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3 Bordeaux white wines under $20
by repubnews
FRANCE’S Bordeaux region might be best known for its outstanding (and often very affordable) red wines.
But did you know that many of these same winemakers also produce distinct white wines?
This week, you can learn more about them – history, grape varieties, wine growing regions, etc. – along with tasting notes for three Bordeaux white wines.
Best of all, the three wines recommended this week – along with many other white wines from Bordeaux – each cost less than $20 a bottle.
Hope you enjoy.
• History
People have been making wine in France’s Bordeaux region for roughly 2,000 years. But whether those wines were white wines isn’t exactly clear.
What I do know is some of Bordeaux’s most popular white wine grapes (more on them in a bit) have been grown in Bordeaux starting at least in the early 1700s, according to the outstanding wine reference book, “Wine Grapes,” by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamaz.
• Grape varieties
Compared to red wine, white wine production in Bordeaux is a drop in the bucket. (Pun intended.)
Approximately 10% of all wine that comes from Bordeaux is white wine. However, since Bordeaux produces roughly 158 million gallons of wine each year, that’s still nearly 16 million gallons of Bordeaux white wine.
Two types of grapes account for the vast majority of white wine produced in Bordeaux – semillon and sauvignon blanc. Semillon makes up roughly 45% of Bordeaux’s white wine vines, followed closely by sauvignon blanc at 43%. The third most common white wine grape in Bordeaux is muscadelle (5%).
Many times, winemakers in Bordeaux blend together these three grapes to make many of their white wines as well as Bordeaux’s famous (and absolutely delicious) dessert wine, Sauterne. However, in recent years, some winemakers in Bordeaux have started creating wines using just one grape –sauvignon blanc.
• Growing regions Within Bordeaux, certain subregions are known for their white wines. Specifically, there are 12 AOCs (French abbreviation for a term used to describe wine grown in a specific location) in Bordeaux that produce white wines, according to the Wine Association of Bordeaux. In general, all of these
