The ship has come in for white Bordeaux fanciers.

We have literally cleared the decks for the arrival of the first shipment of 2014 Grand Bateau Blanc from Chateau Beychevelle. And right on cue, this wine has received the highest score (94.5 points) in trade magazine National Liquor News' tasting of sauvignon blanc.

Emblazoned with the famous Beychevelle long boat on the label, the 2014 vintage is billed as one of the best white's recent years from this prominent producer.

The same team that produces the prestigious Chateau Beychevelle red wine makes Grand Bateau which is 100% sauvignon blanc. Beycheville is one of a handful of medoc producers who also make a white wine

Philippe Blanc, Chateau Beychevelle’s chief winemaker, guides the assemblage of wines based on a selection of the best wines from the Beychevelle estates.  Chateau Beychevelle follows “terra vitis” and “sustainable viticulture” practices, to produce high quality grapes using environmentally friendly methods.

Chateau Beychevelle is a classified Saint-Julien cru classé producer with a tradition of growing vines on the Garonne gravel of the Médoc dating back to the Middle Ages.

Our previous vintages of Grand Bateau have been increasingly well received by our trade and online customers. We hope that with this brilliant example there will be a lot of delighted, light bulb moments from discerning Australian wine drinkers when they try it.  

And at $32 for this classy, well made white it’s even easier to swallow! 

2014 Grand Bateau Blanc

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc 100%

Alcohol: 12.5 % VOL

Wine making:  Pre-fermentation maceration results in a wonderful aromatic structure. 70% of the juice is fermented in new oak barrels for four months, with accompanying batonnage (stirring of the lees or yeast to give some creaminess and richness to the wine)

Our Tasting notes:  Aromatic nose with buttery-vanillin oak notes and exotic fruit.  On the palate the wine is round, fleshy with wonderful minerality and delightful exotic fruit flavours. Lovely balance between the oak, fruit and acidity.  Excellent finish.

RRP $32.00 (trade price on application info@discovervin.com.au )

This was a standout wine at the Vinexpo 2015 wine exhibition in Bordeaux.   It offers value for money and exquisite drinking. Just drink on its own, enjoy with a pre-dinner platter or seafood and white meats.

This wine is available in Australia exclusively to DiscoverVin.

Click here to order online.

We enjoyed it with a beetroot, blood orange and feta salad. Perfect match! 

Beetroot, blood orange and feta salad with classy sav blanc from Chateau Beychevelle in Bordeaux http://www.discovervin.com.au/shop/item/grand-bateau-copy #wine #medoc #bordeaux #bordeauxblanc

A photo posted by discovervinwines (@discovervinwines) on Sep 13, 2015 at 2:24am PDT

If you would like to know more about this famous Bordeaux producer, watch this video from Bordeaux wine distributor Millesima..

Review for our new white wine from Bordeaux-Grand Bateau

This week we were really pleased to see a review for our new white wine from Bordeaux called Grand Bateau. This is the first time this wine has been imported to Australia. It is available online and to trade exclusively through DiscoverVin. It is one of only a few white wines made in the Medoc- one of the premium red wine growing regions of world. I guess the Bordelais can't drink red all the time!

The bateau refers to the famous sailing ship that symbolises Chateau Beycheville. Ships sailing on the Gironde estuary coming to and from the port of Bordeaux would be saluted by a retired Admiral (the "Amiral of Beycheville") who would lower the flag on the tower of the Chateau.

Sean Mitchell in the Grape Observer published the following review:

"Produced by Château Beychevelle, the Grand Bateau Bordeaux blanc is a lovely wine.  A blend of 80% sauvignon blanc and 20% semillon, it has reticent aromatics of apple skin, bruised peach, lemon, stone fruit kernels, hay, grass and gooseberry.  The palate is medium to full bodied, the acid medium and its flavours remind of lemon, apple skin, grass and gooseberry.  The finish is medium in terms of length and depth of flavour.  This is overall a good wine due to the complexity on offer.  Good

Abv: 12.5%
Price: $24.50
Source: sample"

We think this is a great quality/value for money white wine from a famous Bordeaux producer.