WTF is Bordeaux Blanc? The Best French Sauvignon Blanc Value!

Show Notes

Episode #205: WTF is Bordeaux Blanc? The Best French Sauvignon Blanc Value! 

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KEY INSIGHTS & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What exactly is White Bordeaux and which grapes are used in the blend?

A: White Bordeaux, also known as Bordeaux Blanc, is a blended French wine primarily anchored by Sauvignon Blanc. While the region is famous for reds, these white blends gain complexity through the addition of Sémillon and Muscadelle. This combination balances the zesty acidity of Sauvignon Blanc with the rounder, honeyed texture provided by the Sémillon grape.

Q: Why did Bordeaux shift from producing mostly white wine to red wine?

A: A catastrophic frost in 1956 devastated the region, destroying a massive portion of the white grape vineyards. When replanting, farmers chose red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot because they were more profitable and met shifting consumer demands. Consequently, white wine production plummeted from 60% of total output in the 1950s to just 10% today.

Q: How does modern White Bordeaux differ from the oxidized styles of the past?

A: Before the 1980s, these wines were often heavy and brown due to fermentation in old, warm barrels that allowed excessive oxygen contact. The "Dubourdieu Revolution" introduced scientific temperature control and stainless steel vats to preserve fresh aromatics. Modern winemakers now focus on protecting the juice from oxygen to maintain the crisp, zesty profile consumers expect.

Q: What are the two primary styles of dry White Bordeaux available today?

A: The "fresh and fruity" style is fermented in stainless steel, meant to be drunk young, and typically costs between $10-$25. Conversely, the "textured and age-worthy" style is often fermented in oak barrels and aged on the lees for added creaminess. These premium bottles often come from the Pessac-Léognan or Graves regions and can cost hundreds of dollars.

Q: Can moderate wine consumption actually improve cardiovascular health?

A: Recent research from the University of Barcelona suggests that light-to-moderate wine intake may lower the risk of cardiovascular events by up to 50%. Using tartaric acid as a biomarker, scientists found protective benefits for those consuming between half a glass and one full glass per day. However, these health benefits completely disappear once consumption exceeds one glass daily.

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Introduction 00:00


Episode Overview and First Thoughts on Bordeaux Blanc 00:35
Hello fellow Uncorkables! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair!

If you are new to our podcast, here is what you can expect. If you love wine and want to find great wines at affordable prices, and you want to expand your wine horizons and you want to have some laughs and fun while doing it, then you are in the right place! Each week we explore a different wine varietal, style, brand, or region of the winemaking world, and then we taste 2-3 of those wines that we buy with our own money and are under $25 each so we can give you our honest opinion of if they are worth your hard earned money. If that feels like your vibe, then welcome to our tribe. And, we are proud to say that Decanter Magazine calls us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining.

Today, Carmela, I think we have a wine that you and I are going to agree on, and that is because we are going to be tasting and rating and reviewing a white wine that is based on a blend that includes one of our faves Sauvignon Blanc. So, before we get too deep into it, I did just want to say that I know some people are for whatever reason, not partial to white wine and prefer red wine, or think that the only wine you should worry about that comes from Bordeaux is red wine, but our opinion on that is that you may just not have met the right white wine yet. If your only exposure to white wines are crappy American Chardonnays, then we think this is an important episode for you.

And, on a further editorial note for our faithful listeners, and you know who you are, we are making a few adjustments to the order of events in the podcast, but not to the overall content of the show. So, for instance, we will get to Amanda who gave us the name of our tribe this week and our Wine in the News This Week segment  - but we will do that after we get through the tasting and reviewing section of the podcast. I wanted to assure our loyal listeners that those segments are not going away, but we are making this adjustment to make sure we are getting to the specific wine we are covering in the episode right off the bat. And, please give us feedback on if you like the change or not.

