Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Wsdt events hub webinar thank you very Much for joining us This is the second one in their Three-part series uh in which wset is Collaborating with the kansai Interprofessional duvan de bordeaux Very pleased to be joined by sabine Silvestrini once again My name is joseph hallam i work in the Europe middle east and africa business Development team If you don’t know anything about wset Please do visit wset Global.com where you can find out all About the education and the courses that We provide on wine spirits and sake We are the organization to go to to take You from beginner level right the way Through to expert when it comes to the Drinks The drinks trade and its products A great way to combine tasting skills With new great varieties to learn about Different wine regions from around the World and how those wines are made So please do visit the website for more Information As i said we’re joined once again by Sabine silvestrini She is a third generation enologist and Wine grower of vino Villa Silvestrini and
Their winery consists of 36 hectares On the right bank of bordeaux so three Of the most prestigious appellations in The libourne So that’s the lussac de santa million uh Montan saint emilion and pomerol She’s also an accredited bordeaux Educator as well with the bordeaux wine School so without further ado i will Hand over to sabine to talk you through The white wines of bordeaux Hello i’m very glad to be with you today Again And uh we’re gonna speak of course about The five facts everyone professional Should know about whites in bordeaux Of course i’m gonna very uh quickly Introduce you to the board of vineyard Just to focus afterwards on border Whites uh i have a Question further on for you but just to Remind you um how things goes in Bordeaux and what kind of production we Have I’ve got uh some key data’s for you Just to remember that the The vineyard is about a hundred and ten Thousand hectares which is pretty much Uh 271 acres it’s the Largest aoc vineyard in france i’m not Saying about the largest Vineyard in Surface
But uh because the largest one in in France is the language But here in bordeaux we are meant to Produce aoc’s wine wines from controlled Um apparition of origin um the origin is Very important for us so we have about 65 appellations And of course We do produce two colors of grapes Either red grape varieties and white Grape varieties we talked about the the Red one grape varieties last week And And and about the different red wines And um wines that we could make out of The the red grapes uh so the red ones Represent about 85 percent we’re gonna Focus today on the uh let’s say Two persons uh Of uh sweet wine we produce we’re gonna Also speak about the Dry white wine which Is pretty much about Nine ten percent of our projection so Let’s remember that we have Um about 88 percent of red for 12 percent of White planted over the bordeaux area And Most of the estate here are still Family-run Represents about 65 percent Of the projection And
Of course um when we speak about the Family owned estate to give you an idea The average size is about 20 hectares It’s 19.8 exactly but it’s about 28 Hours so that’s the The most Important data that you should remember Last thing important is Nowadays the vineyard is really um Obviously A vineyard which is engaged in Environmentally friendly approach In 2021 we were 75 percent of the vineyard Area engaged in one of those Certification you know the most Important ones such as the the organic One the the hve the high Environmental value which is very Specific to the french market but also Um biodynamic the terra vitis with Sustainable battery culture so about 75 Percent of the vineyard is certified in Bordeaux If we want to focus um on white i’d like You to answer that question to start With do you have a An id in 1950s What percent of the border production Was white You have three answers possible it could Be 10 30 percent and 60 percent i’ll leave you
Guessed something I can see a few Answers and the right answer is 60 Percent I know it seems amazing i just told you That um bordeaux was about uh 12 percent Of white graphic is nowaday it’s just Because we had a huge frost In the 50s actually in 1956 And this huge frost uh changed totally Um the Plantation over the bordeaux area So we switched from a vineyard which was A with the majority of white crab Varieties to a vineyard which is Nowadays with a majority of red grape Varieties But the first Plantation and the the most ancient Properties estate that we Know in the history of bordeaux were Producing white wines not especially dry Whites but we were really focused on Sweet ones if you Look back to the 17th century with the the chateau de Camp we know we can find in the history That they’re the first Late harvest was pretty much at that Time at that period uh then of course There was a development of this process And it tended to become something very Uh traditional to wait for the noble Rock to settle on the grave varieties uh
Especially the semi young but we’re Gonna speak further on about the Gravities and um And Of course um the dry white appeared much Later In the 90s um there was a Wonderful Experiment done on how to Mature properly and Macerate properly the sauvignon blanc Those research were run by donny du Bordium the professor done divorce And thanks to his research we Understood how to Run much better the sauvignon blanc and We Started to make sauvignon blanc that was Much more Expressive on the nose much more vivid And we also learned how to um give some More mellowness to the sauvignon black And it was a huge turn In the history of dry whites in bordeaux Now We also have some studies going on for The typicity Of the aromas in in Sweet wines for example thanks to the Noble rot So that’s the type of studies we could Run at the moment of course we’re going To speak about those great varieties for You to understand what is specific from
