GRAVES & PESSAC-LÉOGNAN

Distinct from other areas of Bordeaux, Graves [grahv] is prized for both red and white wines—the latter often as expensive as the former—although, on balance, the more renowned are the red wines.

One of these, the American-owned Château Haut-Brion, is the only Graves to have been classified in 1855 along with those in the Médoc, matching its already long-lived fame with the rank of First Growth. Haut-Brion’s exceptionally high status predates by 200 years even the praise heaped on it by one of its better customers, Thomas Jefferson.

Technically, Haut-Brion and many Graves châteaux are located in the subdistrict of Pessac-Léognan (delineated in 1987 to mark a more highly regarded vineyard area), while the “actual” Graves district lies southeast of Pessac-Léognan along the river Garonne.

Indeed, it is the prevalence of thickly layered graves (French for a mélange of gravel, clay and sand) that marks the soil type of the area as a whole. You can see it everywhere, its top layer often a carpet of smooth, round white stones.

In general, wines such as Haut-Brion and Pape Clément from the northerly section of Graves, Pessac-Léognan, tend to be fuller, earthier, more tobacco-scented and more opulent than wines from the mid and southern sections.

Graves is successful in wet or “off” years because the soils, understandably, drain very well. In torrid years, however, such soils do not hold water and add stress to the vines, making for generally less interesting wines than in most other Bordeaux districts.

Visiting Graves & Pessac-Léognan
If you’re a first-time visitor to Bordeaux and you head from the airport for Graves, the city’s closest winemaking area, you will be, um, gravely disappointed.

Many wine lovers from the U.S. who tour French winemaking areas expect something like Napa Valley most anywhere they go. Sometimes they find it (in the Loire, say, or Alsace); most often they don’t.

Graves, Bordeaux’s original set of vineyards and estates, is resolutely urban. You’re as likely to see housing developments and office buildings as you are grand châteaux set among carefully tended vineyards.

For instance, suburbs completely surround—right up to the walls—the two most famed estates of the area, Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion.

Still, Graves is one of Bordeaux’s more historic districts and, consequently, well worth a tour. For example, you can drive right up to the gates of Haut-Brion, considered Bordeaux’s first exported wine.

At Podensac (just north of Cérons, in central Graves, along highway N113), you’ll find the Maison des Vins de Graves and its samples of dozens of wines of the area and brochures to help you plan visits to various châteaux of the district.

Unlike more northerly districts such as Pauillac, many châteaux in Graves accept the casual visitor. Nonetheless, it is best to make appointments through the Maison des Vins de Graves. By the way, Podensac also makes Lillet, the red and white apéritifs much appreciated by many around the world.

Among the comelier Graves estates are Château La Louvière, built in the 18th century by the architect of Bordeaux city’s Grand Théâtre, and Château Olivier, a moated medieval fortress.