All right, so let’s go back to the wine we are learning about and trying in this episode. Today we are trying a wine that I don’t think we have had before, or at least not very often, especially in the form we are having it today, and that is White Bordeaux, also know as Bordeaux Blanc if you speak the French. And I say that because one of the key grapes in White Bordeaux or Bordeaux Blanc as we mentioned is Sauvignon Blanc. And, on that note, another thing you need to know right off the bat is that like most French wines with maybe the exception of Burgundy wines which tend to be all one varietal or grape, the French love to blend wines. It’s just kind of their thing. Exactly why they love it is a sort of mix between what I would call some smart agricultural practices, natural scientific knowledge, and traditional artistic approaches, because winemakers are very often an interesting mix of farmers, scientists, and artists. In fact, I spoke to a winemaker EXACTLY like that today named Fausto Cellario from Piedmont in Italy and you all will get to hear from him in a future episode. But I digress . . .

By smart agricultural practices, I mean that from year to year there can be a lot of variation in how crops perform - some years have more rain or cold or heat or longer or shorter growing seasons meaning the wrestling crop can vary a ton - so blending grapes helps to create a consistency and quality that may be more difficult if you only rely on one grape rather than several. And, we’ll talk about this more in a few minutes, but in White Bordeaux, the grapes they mostly use are Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. And, on a side note, I’ve said this now like three times, but Sauvignon Blanc is one of our favorite white wine grapes, HOWEVER Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux is one of our least favorite red wine grapes. And the opposite is true of Burgundy where we tend to love Pinot Noir and have a love/hate relationship with Chardonnay. But that is a story for another time. But, again, I digress . . .

So, Carmela, we need to learn more about this white wine that not enough people are talking about but really should know called White Bordeaux, and we have two real, authentic White Bordeaux or Bordeaux Blanc if you prefer wines to taste and review to see if they should be an addition to your wine fridge or cellar or closet under your bed or wherever you keep your wine, or if it is a wine you should skip altogether . . .

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug.

Thank you for listening to us and for supporting our show, and remember that we buy all of the wine we taste and review every week so that we can give you real and honest reviews. If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe to our podcast and leave us a five star rating and review so we can grow listeners.

We also love to hear from you and we always respond, so follow us on Instagram and Bluesky at thewinepairpodcast. Contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com, and sign up for our email newsletter there, or you send us a note at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com - we love your ideas, and we love chatting it up, send us ideas for the tribe name, and we’ll put you on the pod if you want. And, for our faithful listeners, we will do our listener shoutouts near the end of the episode.

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should recommend The Wine Pair Podcast to - because the best way for us to grow listeners is when you tell your family and friends about us - and this week, we want you to recommend us to anyone who loves Sauvignon Blanc because they may just find that they love the additional complexity and blending in a White Bordeaux!


Topic: WTF is White Bordeaux AKA Bordeaux Blanc? 09:25

All right, Carmela, let’s find out just what the eff White Bordeaux AKA Bordeaux Blanc is all about, shall we?!?

Now, many people might be initially surprised to even know there is such a thing as White Bordeaux because when most people think about Bordeaux, they usually think first of the red wine blends that are made there. The truth of the matter is, though, that white grapes dominated Bordeaux for most of its history really until the 20th century. So put that in your brain box and pull it out when you need to impress someone. 

They have been making wine in Bordeaux for about 2,000 years, dating back to the Romans who planted the first vineyards in the Pessac-Léognan and Graves regions. Remember that name - Graves. And white wine production has been continuous in the region for at least 1,000 years. In fact, as recently as the mid-1950s, white wine accounted for 60% of Bordeaux’s total wine production.

What changed things was a cataclysmic weather event. In 1956, a severe frost devastated vineyards on both the Left and Right Banks, and it destroyed entire crops of grapes. So, when the farmers went to replant, they chose to replace white varietals with red grapes (such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), which were viewed as more suitable to the terroir and, here is the kicker, more profitable. 

That, by the way, exposes something important that they were finding. Consumer preferences started to change and favor red wines over white, and farmers were additionally incentivized by government subsidies for planting red varieties. As a result, white wine production plummeted from its former dominance, and today only about 10% of the region's total output is white wine. Sad.

