Pessac-Léognan, lacking the reputation it deserves

Almost 40 years ago, I started learning about Bordeaux and its great wines.

This was long before we ever dreamt of living near Bordeaux, let alone own a Chateau!

I knew about the Médoc village appellations like Margaux, Pauillac and Saint Julien, for example.

But when my classes at the wine school I was attending, explained that the villages Pessac and Léognan were in the Graves appellation, South of the city of Bordeaux, it was new for me.

Naturally, I had heard about Haut Brion. I had even had the privilege of tasting it. But I never realized where it was located geographically.

It was a bit of a discovery for me that Haut Brion was located in the Graves appellation.

I was surprised that it was not in the Médoc like the other First Growths like Margaux, Lafite, etc.

The fact that Haut Brion was classified in the 1855 Classification of the Médoc and Sauternes added to my confusion.

Anyway, it’s fair to say that I really discovered this exciting appellation when we started living near Bordeaux over 22 years ago.

Young, but with a long history
Maybe my lack of knowledge of this appellation was because it was a young one.

It had been created as recently as 1987 when it broke its links with the Graves appellation.

For a young appellation, Pessac-Léognan has a long wine-making history.

The origin of Claret
Red wines from the Graves were the wines originally loved by the English (known as Claret by the Brits) during the 300 years that Aquitaine was under English rule, from 1152 to 1453.

It was here in the Graves where the wine making tradition in Bordeaux started.

In the mid-seventeenth century, Chateau Haut Brion became the first château of international renown.

The Haut Brion wines were praised by the English diarist Samuel Pepys in his famous diary.

Pepys was a wine connoisseur, and we could mockingly say that he was the Robert Parker of his days.

Pepys noted in 1663 that he “drank a sort of French wine, called Ho Bryan (Haut Brion), that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with.”

Around the time of Pepys the Médoc was still a swamp and desperately waiting for the Dutch to drain the area (just saying…).

Different Classification

Pessac and Léognan are villages within the Graves appellation.

Pessac-Léognan is basically a village appellation, but this time from two villages combined: Pessac and Léognan.

Pauillac, for instance, is a village appellation within the Médoc appellation.

Likewise, Pessac-Léognan is a village appellation within the Graves appellation.

The best wines from the Graves were classified in 1953 (with some revisions in 1959).

The chateaux that were classified could use the coveted “Cru Classé de Graves” on their label.

Two differences with the 1855 Classification stand out.

Firstly, there is only one level in Graves: you are either classified or not.

The 1855 Classification of the Médoc ranks wines on five levels.

The second difference is that the 1855 Classification of the Médoc wines only ranks red wines.

In the Graves Classification, chateaux can be classified for reds, whites, or both.

To make things more confusing, the best part of the Graves appellation split off in 1987 and became the Pessac-Léognan appellation.

Funnily enough, as a result, all Cru Classé de Graves are now in this new appellation.

Therefore, all Cru Classé de Graves were no longer in the Graves appellation but in the Pessac-Léognan appellation.

Time to do some rebranding
Pessac-Léognan counts 14 classified growths from the Graves appellation of 1953

But Graves has become associated with lesser quality wines from the southern part of the appellation.

Bordeaux’s youngest appellation needed some repositioning.

They wanted to cut the umbilical cord with the Graves and emphasize more on their link to Bordeaux.

That’s why they came up with the new tagline: “Pessac-Léognan, L’Esprit Bordeaux” (Pessac-Léognan, the Bordeaux spirit).

The link to the Graves was already cut
Most of the 14 classified estates, including eight for white wine, have removed references to Graves.

For instance, the label of the 2010 vintage of Château Malartic-Lagravière still indicates “Grand Cru Classé de Graves”.

But the 2020 label only shows “Grand Cru Classé”, dropping the Graves part and only using the designation of Pessac-Léognan.

Great Value
Anyway, the wines from the Pessac-Léognan merit your discovery.

Especially because they often represent a great value.

And that is, as we all know, not always in the sprit of Bordeaux…