Château le Bruilleau, Pessac-Léognan Blanc

Today we feature a category that is criminally under-represented in the current wine conversation: Bordeaux Blanc. And when the time comes to drink some white Bordeaux, the place to look first is Pessac-Léognan. Most of the greatest examples of Bordeaux Blanc hail from the pebbly limestone soils of this Left Bank AOC—Haut-Brion, Carbonnieux, Chevalier, Smith Haut Lafitte, the list goes on—and after tasting this exceptional, affordable ’18 from tiny Château le Bruilleau, we unanimously decided to go “all-in.” Based on my own consumption habits, not to mention those of most sommeliers I know, I’m going to hazard a guess and say that this will be your first white Bordeaux in a while. Maybe your first ever. But I’m also going to bet that you’ll have the same reaction I did: Why don’t I drink this more often? Like the reds, Bordeaux’s whites are bold, sumptuous, “affordable luxury” wines. The combination of the crowd-pleasing Sauvignon Blanc with the textured Sémillon (and, sometimes, Musca