Geography

Pessac-Léognan sits in the Graves region just south of the city of Bordeaux. The appellation was carved out of the larger Graves AOC in 1987 to recognize the historical superiority of its gravelly-soil vineyards (Pessac and Léognan are the two principal communes). The terroir is dominated by deep gravelly mounds — Graves means ‘gravels’ in French — which provide excellent drainage and force vine roots deep. The appellation is the only one in Bordeaux that produces both serious red and serious dry white wine.

Classification

The 1959 Cru Classé des Graves classifies certain châteaux for red wine, for white wine, or for both. Château Haut-Brion is the great property — classified as a First Growth in the original 1855 Médoc classification (the only non-Médoc First Growth) and one of the great Bordeaux estates of any classification. Other classified producers: Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Château Pape Clément, Domaine de Chevalier, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Château Carbonnieux, Château Olivier.

Style of the wines

Pessac-Léognan reds are typically more Cabernet-dominant than Right Bank Merlot wines and show a distinctive cedary-graphite-tobacco profile alongside the standard Bordeaux blackcurrant. The reds drink slightly earlier than top Médoc but can also age fifty-plus years from the top properties. The dry whites — primarily Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends, sometimes with Muscadelle — are some of the most serious dry whites made: structured, oak-aged, with twenty-plus years of aging potential. Haut-Brion Blanc is a legendary white wine.

How they age

Château Haut-Brion from a great vintage ages forty to sixty years. La Mission Haut-Brion similar. Top dry whites — particularly Haut-Brion Blanc and the white wines of Smith Haut Lafitte, Carbonnieux, Olivier — age twenty-five years or more.

Producers we know

Château Haut-Brion, Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Château Pape Clément, Domaine de Chevalier, Château Smith Haut Lafitte (which is also one of the most sustainable estates in Bordeaux), Château Carbonnieux.