples and pears) carries the racy citrus of the Sauvignon Blanc to an invigorating finish. At about $15, it is worth seeing what the red wine kings have hidden in their treasure chest. – Ben Spencer is a diploma student with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and an IntoWine Featured Writer.

----------------------------------------

White Bordeaux. Grand Bateau composed of 75% of Sauvignon Blanc and 25% of Semillon and for under $20 a bottle is a great pick from the white Bordeaux category. Classic aromatics of SB (freshly cut grass, tangy kiwi, flint) are nicely rounded off by the richer flavors of ripe tropical fruit contributed by the Semillon grape. We serve it at La Folie restaurant where it is harmoniously paired with our salads and crab. - Cezar Kusik, IntoWine Featured Contributor

----------------------------------------

Bordeaux can be expensive and there are some very nice wines out there for under $20. I am going to recommend spending a bit more and looking for Chateau Carbonnieux. This wine costs around $30 a bottle, and to my palate, is one of the great values in Bordeaux whites. It is a complex wine that will age for a decade or longer. It can be drunk young as well. It is from the graves area of Bordeaux where the best dry white wines are from. - Loren Sonkin, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder/Winemaker at Sonkin Cellars.

Top 75 French Wines to Try Before You Quit Drinking (a non-dump bucket list if you will!)

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. Sometimes, it is because these wines are very rare. Other times, it’s because the wine has a place in history. Sometimes it’s because the wine is just that good. Here is a list of 75 wines from France that make up that category. A few caveats. I have not tried every wine on this list. Some I have and others I hope to. Many of these wines are rare and hard to find. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on the list. After all, if the opportunity presents itself, go for it.

Read full article

Bordeaux Wine Region in France: World's Most Famous Fine Wine Region

Bordeaux is arguably the greatest wine region in the world. Great cellars around the world are filled with wines from the different chateaus of the region. America’s first wine connoisseur, Thomas Jefferson, not only drank wines from here, but made it a point to visit the region and see for himself what made these wines so great.

Read full article

Bordeaux Classifications

The 57 appellations of Bordeaux are not classified in a single official ranking. But the Médoc, Sauternes and Barsac, Graves, and Saint-Emilion districts do have their own official internal classification systems. Pomerol, one of Bordeaux's greatest assets, was not included in the 1855 Classification, and remains unclassified to this day. However, Château Pétrus is often included with the First Growths (Premiers Crus) of the 1855 Classification. The Classification of 1855 Much like our World's Fair today, Napoléon III's 1855 Expositon Universelle de Paris was a chance for France to display its very best for the world to see. The Gironde Chamber of Commerce requested that a classification system be devised to accompany their display of the fine wines of Bordeaux. 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.

Read full article

Aging Wine, Part II: Five Wines Worth the Wait

Well-aged wine. The very thought of it stirs the spirit and whets the tongue. Older wine takes on a special character in our minds – not only has it been preserved over time, often lovingly tended by a patient caretaker, but it is a vestige of an era long past. It bears memories of the time when it was produced, the time when it was purchased, and all the time since when you’ve been waiting to enjoy it. There’s simply something special about old wine that captures our fancy in a way that new wine doesn’t.

Read full article

Best Bordeaux Red Wine (For the Money)

IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts for their recommendation for the best Bordeaux Red (for the money): As Bordeaux classified growths have all hit stratospheric price levels in recent vintages, this becomes more and more of an impossible quest for those of us who still follow the Bordeaux scene—albeit with a lot less of our own money than we used to. The average price of the nearly 10 dozen Bordeaux poured at this year’s Union des Grands Cru Bordeaux event was north of $75—more than most Americans would ever pay for a bottle of wine. I’ve tasted through a great many of the highly touted 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux, and can only really recommend a handful of very relative bargains. The best price-to-quality performer among the classed growths in 2010 is second growth Château Gruaud Larose, whose delicious offering I rated 94.5 points. Its average U.S. price currently is “only” $97. My very top value pick from the vintage, and one that I grabbed a case of, is Graves-based Château de Chantegrive ($23). Other solid choices for QPR in 2010 are Pomerol’s Château La Pointe ($55); St. Émilion’s Château Grand Mayne ($53) and Château Berliquet ($43). - Richard Jennings, IntoWine.com Featured Contributor and the Founder RJonWine.com

Read full article

Best Bordeaux White Wines Worth Seeking Out (for the money)

Food and Wine Pairing Tool

Related Articles

Top 75 French Wines to Try Before You Quit Drinking (a non-dump bucket list if you will!)

Bordeaux Wine Region in France: World's Most Famous Fine Wine Region

Bordeaux Classifications

Aging Wine, Part II: Five Wines Worth the Wait

Best Bordeaux Red Wine (For the Money)