Now, we’ve already mentioned that White Bordeaux is a blend of different grapes, but that blend of grapes has changed a bit over the past nearly 200 years. The earliest record of Bordeaux's white varieties comes from a 1785 from a guy named Jean Baptiste de Secondat. He listed the grapes varieties he thought were capable of quality wine, including "Muscadet" (likely Muscadelle), "Sémélion" (Sémillon), and  "Blanc Berdet" which is also known as Blanc Verdet also known as Enrageat. And, so you may ask, WTF is that grape, because I ain’t ever heard of it? There is a good reason for that! While it was once very common in Bordeaux, and was known for very high acidity and very high yields, it is nearly extinct today and almost never shows up anymore. Because it kind of sucked.

Other grapes that were used in the past include Prunelat, Blanquette Sucrée, and Malvoisie which have basically disappeared because they had issues with ripening, pollination, or quality. And, like a lot of stories we hear about European wines, after the Phylloxera plague of the late 19th century, when farmers replanted, they focused on what have become the classic White Bordeaux varietals used today: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle.

Coming into more modern times, it turns out, Carmela, that before the 1980s, White Bordeaux was known for being heavy and oxidized. When we say oxidized, we mean that the wine was exposed to oxygen, creating a musty and almost overripe set of flavors. The wines were described as brown in color, viscous, and tasting and smelling like bruised apple, dried apricots, toasted nuts, lanolin (which is like beeswax),and even a bit like Sherry.

Very different from how we think of wines like Sauvignon Blanc today which are crisp and zesty.

The reason why they ended up this way is because the wines were often fermented in old barrels without temperature control. You know, not a lot of refrigeration opinions were available until relatively recently. Oak barrels, if you didn’t know, naturally allow in oxygen because they are porous, and when they are in a space where temperature goes up, the wood becomes even more porous. Heat and lack of refrigeration also speeds chemical reactions and creates warmer fermentation  which can also impact flavors, particularly stripping away fresh fruit flavors and acidity. Additionally, the grapes were often harvested late, which gave them more body, but also decreased their acidity, which also increases the effects of oxidation. 

But, in the 1980’s and 1990’s there was a significant change in the quality of White Bordeaux, that is sometimes called the Dubourdieu Revolution, named after the late Professor Denis Dubourdieu. Denis Dubourdieu and his team at the University of Bordeaux introduced a scientific approach that is now the standard for modern White Bordeaux.

• First, they identified specific molecules in Sauvignon Blanc grapes that are responsible for aromatics and taught winemakers how to preserve them through vineyard management.
• Second, they championed techniques that protect the juice from oxygen to maintain freshness.
• Third, they popularized the use of skin contact and “precise pressing” to extract flavor from the grape skins before fermentation.

Today, most winemakers in Bordeaux follow these guidelines and produce two basic styles based on different approaches, and you can generally tell which one by either the price point or the appellation, appellation is a fancy way of saying the area where they are from, or both.

The first style, which we can call the “fresh and fruity” style, is almost always fermented and aged in stainless steel or concrete vats to preserve its fruit and acidity. They avoid malolactic fermentation to keep the wine crisp and zesty. And, these are wines that are meant to be drunk young, and they tend to be in the $10-$25 price range, so what we are most likely to cover in our podcast. They also generally come from the Entre-Deux-Mers AOC, Côtes de Bordeaux AOC, and the broad Bordeaux Blanc AOC. And, these wines tend to be Sauvignon Blanc heavy in the blend. So remember that. Or read our show notes. Whatever.

The second style is what we can call the “textured and age-worthy” style, and in this style, the wine usually fermented in oak barrels, with a mix of old and new oak. They are also aged on the lees, which are the dead yeast cells left over from fermentation, and are regularly stirred, which is called bâtonnage. Both of these things - barrels and lees - add complexity to the wine, introduce flavors like vanilla and yeast or even nuttiness, and add creaminess and body to the mouthfeel. These wines also tend to be more Sémillon heavy in the blend which makes them lower in acidity, and gives them more of an apple or pear taste vs. the citrus taste of Sauvignon Blanc. These wines also tend to be more expensive, ranging from $30 to well over $1,000, and they primarily come from the Pessac-Léognan AOC and the Graves AOC. Remember I said to remember Graves? Keep remembering. Interestingly enough, if you find high price point Bordeaux Blanc AOC wines, those will likely also be this more age-worthy and Sémillon heavy styles.

But that’s enough information. I think it’s time to learn a little more about the specific wines we are drinking today. Whaddya say?


