Tesco Bordeaux Blanc 2018

A white Bordeaux from Tesco

Bordeaux is most famous for its red wines which range from the everyday to some of the most expensive in the world.

Increasingly, it is gaining (or re-gaining) a reputation for other colours and styles.

There are several permitted grapes for white Bordeaux, but this wine is a varietal Sauvignon Blanc.

Sauvignon Blanc is one of the world's most popular and recognised white grapes; from its spiritual home of the Loire in France, it has travelled pretty much all around the world and is perhaps most commonly associated with New Zealand, where the aromatic, pungent Marlborough style has become a modern benchmark.

Further south than the Loire, Bordeaux Sauvignon is slightly weightier and fuller, a little less austere with a bit of warmth but still plenty of lively acidity.

Another way to think of it is as being like a kiwi Sauvignon for freshness and expressive aromatics, but with more of a European accent.

Tesco Bordeaux Blanc 2018 (£6.75, Tesco)

Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon blend; lemon, elderflower, white blossom and white pepper; white peach and pear with citrus, gooseberry and cut grass; fresh and crisp with a mineral finish.

Thoroughly pleasant and Good Value.

Drink well-chilled as a picnic or barbecue wine, match with goats cheese or white meat, such as pork and sage terrine.