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Appellation · France

Graves

The long stretch of gravel south of the city, and the only major Bordeaux appellation covering both red and dry white under one name.

Graves AOCmaritimemoderate
What to expect in the glass

Reds that are a touch earthier and smokier than the Médoc, with blackcurrant and warm-gravel notes; whites that are citrussy and grassy with a waxy Sémillon weight underneath.

About Graves

Graves means gravel, and the region gave its name to the material rather than the other way round. It runs south from the edge of Bordeaux along the left bank of the Garonne, enclosing Sauternes and Barsac within its boundaries.

It is the only significant Bordeaux appellation where red and dry white are equally at home under the same name, and the whites — Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon — are the region’s calling card at the affordable end.

Since 1987 the best of the Graves has been carved out as Pessac-Léognan. What remains is genuinely good and considerably cheaper, and the southern Graves has become one of the better places in Bordeaux to buy dry white.

What the name means

Legal name
Graves AOC
Type
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée / Protégée (AOC / AOP)
Set by
INAO
Recognised
1937
Regulates
Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.

The delimited area, permitted varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol, pruning and training methods, and in many cases minimum ageing. Administered by INAO.

Worth knowing

Since 1987 the northern, most prestigious part of the Graves has been the separate Pessac-Léognan appellation. Graves AOC now covers the remainder, to the south.

Grapes

Wines from here

red

Red Bordeaux

The blended Cabernet–Merlot benchmark: structured, cedary and built to age, with two distinct characters depending on which bank of the river it comes from.

white

White Bordeaux

A Sauvignon Blanc–Sémillon blend, frequently barrel-fermented, combining citrus freshness with waxy weight.

Soil and geology

Underlying geology
Gravel deposited by the Garonne, giving the region its name
Soils
Gravel and sand over clay; Sandier and lighter towards the south
Drainage
Free-draining
Water holding
Low
Heat retention
High

What it does to the vine. Free-draining, warm, low-fertility ground — the same physics as the Médoc, on soils that are on average a little sandier and so a little less vigorous still.

WineHQ describes soil in terms of what it demonstrably does — drainage, heat retention, water supply, rooting depth — and not in terms of flavours it is said to transmit. Vines take up ions, not aromas, and no mechanism has been demonstrated by which a mineral in the ground is tasted in the glass. See soil and drainage.

Rules worth knowing

Confirmed in the EU register

Graves is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-FR-A1012, protected at EU level since 1973.

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

Specification published: Ares(2025)8221862 · Official Journal

Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.

The designation is confirmed above. WineHQ has not read this appellation’s production specification, so it publishes no yields, ageing minima or permitted-variety lists for it — those come from the document linked above, not from a summary of it.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Red Bordeaux

Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).

Try with steak, lamb or roast beef.

White Bordeaux

Serve at 9–12°C (fridge cold).

Try with fillet steak, salmon or salmon in a cream sauce.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Pessac-Léognan — Carved out of the northern Graves in 1987, and the source of Bordeaux’s finest dry white wine as well as one first growth.
  • Sauternes — The appellation whose autumn mists reliably produce noble rot, and the benchmark for sweet wine everywhere else.
  • Barsac — The one commune inside Sauternes with an appellation of its own, on limestone rather than gravel, and a shade fresher for it.
  • Entre-Deux-Mers — The large stretch of country between the Garonne and the Dordogne, whose appellation is for dry white wine only.
Location

Approximate centroid: 44.60°, -0.45°. WineHQ stores coordinates only where it has them, and does not estimate boundaries it has not sourced.

Sources

Sources consulted