Those whites in bordeaux Let’s uh Switch to the Following one and Just for you to know we have six Gravities that are loading border for Whites The main one used to be the semi young Then we used to have the sauvignon blanc And the muscadell i’m saying them in This order but nowaday the sauvignon Blanc is the major gravity we used to Have much more semiyon because this is The major gravity for sweet wines it Represents pretty much about 80 percent Of the blend in most of the sweet wines We produce here But because we know so Much more about the sauvignon blanc now That the production of sauvignon blanc Has increased a lot within the last 15 Years 20 years and so the major grape Variety in white now is the sauvignon Blanc so it’s about 47 of the production The great thing with the sauvignon blanc It’s it’s nearly ripening grape uh it Has a lots of freshness the acidity is Very Crisp And it gives very expressive nuts like On focused on Citrusy nuts it could be patient fruits It could be mango sometimes depending on How far we push the maturity
Then we also love the muscadell in Bordeaux the musketeers is quite rare in France it’s really uh something that you Would find here in bordeaux we love the Muscadell but it’s a very tricky gray Variety so It’s a leaf ripening grapes it’s quite Sensitive to the frost it’s sensitive to The mildew as well And so if you want to obtain great Results with the muscadel we definitely Need to Look uh look after it very carefully so Lower the yield But if is it the case and if you reach The perfect maturity the miscade is just Beautiful in terms of aromatic Expression in terms of A body that we would give to the wine It’s very mellow very soft so we love The miscade When we are on good terroir to mature it Properly We also have three other great varieties That are loaded for white and bordeaux They are the sauvignon li which to my Opinion is a great great variety because It’s a good mix between the semi young And the sauvignon blanc we love the semi Yarn for The The very elegant uh white flesh fruit Like peachy nuts like Akasha nuts it’s very flowery as well
And it’s very round and elegant so and The sauvignon li would be in between Uh the semion with this elegance and the Roundness and also the sauvignon blanc Because it could be quite vivid And and acidic in mouth so it’s a good Balance And when we want to make a hundred Percent Braved by it all the sauvignon grey is a Good solution for us The colombar and the uniblon are two Great varieties that we still produce in Bordeaux just because we’re not that far From charrot of course because it’s just At the border we mainly have those grey Varieties in blaco de bordeaux for Example or in in some parts of the Anthro de mer as well but those those Two gray varieties are are much more Planted in in the charon to make Bases wines that will be used for the Distinct elation So for us the iconic gravities are the Semion the sauvignon blanc and the Muscadell but the sauvignon ri has a Right Place at the moment To understand why We used to produce so much Dry white and why We have especially the whites focused or Located on between the two rivers the Darwin river and the garron river and on
The right bank of the dalton river it’s Important to understand that if you want To keep the freshness in white grape Varieties you definitely need some fresh Sauce and where do we have fresh soils In bordeaux On either the right bank of the gahan River or the right bank of the dordogne River because the left bank of the Gerhon river is mainly gravels the only White you would find on the gravel Source would be Um the grav and pesach on your Appellation which gave ones that are Very Elegant very full-bodied very um with a Very good uh aging potential as well And of course the very famous uh barsak And satan appellation that are located On the left bank of the gahan river Apart from that most of the whites that Are produced either in Dry whites or sweet whites would be on The right bank Of the garden river such as the anthro De mer the cadillac de bordeaux or in Sweden we could speak about lupiacs and Croatian for example And of course on the right bank of the Dardane river with appellations such as Bordeaux of course but also black de Bordeaux the franco de bordeaux for Example that could be Part of this white projection so we love
The limestone soils Which keep the Humidity and the freshness and the clay Source to produce those white varieties Something very specific to understand The sweet wines in bordeaux we only make Sweet wines thanks to the botritis Scenery you All know that the botritis Is this Fungus that would settle on the berries But according to the climate it would Have a totally different development if The weather is like a traditional Weather in most of the vineyard of Bordeaux you would obtain what we call The The gray rot which we don’t expect at All and we don’t want to see on the Berries If the climate is Misty in the morning warm in the Afternoon and quite windy then The botritis scenario would develop Inside the berry instead of developing Outside the berry and produce what we Call the noble rock this really um That’s the gold of the bordeaux vineyard In this noble rot because all the Liquor So the very sweet ones we would produce With mate Would be made sorry Exceptionally
