2025 Futures

The star of Graves blancs, offering each vintage a very pure and straightforward wine, discreetly woody. It is not surprising to see this regularity in performance, as it is the own property of  Florence & Denis Dubourdieu, hence the name of the wine.

Family property of the Dubourdieu family. Always very bouquety and expressive, round with buttered notes, perfect to accompany a cheese platter.

The dry white wine of Lagrange, in a precise and pleasant style. As always in Lagrange, the quality/price ratio is there!

Second wine from Château Valandraud.

This classified growth, owned by INRA, has grown considerably since the Institute's researchers decided to apply the results of their most advanced research to it, and the arrival of Mr Derenoncourt as an advisor. In a rather lively and tense style, Couhins is today by its price the best deal among the white classified growths of Pessac-Léognan.

The estate’s second white wine, L’Esprit de Chevalier, is in the same vein as the Grand Vin, practically as lively and invigorating.

The Latour-Martillac white wine is aromatic, straightforward and has excellent ageing potential. It is one of the most consistent and interesting wines in the appellation, and holds up formidably well to ageing (10 years or more).

Since the 2023 vintage, Doisy-Daëne has been making a confidential cuvée (1,200 bottles) from its oldest Semillon vines, planted on the limestone plateau of Barsac. Entirely vinified in barrels, this 100% Semillon on limestone is an intense, straightforward wine, with intense aromas of vine peach and a lovely sapid freshness on the finish.

Very pale, crystalline colour, aromatic notes of lemon and grapefruit, lively and delicate on the palate, Carbonnieux is by its refined style the most Medoc style of Pessac-Léognan whites.

Based on Sauvignon (with a hint of Semillon), Caillou Blanc has been presented for 50 years as the archetype of Médoc dry white wine: pale colour, between delicate freshness and aromatic distinction (lemon, bitter orange, honeysuckle), never too full or demonstrative. A model of elegance, never too lavish or ostentatious, and always reasonably priced.

Known for producing a full-bodied, expressive, even exuberant white wine, Larrivet Haut-Brion has gained freshness and tension in recent vintages, thanks to its new vat room incorporating smaller containers (including 20% concrete eggs). Its young director, Charlotte Mignon, has also undertaken a major agroforestry project in the vineyard to promote biodiversity and protect the vines from global warming.

Alongside its famous Sauternes, Suduiraut has been producing a dry white wine for fine dining for 20 years, made from half Sémillon and half Sauvignon (average age of vines 45 years for both grape varieties), aged for 9 months in barrels (12% new). Renamed Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes from 2020 onwards, this cuvée achieves a near-perfect balance between refined fruit (fresh citrus), marked acidity and subtle bitterness on the finish.

With near-maniacal intransigence at every stage of its development, the Bonnie family delights us with each vintage with its white wine, very Sauvignon (80 to 90%), combining energy, supreme finesse and exemplary straightness.

Like many wines from the Sauternes region, Climens has been producing a confidential 100% Semillon cuvée since 2022. Pressed without destemming, fermented with natural yeasts, and aged for eight months in glass globes, Lilium captures and blends the mineral tension of Climens' limestone terroir with the richness of Semillon, resulting in a perfectly pure (aged in glass) and fresh aromatic expression. A great dry white wine from southern Gironde is born!

Full-bodied, fat and with a characteristic vanilla woody taste, the dry white wine of Lynch-Bages plays the charm and fabric card. Less than 4000 cases produced each year, far insufficient for global success.

The great white wine of Ch. Valandraud, with a sparkling sap and balance. With only 4000 bottles produced, it is a nugget that will do wonders on the table in 5 years (to take advantage of its youthful brilliance) or in 15 years.

A blend of predominantly Sauvignon Gris and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, topped up with Semillon.

In white, Domaine de Chevalier produces a model unique among its peers, made of tension, vivacity and energy. Its mineral side and its capacity to age (30 years and more) bring it closer to the greatest Burgundy whites.

Sophisticated white wine from Pape-Clement, with a balance of tone and concentration that is always perfectly defined. Its 2020, precise, intense, discreetly woody and less smoky than usual, will be among the greatest Bordeaux whites of the decade.

