Graves is a sub-region of the Bordeaux wine region in France. The name is also used in the appellation AOC Graves which applies to red and white wines made there. The name is derived from the area's gravel soils, which help to create the distinctive profile of Graves wines, particularly those made with Cabernet Sauvignon. While Merlot grows well in the heavier clay of places like Saint-Emilion, Cabernet Sauvignon performs very well in free-draining gravel and sand.
Graves is seen as the birthplace of Bordeaux's high-quality red wines. It was here that the region first gained its reputation - as early as the fourteenth century, hundreds of years before Dutch wine merchants and producers drained the marshes of the Medoc.
The prestige of the Graves name continued for several centuries, but was somewhat reduced in 1987 when the new Pessac-Leognan appellation was created, carved out of the northern end of Graves, and encompassing the most respected of the region's producers.
AOC Graves is the key appellation which covers the region's wines. Red wines must be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec or Petit Verdot, while white wines must be made from Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, and must reach a minimum alcohol level of 11%.
The region also produces sweet white wines, under the appellation AOC Graves Superieures. These wines are made from the same white grapes as listed above, but have a much higher level of natural residual sugar. This appellation does not cover the famous and more prestigious wines of Sauternes and Barsac, nor the sweet whites of Cerons. Although these appellations are nested within the boundaries of the Graves region, they are independently recognized specifically because of the high quality of their sweet white wines.
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Graves has proven that, even without the producers and terroirs of Pessac-Leognan, it is capable of producing high quality red and white wines. Since Pessac-Leognan was partitioned, the southern end of Graves has focused on the wine styles demanded by the modern wine consumer. Fresher, crisp whites have replaced the sweeter styles, and are produced alongside richer, fruitier reds. The area around the southern village of Langon is entirely separated from the northern end of Graves by the Sauternes and Barsac appellations, and might be considered as a distinct wine-production area in its own right.
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