White Bordeaux AKA Bordeaux Blanc Wines We Chose for This Episode 18:47

As usual, the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $25, and they should be relatively easy to find because I bought them at wine.com. White Bordeaux should not be hard to find if you go to any decent wine shop, especially one with a decent white wine and/or French wine section. And, as always, go to your local wine shop, meet the owner, exchange business cards or a handshake and kiss, and ask them to help you and they will be happy to help. 

The first wine we are going to drink is the 2024 Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc. Remember, Graves? This one is, obviously, from the Graves region of Bordeaux, and, if our previous information was right, this should be more of the "textured and age-worthy” style and Sémillon heavy, and guess what?!? It is! The blend is 60% Sémillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle

I also want to note that this wine is imported into the US by Kermit Lynch, and we have mentioned this before, but a really good way to find wines you may like is to get familiar with a wine importer, like Kermit Lynch, because, if you found you have liked some of the wines they import, you may also find that you like a lot of the wines they import. We certainly find this, and we tend to really like the wines Kermit Lynch brings in. They are generally known for finding very good smaller producers of wines in France and Italy.

The producer for this wine is Hervé Dubourdieu, which is really strange because the guy who started the White Bordeaux revolution was Denis Doubourdieu, but as far as I know, they are nor related. Hervé Dubourdieu is probably best known for making the famous dessert wine Sauternes. He has a reputation for “ferocious perfectionism” and a “meticulous attention to detail.” He is a fourth generation winemaker from the Graves area and uses farming practices recognized by the French government under a certification called Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE), or High Environmental Value. It is a voluntary system, but it recognizes those who use the highest environmental standards and focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and water and fertilizer management. So, if you want a carefully handcrafted wine, this is probably a good one to seek out. 

The grapes  are hand-harvested and machine harvested, and the wine is vinified, which means fermented, and then aged for 5 months in stainless steel, and it is bottled without filtering. 

The next wine we are going to drink is the 2024 Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc, and this one comes from the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, and so, based on what we learned before, we would expect this wine to be Sauvignon Blanc heavy and guess what?!? It is! It clocks in at 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon, 10% Muscadelle. This one has a couple of professional reviews including a 91 from Wilfred Wong and a 88 from Wine Enthusiast. 

Now, I will say, I actually think this wine will be just a skosh on the more rich and textured side and the other wine will be the more fruity and fresh wine, and that is because of the techniques used versus the areas they are from as we discussed earlier. 

I don’t think either will be heavy, but I do expect this second wine to a little tiny bit bolder. Here is what I found: they pick the grapes at full maturity, which means a little less acidity, but they also fully destem them which means they will lack some of the bitterness bite that whole cluster gives. They use “slow and gentle vacuum pressing” which means they do not allow any oxygen into the pressing process which reduces risk of oxidation which can dull fruit flavors, and the slow and gentle part, beyond sounding sexy, means they are trying to make sure the juice that runs off is “free run” or very pure juice. They ferment at low temperature, but they also use partial malolactic fermentation only on the Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle which will reduce some acidity and add some body into the wine. They age the wine in stainless steel and on the less, which will also add some depth and creaminess until they bottle the wine.

So, look, neither wine is put on oak, so that means they should both be fruity and crisp, but I do see some things in the winemaking process that should make the second one a little more complex and probably have a bit more mouthfeel - like lees, malolactic fermentation, and picking the grapes when they are very ripe. 

The wine producer is La Freynelle, and the owner is Veronica Barthe. The estate has been in the family since 1789, but Veronica is the first woman winemaker on the estate in 7 generations of family ownership! She is such a badass, she not only makes the wine, she manages sales as well. I love that! They also say they use no systematic fertilization, and use as minimal pest control as possible. So, you can consider them also to be on the more natural side of winemaking

I will also note that both winemakers call out the clay and limestone soils as an important part of their terroir, and remember that wine grapes like a little water stress. I also expect these wines to have some minerality, if there is such a thing. 

But, I think that is enough information - let’s get to drinking! We’ll take a quick break and be right back. And, if you have these wines or similar wines, drink along with us to get some participation points, which you can trade-in for free stickers. You just need to send me an email with your mailing address, and I will get those “I drink with The Wine Pair Podcast” stickers over to you!