Uniquely out of this noble rot Grape varieties so it is something that Has been picked Berry by berry A very strict selection just to make Sure that we would have this specific Dehydration of the berries and Concentration of the berries thanks to The noble rot Um Just to tell you further about the Different styles of one that we would Obtain in bordeaux when we talk about Whites There are two great Bookend styles i would say in in dry Whites and And of course um Those two styles would be either lively And fruity styles Generally they are fermented and aged in Bad Sometimes we could have some um Some i would say some batonash you know So removing leaves even though in vat Just to give some roundness but they Would keep this freshness and this Acidity thanks to the the container they Are usually focused on lemon citrusy Grapefruit and acacia notes And We try to Serve them between seven and nine Degrees celsius
Then you would have another style of dry White that you could find in bordeaux They would be much more structured much More generous maybe better to age as Well Ones that need some time to express to Develop on the nose And Those wine are mostly produced on gravel Source They would be either Fermented Or and Aged in full barrel so that’s a That’s an option lots of people would do At least the aging in oak with removing The leaves you know to make sure that to Give more protein to the wine and have More mellowness to the wine Most and most growers would also do the Fermentation the alcoholic fermentation In barrels really to keep this richness Even though we know that most of the Umpiromatic aromas and and woody aromas Wouldn’t come during the fermentation But just only During the aging that’s something very Important but for the fermentation The balance With the leaves and the microoxidation Um In the pores of the the wood would be Very interesting to give some body and Some roundness to the wine so that’s uh
Something that is very specific from From those wine then um To of course finish with uh we have to Speak about bordeaux sweet wines the Sweet wines could be divided in two Different categories either the Semi-sweet white wines or the sweet White ones that we called in french Liquor It’s a matter of how much residual sugar You have in the wine if you have less Than 45 grams per liter Of sugar it’s considered as semi-sweet Wines in this case the grapes could be Or the bunches could be picked Full bunches when in sweet wines called Licorum To obtain a residual sugar higher than 45 grams per liter they have to pick Berry by berry a bit of branches by Bitter bunches and any Grapes picked has to be Uh with noble rot a different stage of The evolution but has to be with the Botty cinera and with what we call Number of puri roti or noble rot So that’s something very Important it gives two different style Of wine the semi-sweet would be Concentrated in aromas but quite fresh And still have acidities and very soft And easy drinking style of wine that you Really enjoy for operative on its own With when the
For the licorice of course you have so Much more concentration you also get Much more aromas coming from the Evolution of the botritis in the berry And it’s much more concentrated in mouth As well so I wouldn’t say sweeter because it’s a Matter of balance and to obtain great Liquor definitely we expect we cross Finger each year for the butter it is to Settle on the semi on berries when the Acidity is still Sufficient because if you have If it’s an over matured semi young When the botanist would settle on and Dehydrate the berries then you would get A wine that would be uh too heavy in Sugar and wouldn’t have enough acidity To balance it for us the best vintage is For sweet wines is when you succeed to Keep this freshness and this acidity to Balance the concentration due to Puri roti due to the noble rot Of course what would we have with this Kind of wine uh we always say that the Local you know food and wine pairing Works the best we do produce some great Oysters uh along the coast in the Atlantic coast in the basan darkest for Example for the sweet for the The sweet wines it could also be an Option everybody would Think about the oysters for the drywall And it works perfectly with is the
Anthro de mer the dry white bordeaux But you should try also with some sweet Wines it’s a very interesting uh pairing But of course You ask anyone in certain they would Tell you that the best food and wine Pairing would be with the roasted Chicken on the sunday morning that their Traditional Meal and it suits perfectly to sweet Ones I would say that Either for dry white or sweet wines they You can just enjoy them on their own you Know that’s how they express their their Aromas and that’s how they express their Beauty so I truly think that you would enjoy the White ones from bordeaux because we have A wonderful range of it so thank you for Joining us to this presentation I mean thank you so much for sharing That snapshot of white wines in bordeaux It’s a hugely complex topic so many Different wine styles so absolutely Fascinating um i’ve got a few Questions here from the guest today that I want to share obviously it’s it’s very Topical at the moment a few people Asking about the fires in the bordeaux Area What the current situation is and Whether there’s a risk also of smoke Smoke taint um for the wines this year
