Bordeaux Blanc - a Bit of History

Photo credit: By Alison Parks-Whitfield - originally posted to Flickr as SemillonBlancBunch5, CC BY 2.0,

With the wine region in Bordeaux France having over 2000 years of history, the changes to the vineyards and wines over time have been significant. At one time, the Bordeaux region was abundant with white wine grapes; Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, and Sauvignon Gris are a few.

The Bordeaux region suffered a great loss in 1956 when the spring weather delivered a number of violent frosts to the vineyards. The damage was so devastating that entire vineyards needed to be torn up and replanted. The decision was made to replace many of the white grapes, which are more fragile ,with heartier red grape vines such as Cabernet Sauvignon. (Being the love child of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon wasn’t born until the 1600’s.)

This caused the decline of Bordeaux Blanc. Today production of white wine, according to Wikipedia, has shrunk to about one tenth of Bordeaux's total production.

Unlike a red Bordeaux wine, which is a blend of any of 5 noble grapes, Bordeaux Blanc has 2 primary grapes. The grapes are Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc respectively.

I have high hopes for PA white wine grapes and have found a vineyard in central PA who grows Sémillon. If they grow enough to sell, I could blend with my favorite Lanza Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc to make my own white Bordeaux style blend.

Sounds like a road trip to taste PA Sémillon is in my near future!

Santé,

Sharon