Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc 2020

Cellar for up to 15 years. Serve chilled.

Chateau Carbonnieux is one of Bordeaux’s oldest estates with origins dating back at least to the 12th century. It takes its name from the Carbonnieux family who owned the property in 1234 and used to produce wine for religious services. Today it is also one of Pessac-Leognan’s largest estates with some 92 hectares of vineyards evenly split between black and white grape varieties.

The chateau’s white is particularly famous since it was brought into the Sultan of Constantinople’s palace as “mineral water from Carbonnieux” thanks to its very light hue. This clever trick enabled the wine to be served at the palace despite the Islamic ban on alcohol. Today the wine continues to be very popular thanks to the Garonne gravel soils which help to preserve plenty of freshness and fruitiness in the finished wine.

The cuvee is typically composed of two-thirds Sauvignon Blanc to one-third Semillon with fermentation taking place in oak barrels. The young wine is then aged in oak for 10 months before bottling. This creates an elegant yet intense style of white Bordeaux that’s bursting with ripe stone fruit, bright citrus and gentle notes of cut grass and dried herbs.