Chateau Carbonnieux

Carbonnieux is the largest of the classified estates in Pessac-Leognan and one of the few classified for both colours, which is the fact that gets mishandled. People read the size and assume industrial, then read the double classification and assume the red must be the main event because red usually is in Bordeaux. Neither holds. The white is the wine the property is known for among people who buy dry white seriously, and it is made in enough quantity that you can actually find it.

The range divides by colour before anything else. The whites are Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon fermented in barrel, and they run from recent vintages that are still tight to older bottles that have gone waxy and savoury. The reds are a gentler proposition, gravel-grown Cabernet and Merlot that do not need a decade. On this list the white side is the more interesting half.

Within each colour, the older bottles cost more because they are older. The wine at the top is not a better wine than the wine in the middle.

The list below is sorted by price, lowest first.