LINKS TO SOURCES FOR THESE SPECIFIC WINES

• https://kermitlynch.com/files/chateau-graville-lacoste.pdf
• https://vignobles-hervedubourdieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FICHE-TECHNIQUE-GAVILLE-LACOSTE-EN.pdf
• https://vbarthe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/english-chateau-la-freynelle-blanc.pdf 
• https://www.mtouton.com/products/bordeaux/12898-2024/chateau-la-freynelle-blanc 

2024 Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc, 2024 Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc Wine Tasting, Pairing, and Review 27:18

Wine: Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc (Click here to find this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you purchase)
Region: France, Graves
Year: 2024
Price: $19.97
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 12%
Grapes: 60% Sémillon, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Muscadelle
Professional Rating: Vivino 3.9

What we tasted and smelled in this Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc: 

• Color: Light straw, vanilla
• On the nose: Pear, apple, peach, apricot, dried apricot seashell, saline, grass, natural gas, olive juice, complex 
• In the mouth: Peach, lime, lime pith on the end, pear, apricot, grapefruit, lemon water, medium-light mouthfeel, seawater, seashell

Food to pair with this Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc: White flaky fish, seafood, halibut, snapper, sushi, fish and chips, fried foods, Indian food, shellfish, appetizers, hummus
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, with no half points, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc (Click here to find this wine on wine.com. We may be compensated if you purchase)
Region: France, Entre-Deux-Mers
Year: 2024
Price: $18.97 (was $35)
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 13%
Grapes: 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillon, 10% Muscadelle
Professional Rating: WW 91, WE 88 Vivino: 3.9

What we tasted and smelled in this Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc: 

• Color: Straw, vanilla
• On the nose: Nectarine, peach, honey, satsuma, mandarin orange, tropical fruit, pineapple, POG, a touch of ripe banana, creaminess
• In the mouth: Juicy on the front, pineapple, orange, bitterness on the end, steely 

Food to pair with this Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc: Seafood, charcuterie and appetizers, linguine and clams, baked clams, saucy chicken dish, chicken Kiev 

Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc Wine Rating: 

• Joe: 9/10
• Carmela: 8 /10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc
• Joe: Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc

The Test: Did we nail the taste profiles expected from White Bordeaux?  40:21

• General 
  •  It should vary depending on the style, but the fresh and fruity style will have a lot of citrus, grass, maybe cat-pee, passion fruit, honeysuckle, and flowers. 
  • The rich and textured profile will be more apricot or peach, and orchard fruits like baked apple and pear. It can also be either creamy or even waxy in the mouth. There may also be brioche, toast, vanilla, custard, hazelnuts, and smoke,
• Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc
  • Winery: With its finesse and elegance, this blend boasts a subtle balance between the minerality coming from the depth of the subsoils composed of fractured limestone and the fruitiness of the citrus notes. Unassuming, fresh and light,
  • 67 Wine: Crisp, fresh, and refreshing with notes of citrus, cut grass, and subtle tropical fruits.
• Château La Freynelle Bordeaux Blanc
  • Winery: Beautiful pale gold color with green tints, very good aromatic expression marked by freshness and the finesse of the Sauvignon (lemon, grapefruit) and the delicacy of Muscadelle (white flowers: acacia, honeysuckle). In the mouth, Semillon brings a little more roundness and length in a finale that is tasty and charming.
  • WW: lovely and persistent on the palate. This wine offers aromas and flavors of fragrant herbs, green olives, chalk, and rustic earth.
  • WE: A herbal wine, fresh and fruity that is enriched with a touch of perfumed Muscadelle. Its mown grass aroma and tangy edge are already delicious, but will benefit from a few more months in bottle.

What is your verdict on White Bordeaux AKA Bordeaux Blanc? 42:10
So nice, we are in. They are on the list! A great white wine. Perfect for Sauvignon Blanc fans, but with more depth.


Ok, now to some other fun stuff. Let’s get to Amanda and hear about how she came up with the name for the tribe this week - which again is the Uncorkables. And, for our faithful listeners, please give us any feedback you have about our changes to the structure of the podcast. We think they will improve the flow, but we want to know what you think!

