Graves

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Soils of pebbles, gravels, sands, silts, and clays over limestone, pure sand, alios, or clays — 42 communes in the Gironde.
• Gravel terraces formed during Quaternary glacial episodes: deposits of Pyrenean origin, rolled by rivers and shaped into residual ridges. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Highly permeable soils; drainage provided by slopes and a network of left-bank tributaries (Eau Bourde, Eau Blanche, Breyra, Saucats, Guat mort). (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Climate moderated by the pine forest (thermal buffering to the west), the Garonne (aeration and airflow), and oceanic influence (mitigation of spring frost).

• Viticulture established around 40 AD, with medieval expansion reinforced in 1152 by the marriage of Aliénor d'Aquitaine and the granting of the Banlieue privilege.
• Sweet white wines produced from overripe grapes harvested by successive manual tries, built around sémillon B.

• White wines: finesse and floral/fruity expression linked to sandy or clay-matrix soils, produced from sauvignon and sémillon.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVB