I’ve started to think that as a region, Bordeaux is done no favors by the fawning attention given its great classified growths. This isn’t meant to take anything away from the Cheval Blancs, the Margaux, the Lafites and all their friends and neighbors.
These are, after all, the most justly fabled Chateaux in the world, and their stature is colossal. But so is their shadow. With the miles of ink lavished on them in the press, and with their relative rarity and stratospheric expense, it is difficult to remember that Bordeaux is a huge and varied region, with perhaps the widest range of wine styles and wine prices in the world. So here’s to the little guys, who have a history all their own, and make up for their lack of stature and reputation with typicity, simplicity, affordability, and even charm.
During a recent trip to Bordeaux I was able to re-acquaint myself with one of the region’s least heralded areas, the Entre Deux Mers. This is the inland region sculpted into a somewhat irregular wedge by the two rivers that give it its name, the Pyrenees-sourced Garonne to the west and the Massif-Centrale-sourced Dordogne to the east.
It’s best known for its whites (we’ll see why in a moment) and those whites are almost certainly France’s best bang for the buck — and we’re really talking about just a few bucks, like less than ten — hard to believe in the pays de Petrus.
Entre Deux Mers may be among Bordeaux’s least heralded regions, but it’s probably its most beautiful area, with rolling hills, bucolic pastureland, and quiet woodland, not to mention countless streams crisscrossing the countryside. Often we drove past vast flowering mustard fields, a brilliant cheery yellow, coming one day to a saucisson near you.
Because Entre Deux Mers whites are so inexpensive they have been traditionally served as café wines in France, or are sold in the supermarché. In Entre Deux Mers only the whites get to put their place of origin on the label (the reds are labeled merely Bordeaux).
Like Bordeaux reds, these whites are almost always blends from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle, with the latter providing some aromatics, the Sauvignon the nerve and the acid, and the Semillon the heft and the body. A small number employ Sauvignon Gris, which is gaining in popularity and offers aromatics that resemble Muscadet and body closer to Semillon.
Because of the two river sources, the soils are a curious mélange of Right Bank and Left Bank, a hodgepodge of gravels, clays and limestone that can make finding an identity or through-line to the wines difficult at times. For many years this was confounded by an injudicious use of oak, in order to have them resemble their counterparts in Graves — but oak tended to strip the life out of the wine. Now, however, producers are easing back on the oak and making fresher, tenser, more lively wines, with a lovely minerality and an unexpected vibrancy — immediacy, from a region whose pleasures usually require patience and cellaring.
I tasted a few over the week I was in the region and enjoyed them all, but only when I had the opportunity to taste several alongside one another at a tasting organized by the Syndicat Viticole d’Entre Deux Mers did I begin to appreciate the range that the region has to offer. With one exception, these are family operations, making relatively small productions. The notes for these wines are below.
All of the wines are from the 2005 vintage, and were quoted at five Euros, which translates to the $8-10 range as imports. All bear the appellation Entre Deux Mers, a designation solely for white wines. All but the ‘Fleur’ are imported to the U.S., but their importers were not provided. (Wine exports in Bordeaux are an extremely convoluted business involving many brokers and middlemen — even at this bargain level. Many producers I spoke with weren’t even sure who in the U.S. was selling their wines.
As these are value wines, I decided not to score them. All of the wines recommended are worth seeking out. A few, marked with an asterisk, are ones I consider exceptional values.
The tasting notes are organized by chateau name, proprietor, village and blend.
Chateau Mylord, Michel Large, Grezillac: 40 percent Muscadelle, 30 percent each Sauvignon and Semillon — stalwart and four-square, with a hint of peach aroma; broadly peachy in flavor, with good structure.
* Chateau Martinon, Jerome Trolliet, Gornac: 60 percent Semillon, 30 Sauvignon, 10 Muscadelle — very tropical with mango and pineapple scents overlaying a grassy accent. Expressive and rich on the palate, good snap to the acidity.
Chateau Castenet Greffier, Francois Greffier, Auriolles: 70 percent Sauvignon, 15 each Semillon and Muscadelle — mostly Sauvignon, it has a lovely floral honeysuckle scent, and its flavors are reminiscent of honeyed pears.
Chateau Tour de Mirambeau, J.L. Despagne, Naufan et Postiac: one-third each Semillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle — a very rich wine that smells of passion fruit and a youthful, grapey fruit character.
Fleur, Cave Cooperative, Rauzan: 55 percent Sauvignon, 45 Semillon — the Fleur lable has a distinctive yellow ‘fleur’ on a green background. Very spring-like, like the wine, with a fresh herbal scent and simple apple flavors.
* Chateau de Fontenille, Stephane Defraine, La Sauve Majeure: 30 percent Sauvignon, 35 Semillon, 20 Muscadelle, 15 Sauvignon Gris — a beautiful wine, with almost Loire-like delicacy. High-toned, with scents of white flowers, its fruit character is more delicate than its counterparts, with melon flavors spiced with anise.
Domaine de Ricaud, Vignobles Chaigne, St. Laurent du Bois: 40 percent Sauvignon, 50 Semillon, 10 Muscadelle — Sauvignon informs the character of this wine, with grassy herbal scents and green apple flavors.
* Chateau Nardique la Graviere, Philippe Therese, St. Genes de Lombaud: 45 Sauvignon, 50 Semillon and 5 Muscadelle — classic Bordelais Sauvignon, with pretty green herb notes, crisp as the snap of a celery stalk; on the palate it’s broader, richer, more generous, with ample peach fruit and a crisp close.
* Chateau Moulin de Launay, C&B Greffier, Soussac: 35 Sauvignon, 45 Semillon, 20 Muscadelle — surprisingly ‘built’ for a little wine, it leads with scents of dried pear and apple, with a touch of green herb; pear flavors round out the palate, with a clean, precise snap to the acids that give the wine a lovely vibrancy.