Interview with listener Amanda who gave us our tribe name this week! 43:08

We had such a great time meeting and talking with Amanda, and I absolutely love the story about her and her dad loving wine, going on trips to Burgundy, I mean, that is awesome. And we are so glad she reached out to us - it means so much to us. Please keep those tribe names coming, just send me an email with your name, and don’t worry if you think it is not good enough because it is! And we will see if you want to join us on the pod - no obligation! It is so fun to get to talk to you all and get to know you and see and hear who is on the other side of the speaker. And, we promise that it will be really fun and really easy, and I am a really good editor - I’ll cut out all of the parts you don’t like!

And now it is time to head over to our new desk so that we can cover our wine in the news this week segment.

WIne in the news this week: New evidence on the relationship between moderate wine consumption and cardiovascular health 47:17
 

• https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068680 
• https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-government-policies/hhs-usda-remove-daily-alcohol-limits-in-new-dietary-guidelines/ 

Our wine in the news this week article comes from a release from the University of Barcelona, a city we really loved to visit, and it is entitled: “New evidence on the relationship between moderate wine consumption and cardiovascular health.” And there are links to articles for this story as well as all of the articles and sources we use for research for the whole episode in our show notes which you can find on our website if you look for this episode.

So, for what seems like forever, there has been back and forth and back and forth on if wine consumption, or any alcohol consumption, is good for you or bad for you. It is definitely a trend, and we are seeing not only the rise of non-alcoholic beverages, but also “dry” months like dry January that thankfully just ended.

Now, one thing that seems pretty clear is that excessive drinking is just not good for you. I don’t think there is any doubt about that, although the definition of excessive drinking may be challenging because the guidance has changed - in fact the USDA just removed any named limits and just said “consume less alcohol for better overall health.” Which, like, whatever with guidelines anymore since science seems to not matter, but that’s for another day.  In general, about one glass per day, maybe two for men, or less  is considered either neutral or healthy. What I also find interesting is that the WHO in Europe are pushing to make the connection between alcohol consumption and cancer, which is interesting. And disturbing.

Now, this article from the University of Barcelona has found that light-to-moderate wine consumption, objectively measured using a wine-specific biomarker, was associated with up to a 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular problems compared with very low or no wine intake, though the benefit disappeared above moderate levels.

The biomarker aspect of this was interesting, because rather than relying solely on what people say they drink (which can be inaccurate because most people either don’t remember or don’t want to admit how much they drink), the scientists measured the concentration of tartaric acid in participants’ urine. Tartaric acid is a compound found mainly in grapes and wine, and its presence in urine serves as a biomarker of recent wine consumption.

The Spanish team analyzed data from just over 1200 adults, some of whom went on to develop cardiovascular complications like heart attack, stroke, or heart failure over several years. Comparing data from those who had cardiovascular events with a similar group who did not, they found that people whose urine indicated light wine intake (about one glass a week up to half a glass a day) had about a 38 percent lower risk of cardiovascular events. For those whose tartaric acid suggested moderate intake (between half a glass and one glass per day), the risk reduction was about 50 percent. But once intake exceeded about one glass per day, the protective effect disappeared. So, there’s that.

The researchers also emphasize that moderate wine consumption should be with meals, not between them, and note that this study is observational, meaning it shows association, not direct cause and effect. They also caution that more controlled studies are needed to truly understand the mechanisms involved.

So, what are we supposed to make of that? Carmela, does this change your approach to wine drinking at all, and do you think that I drink too much? (My habits have changed a lot over the past two years. Less overall drinking, less drinking at one sitting, generally always having with food, much slower consumption)


Listener Shoutouts 52:42
Let’s get to the listener shoutouts for this week, and we have some fun ones, and we so appreciate when you reach out to use and tell us what you think, or what you are drinking, and so here are some shoutouts:

• Hasini who reached out to ask us how we could turn some friends onto being interested in wine so we had a little DM chat on that
• We got some nice congrats from our friends and listeners out there on the Seahawks Super Bowl victory! Thanks to Nichole, and Shekar, and Premi, and Valerie and others
• JG sent us a note that their local Ralph’s in Lake Forest CA only stocks the “bright” version of Meiomi, which they are not happy about

