Editorial
The conditions for a return of Bordeaux white wine
White wine is back; it is even said to be preferred by 90% of consumers! It remains in 2025 the favourite wine colour of the French. A trend apparently largely carried by the 25-36 age group, probably occasional consumers of tannin-free wines who will therefore demand no laborious exegesis. Hence also the emergence of blancs de noirs — particularly on red-wine land — with more “white” profiles (see “Spotlight” and “Échos de Bordeaux”). The champion of champions remains Chardonnay, preferred by 39% of consumers, followed by Pinot Noir (28%) and Merlot (27%), Cabernet Sauvignon (23%), Riesling (19%) and then Sauvignon Blanc (17%)*. Everything suggests that the Sauvignon Blanc cited here refers more to a Sancerre or Touraine than a Pessac interpretation of the great variety.
What happened for Bordeaux not to establish itself in wine lovers’ minds as an unquestionable land of white(s)? In “Industry Voices”, Stéphanie Marchand of the ISVV and Julien Belle of Œnoteam answer this question at length, extol the intrinsic qualities (to be rediscovered) of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, devise some plans to get out of the crisis and ask about the necessary reinterpretation of these varieties. At industry level, we call for a vast consultation, a forum on Bordeaux white wines in all their fine diversity.
A question of interpretation
Neither karst peaks, nor Loire tuffeau, nor schist or slate on the horizon, but terroirs still to be pinned down, to be better delimited. Meticulous ageing with better lees management will still be greatly needed to define the new organoleptic profiles of Gironde whites and to refute the received idea that the former land of white wines boils down to the sole existence of a thiolic, conventional Sauvignon Blanc or a Sémillon without vivacity. Wines that will therefore be reserved for those limiting moments of the aperitif — where they will fight tooth and nail with a few indelicate rosés — or of the oyster slurped at the corner of a counter. We are entitled to think, as Stéphanie Marchand and Julien Belle also put it quite rightly, that Bordeaux whites will rise from their ashes when they (re)find their place at the table.
Whites sometimes keep their promise
A recent blind tasting of Corbières white wines allowed us to marvel at the variety and overall quality of ample, complex and above all fresh nectars. Apart from the delicate wines made from Marsanne, Roussanne and Vermentino, we noticed the return to favour of a perfectly adapted Grenache Blanc. A tasting that gave, throughout, the impression that the offer was incredibly rich, diverse and yet always perfectly distinctive, with wines most often destined for the table.
One finds oneself dreaming that the white-wine makers of the Gironde will put on their researchers’ hats to deliver ripe, ample and fresh wines and sketch, by implication, a strong identity of wines from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris. The Bdx le jus blanc from the unclassifiable Derenoncourt marks one of the great returns of whites with a slender, fresh silhouette.
Whites have the wind in their sails: may Bordeaux reinterpret its grape varieties at will and let itself be carried by this invigorating breeze!
Faithfully yours.
Henry Clemens
Publication Director
(*) Wine & Spirits Market | 15 Figures & 5 Trends 2025
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