Potentially what’s what’s the situation Well So far we don’t know about the the Impact in the vineyard For sure the fires Are huge It’s For us it’s a Disaster uh I would say much more than for the taste Of the berries well not to where it’s of Power for the taste uh the fog is not Everywhere and it’s not like uh all the Time it’s really down the south of the Girond and our department is huge so Even though you know the vineyard is Large um the fryers are quite away from The vineyard so far And the good thing is that there’s Almost no risk that the vineyard would Burn because it you know it’s still full Of water so the pine trees are burning But not the the vines so far for the Taste It’s still too early to say we’ll see The only thing i could say that it It’s gonna be um it’s gonna have a huge Impact on the climate for sure you know This pine forest is for us A natural Wall against the wind coming from the South so definitely We know that it’s going to change the Face of the the the micro climate down
The south of the the giron how We don’t know yet you know we’re still Um it’s a bit like a war situation for Us here Uh there are firemen steve still Fighting a lot so We just really cross finger the to us so Far the most important is to preserve People and preserve you know the people That are working to try to You know stop those fires Absolutely and uh yeah thoughts and best Wishes go go to the whole region um I i guess on a related question to that If you don’t mind it does that um Is there any prospect with temperatures Increasing in the vineyard area that That new varieties or certain varieties Become more popular to plant because There are these warmer conditions and The traditional ones are less suited to It is there any discussion about that Well actually we we talked about some of Those great varieties last week uh Talking about reds but that’s right that We have six new uh grape varieties in Experimentation at the moment in Bordeaux we started to plant them in uh 14. so they’ve been a lot in the carrier De charge in the in the regulation for The 2021 aoc bordeaux and border superior Only Just to understand that the people who
Were involved in this experimentation Uh of course they used some of their Land To plant those new gravities and at some Stage especially because now the vine is Starting to produce quite like regularly They have to be able to use those new Grapes in in their vines They have to they can use those grapes At the maximum of five percent it’s just A grape that we are experimenting to see How we’re gonna Succeed with some new disease that we Could have like we have lots of wooden Diseases that are quite You know More and more present in bordeaux But there’s much more consideration and How to run maybe differently the Vineyard So we could preserve our own grape Varieties our traditional gravity’s such As of course the semillon and the Sauvignon blanc that’s our main focus Um But then It’s much more a matter of how we’re Going to um manage the canopy for Example how we’re going to manage the The The weeds in in the field or in between The rows for example so the The cover crop you said so it’s Something that we’re working a lot on
Not that we want to change the the Profile of both ones but definitely we Want to keep this profile and make sure That it wouldn’t be too high in alcohol Or too Yeah over matured for example so Uh of course there’s a lot of experiment At the moment but we we’re focusing more On the vt culture and how to Adapt to this new weather condition just Remember that we have clay and limestone Sauce and that’s for us it’s really Precious uh it’s much easier to preserve Freshness and humidity in clay and Limestone salts than in gravel soils Yeah of course precious for us Great fascinating on that um if it’s Okay i think we’ve got time probably Just for one more quick question this One’s coming from daryl And he’s asked how many of the aocs in Bordeaux allow white wines most of the White wines labeled as aoc bordeaux or How is it Well basically just for you to Understand the bordeaux white aoc could Be produced anywhere so that’s what you Have to remember so Regarding this uh wherever you’re Located in bordeaux vineyards you are Able or allowed to produce dry white Bordeaux the aoc dry white board but Then of course apart from that some of The aocs would have their own aoc for
Dry white like the author de mer like Pesach Like grav for example so Basically if someone wants to produce And it is already the case you might Know those wines a dry white margo or a Dry white and pomerol of course they Have the right to do it but the only aoc They could use is bordeaux but apart From that so it means that you could Find dry white border on any kind of Terroir all over the surface But of course we have also some communal Or sub-regional appellation that are Really dedicated to dry white such as The anthro de mer which is the biggest One okay the only way to know is to open It up and taste it okay And see what’s there Good well i that is all for today’s Session i just want to thank the cibb And of course sabine in particular for Today’s session and this is number two In a series of three next week we’re Going to be looking at cremon so that’s Sparkling wines and rose from bordeaux Something you might know nothing about In relation to bordeaux so definitely Tune in for that that’s the same time The same place next week so make sure You sign up for that This Webinar will be emailed out to you as a Link all of our past webinars on the
Events hub are available through our Youtube channel so please check out the Whole back catalogue there including Last week’s session that was on red Wines of bordeaux so please have a look At that if you are interested in wset Courses and interested in signing up Please head to wset global.com and our Where to study page in particular So that’s all from us thank you so much Again to sambin and hope to see you all Again soon See you Bye