Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc 2017

A traditional blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, the 2017 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc comes across as the quintessential white Bordeaux. Given the Gabards’ expertise with Bordeaux varietals and a late spring frost in 2017 that reduced yields, the 2017 vintage yielded exceptional white Bordeaux and the finest Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc to date. The wine’s bright glint in the glass makes a fine first impression, which is quickly followed by a savory bouquet redolent with the scents of freshly cut melons, citrus, herbs, and orchard fruits. The wine’s sensual appeal continues in the mouth, where deep drafts of melon, citrus and minerals combine to embrace the palate. In the mouth, one also tastes and feels the roundness and superb texture that Semillon imparts to the wine. Fresh, layered, and artfully balanced, the 2017 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc offers plenty of flavor before finishing with verve and vigor. For optimum enjoyment of the 2017 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc we suggest moderate chilling (40° F) before serving. Enjoy!

Château La Gabarre’s 2017 Bordeaux Blanc provides an ideal accompaniment to seafood, especially broiled scallops and flaky white fish served in a beurre blanc sauce. It pairs beautifully, too, with smoked salmon, sautéed oysters, grilled shrimp and most anything that once swam in the sea, including sushi. Heartier fare won’t cause this balanced, flavorful Bordeaux Blanc to fade either. Consider serving the 2017 Château La Gabarre with Cajun Shrimp and Grits, Thai Chicken and Basil, or sautéed chicken or veal cutlets. Soft and crusted cow’s milk cheeses such as Brie, Camembert and Comté provide additional accompaniments to this wine that are both tasty and simple to prepare. And for those of us who enjoy crisp, refreshing, terroir-driven white wines, a glass of Château La Gabarre’s 2017 Bordeaux Blanc offers the ideal way to begin any evening or festivity. Just be prepared to refill the glass, often. Consider yourself forewarned. Bon appétit!

Château La Gabarre is located in the commune of Galgon within the greater Fronsac district of Bordeaux, very near Lalande de Pomerol. Château La Gabarre is very much a Right Bank estate (meaning the property sits north of the Dordogne River along with St. Émilion and Pomerol) where the region’s fine terroir consists of clay and stony soils that are ideal for the production of first-rate white and red Bordeaux. The estate’s vineyards have been in the Gabard family since the 1800s and are now being exploited by Stephane and Paola Gabard, a delightful young couple who took charge of the château in 1999. The Gabards have previously labeled Château La Gabarre under the name Château La Croix de Queynac, a common practice among Bordeaux châteaux where multiple labels for the same property and wine abound. In the case of these two names, the two wines are indeed one and the same.

Château La Gabarre operates as a true family enterprise. Stephane oversees the vineyards and the cellar, while Paola takes charge of the administration and marketing while keeping an eye on the couple’s young daughters. The château produces very fine Bordeaux Blanc and Bordeaux Supérieur Rouge as well as small amounts of Bordeaux Rosé and, most recently, sparkling Crémant de Bordeaux. Stephane's wines have won numerous medals at major Paris and Bordeaux competitions and have been cited for distinction in the Guide Hachette and Gault et Millaut, France’s two most prestigious food and wine publications.

The undisputed king of France's wine regions, Bordeaux sits amidst and astride the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers. The sprawling Bordeaux region accounts for some 800 million bottles of wine each year. Bordeaux has built a reputation on quality, as many of the world's most sought-after wines are crafted along its river banks. Bordeaux boasts over 10,000 winemakers working in the region’s 57 appellations. Known mostly for red blends made primarily from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux also enjoys great notoriety for its excellent dry and sweet white wines, comprised mostly of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, which emanate primarily from the central regions of Bordeaux between the area’s two great rivers.

Sauvignon Blanc is a premium white wine grape that is considered to be indigenous to Bordeaux. Yet, in Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc has traditionally been blended with a percentage of Semillon and other grapes to create a special flavor profile all of its own. This stands in contrast to the 100% varietal offerings from France’s Loire Valley, most notably from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, as well as from New World winemakers who mainly follow the Loire Valley’s lead in bottling Sauvignon Blanc as a single varietal.

Sauvignon Blanc makes a particularly compelling companion to seafood, hors d’oeuvres, tapas, and warm sunny days, and unlike Chardonnay, which possesses an affinity for extensive oak barrel ageing, Sauvignon Blanc eschews oak. Instead, it shows best when its distinctive natural flavors do its bidding.