Wines coming up in future episodes in case you want to drink along with us 53:53

• Sparkling Riesling
  • Loosen Bros. Dr. L Sparkling Riesling
  • Ulrich Langguth 12 degree Sparkling Riesling Sekt (Total Wine)
• Valpolicella Ripasso
  • Guerrieri Rizzardi Pojega Ripasso della Valpolicella 2018
  • Michele Castellani San Michele Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore 2019
•  Lebanese wines
  • Chateau Musar Lebanon Jeune Red 2022
  • Massaya Le Colombier Rouge 2021
• Pet-Nat
  • Domaine Lingot-Martin Pet Nat Gueule de Gamay
  • Lubanzi Rainboat Pet Nat 2024
• German Riesling
  • Weingut Dautel Estate Riesling Trocken 2022
  • Kruger-Rumpf Estate Riesling 2022
• Xinomavro (TBD)

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 54:22

Thank you for listening to us and for supporting our show, and remember, we buy all of our own wine and we do all of the writing and recording and editing to bring you a show every week because we absolutely love doing it, and our small little ask for you is that you please follow or subscribe to our podcast and also please leave us a nice rating and review  to help us grow our listeners - and a huge thank you to all of you who have done so already! 

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Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.

RESEARCH ARTICLES AND LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE

• https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/blog/2015/10/21/bordeaux-blanc-variety-and-refinement-in-abundance 
• https://www.winescholarguild.com/blog/insights-and-opinions/is-white-wine-the-future-of-bordeaux
• https://www.falstaff.com/en/news/bordeauxs-white-past
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Bordeaux_AOCs
• https://sommconusa.com/dry-white-bordeaux-bordeauxs-best-kept-secret/
• https://www.decanter.com/features/bordeaux-dry-whites-a-guide-245867/
• https://bordeaux.guides.winefolly.com/wines/bordeaux-white/
• https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/guide-white-bordeaux-wine-chateaux-taste-character-grapes/
• https://www.bordeaux.com/en/mag/blog/whos-afraid-of-white-bordeaux/
• https://www.winespectator.com/articles/white-wine-bordeaux-ode
• https://aabalat.com/pages/bordeaux-blanc-a-dry-white-that-is-crisp-fresh-perfect-for-sipping-in-the-hot-sun?srsltid=AfmBOopK0ag_OFtTCepFq_qcZO7Uki1pTfGvtI6TV2_U1vSV27rISYNW
• https://triciawinewanderings.substack.com/p/white-bordeaux-what-do-you-know-a
• https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/love-sauvignon-blanc-try-white-bordeaux/
• https://www.jjbuckley.com/wine-knowledge/blog/the-grape-varieties-of-white-bordeaux/294?srsltid=AfmBOopnrZnxPE5Rpbo69v5hwq-c9WDw4Hf5Vi-LrVYywrrYvoC_kiDS
• https://decantertours.com/white-bordeaux-wine-exploring-styles-grapes-and-tasting-elegance/
• https://crushwinexp.com/white-bordeaux-affordably-delicious/
• https://www.winespectator.com/articles/what-s-the-difference-between-white-bordeaux-and-white-burgundy-wine
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_wine
• https://www.winescholarguild.com/blog/insights-and-opinions/is-white-wine-the-future-of-bordeaux
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW4LmOl_WsE
• https://janeanson.com/short-history-of-bordeauxs-white-grapes?srsltid=AfmBOoo9J0WNhSSJsZSp6LGlG9DUMJmDNYFG_AAR2ZM6KYP_mEjQKyMY
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bordeaux_wine
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPahxCQudU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrHRR9bXP_8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk_75jna81U
• https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-301-bordeaux-blend-white?srsltid=AfmBOoqpjBC7ZJNXEfMT7lAA75USV1dwN7QGxfjiW3Fzpm3jFzaEI9Rr
• https://www.connexionfrance.com/magazine/vive-la-difference-the-art-of-french-wine-blending/743539
• https://www.the-buyer.net/insight/bordeaux-blend-showcases-art-blending
• https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2024/why-do-we-blend-wine/
• https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/5-reasons-drinking-white-bordeaux/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPCYkYZrK8U

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