Once upon a time, quite a lot of white wine was made in Médoc. Then it was banned. Or, to be more precise, the eight appellations of the Médoc Peninsula can only be used for red wines. A small production of white continued but not with the prestigious appellation.
You can make white wine in Médoc, and several châteaux do (Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux, Talbot, Fourcas-Hosten, Cos d’Estournel, etc.) but the white wines can only be sold with the appellation Bordeaux.
Demand for white wines is increasing in the world and next year, 2023, an AOP Médoc Blanc will in all probability be introduced. It is expected that this AOP can be used by the châteaux in all eight appellations (Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis, Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, Saint Estèphe).
There are currently 169 hectares of white grapes planted on the Médoc peninsula. From this, 800,000 bottles are made. If we go back 90 years, around 2 million bottles of white wine were made in Médoc. Soon we may be there again. The white wines made by the Médoc châteaux today are ambitious wines that are quite close in price to their red wines.
Read more: vitisphere
Travel: Come on a wine tour to Bordeaux with BKWine.