Smith Haut Lafitte's white wine has built up a solid reputation over the past 20 years, even though it is not a grand cru classé (but neither are Haut-Brion blanc and Pape-Clément blanc). A happy marriage of wood and fruit, it always delivers a beautiful aromatic complexity, from lime blossom to citrus fruit, and a lively, rich, fine structure.

Ultra-confidential white wine from Cos d'Estournel, with a predominance of Sauvignon Blanc (75%) on a terroir located at the northern tip of the Médoc. The proximity of the Gironde estuary and the Atlantic Ocean gives the wine its freshness, its mineral notes and its marine accents.

The dry white wine of Mouton-Rothschild, very confidential (1000 cases produced per year).

Straddling Barsac and Sauternes (several of their plots are adjacent to Yquem, Climens or Lafaurie-Peyraguey), Haut-Bergeron enjoys a quality terroir superbly exploited by the Lamothe family for 9 generations (!). It is the artisanal cru and the sure value of Sauternes, of which each vintage wins its share of awards in competitions and guides.

Administered by the Rothschilds (Mouton) since 1996, Coutet has joined the leading pack of the biggest Sauternes after Yquem. Like Climens, it is a true Barsac, pure and remarkably subtle, but with a more marked liquor. Since 2005, Coutet has been in great shape! In a rare feat, the exceptional 2020 vintage came top (ahead of Yquem) in the Revue du Vin de France's ranking of Sauternes 2020 « un sommet de pureté, de précoce harmonie, de naturel ! ».

Doisy-Daëne is located at the top of Barsac, between Climens and Coutet. Brilliantly orchestrated by Denis Dubourdieu (nicknamed the ‘pope of Bordeaux whites’) until 2016, his two sons Fabrice and Jean-Jacques are now continuing his work.

Doisy-Daëne is never the sweetest wine in its sector, but it always possesses unrivalled expression and aromatic refinement. Its purity and elegance make it all the more sought-after, especially as its prices remain reasonable.

Classified among the first growths of Sauternes during the classification of 1855, the vineyard of Rayne Vigneau (84 hectares, including 62 in one piece) is famous for its soil, which is well known to geologists, as it is composed of a great variety of precious minerals of Pyrenean origin. Without losing sight of these "luxurious" origins " Rayne Vigneau offers smooth, easily accessible wines with floral aromas that are particularly marked in their youth.

In the commune of Preignac, Suduiraut offers a wine that reflects its geographical position: halfway between Sauternes and Barsac. The latest vintages are dazzling in terms of contained power and aromatic distinction : La Revue du Vin de France awarded the 2016 vintage 99/100, describing it as “masterful”, Vinous (Galloni) awarded the 2023 vintage 100/100: “A model of modern Sauternes, of absolute finesse and smoothness. A timeless wine that ranks among the finest achievements of the year” and according to Bettane & Desseauve (Guide 2025), “Yquem is the only wine that can still do a little better”.

The only 1er cru classé in the commune of Sauternes with Yquem, Guiraud offers rich, voluminous, powerful wines with a formal classicism. Certified organic since the 2011 vintage.

Puyguéraud is the reference of the Côtes de Francs, producing with great regularity wines of very high level. The owner, Nicolas Thienpont, also manages Pavie-Macquin and Larcis-Ducasse in St-Émilion. Always well rated, Puyguéraud proves better than others that it is possible to taste a beautiful and great Bordeaux for less than 15 € a bottle.

Mrs Papon-Nouvel is known for her 2 wonderful Saint-Émilion wines: Clos Saint-Julien and Petit-Gravet Aîné. But it also owns Peyrou, a small vineyard (10 hectares) in the Côtes de Castillon region, which is organically farmed and produces a sapid, juicy wine with an obvious and exciting fruitiness (90% Merlot).

Since its takeover in 1998 by Mr De Neipperg (Clos de l'Oratoire, Canon-La Gaffelière, La Mondotte), d'Aiguilhe has been part of the new generation of wines (Domaine de l'A, Montlandrie, Clos Puy Arnaud, etc.) which, in the early 2000s, placed the Côtes de Castillon appellation among the best on the right bank.