Golden wine

and pebbles

Graves The appellation covers more than 3,800 hectares. Annual production: 170,000 hectolitres, i.e. roughly 23 million bottles, 2/3 of which are graves reds. The remaining (...) 7 offer(s)

You are here: Graves and Sauternes

The name "Graves" comes from the soil in this land, composed of pebble "gravel" polished by the river, which is narrower than it used to be. The graves are the pebbles that sometimes reach as far as the vines. The other specific feature of this terroir is the development of a "noble" fungus on the white grapes, allowing them to caramelise on the vine. This fungus is called botrytis cinerea, and the visual impression it leaves is of the grapes being covered with ash.

Sauternes’ debt to the River Ciron

The development of botrytis cinerea is encouraged by the mists and dew created by the Ciron, the river running through the area and ending up at the River Garonne in Barsac – another sweet white AOC. This river is pleasant to go down in a canoe, with its gallery of trees and small limestone gorges... Or you could take a houseboat down the canal running parallel to the Garonne. Take your time, you’ll love it!

Pessac-Léognan: urban vines

In the north of the appellation - southwest of Bordeaux - you will notice that the châteaux* that produce Pessac-Léognan wines have vines mingling in an extraordinary way with the urban buildings. On that subject, we recommend a visit to the Cité Frugès, in Pessac, the first urban complex dreamed up by Le Corbusier, the visionary architect. The museum-house will convince you of this.

Montesquieu in his castle in La Brède

In another style altogether, Château de La Brède, built from 1306, was the family home of Baron de Montesquieu, the author of the famous Lettres persanes and L’esprit des lois and incidentally something of a wine conoisseur. The castles of Roquetaillade in Mazères, Mongenan in Portets and Malle in Preignac can also be visited.

Also worthy of note…

Pessac golf course, the holes of which are sponsored by the local châteaux, for example Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Martillac, which itself is a grand cru château, a luxury hotel and a vinotherapy centre with Les Sources de Caudalie: refinement guaranteed. Maison Lillet in Podensac is original and can be visited... you will be tempted by the eponymous Bordeaux aperitif. Something completely different: the website of the tourist office (www.sauternais-graves-langon.com) is brimming over with information, for example the camper van areas available in the wine region.

* this is an opportunity to explain that the word "château" (castle) is specific to the Bordeaux region when it means a wine estate. Many vineyard owners built castles on their land. Some of them are historic (Margaux, Lynch-Bages or Pichon-Longueville in the Médoc, Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Graves, Monbazillac in Bergerac), but they should not be confused with the fortresses of the Middle Ages (Roquetaillade, Villandraut or Bonaguil) or with Renaissance castles.

Oenopacks	Hear it first	Oenopacks
On donkey-back! An original trip in the Basque Country	That’s enough theory, now it’s time for practice From harvesting to blending…	UNESCO Grands Crus Bordeaux and Saint-Emilion
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