Bordeaux Blanc

Southeast of Bordeaux, in the land of Sauternes, the modest, meticulous, and ageless Hervé Dubourdieu makes both dessert and dry whites that have been among our best values for decades. This Bordeaux blanc is made from old Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle vines planted in complex soils of clay and limestone on the fissured rock. The wine is bone-dry, even if your first whiff of sunny, slightly tropical fruit leads you to expect otherwise. On the palate, it is luscious and mouth-coating with generous passion fruit and lychee, and yet it is racy at the same time—constructed along a sturdy spine of chalk and acidity, it bears the classic Sauvignon Blanc notes of lime and grass. This blanc is astoundingly versatile at the table.