The pick of Bordeaux's whites

Dry Bordeaux whites tend to be viewed as claret's embarrassing cousins. The lordly reds are impeccably turned out, arrestingly articulate and surrounded by fluttering admirers. The poor simpering whites, by contrast, are no less omnipresent, yet have to hover in the background, pulling ingratiating faces and making inept remarks. Everyone does their best to ignore them, but since there are 370,000 acres of Bordeaux planted with white grape varieties and the 1998 harvest produced getting on for 90 million litres of the stuff, it just won't do. That's a lot of gawky white wine out there, looking for its dream drinker.

Fair? Well, partly. Every wine region always struggles to produce both red and white wine, since red-wine growers always want something to sluice their oysters down with, just as white-wine growers want to tuck into a game stew once in a while. Few regions (Burgundy is the great exception) swing both ways with equal accomplishment and equal relish.

Since Bordeaux produces much more great red wine than great white, the best land is planted with red grapes Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot rather than white grapes Sauvignon Blanc and S?millon. The dry whites tend to come from low-priced, low-expectation vineyards. Much is made in a rough-and-ready way, knocked into shape with a bucket of sulphur, never goes near a new barrel, and is propelled on to our shelves by its price rather than its beauty.

But it does go with fish. And, as I discovered when I blind-tasted my way through a cross-section of 25 Bordeaux whites recently, these food wines can offer good value, too, particularly if you're tiring of the noisy fruit and confectionery balance of cheap New World whites. The best have a quilted subtlety and creamy finesse quite different from the nutty lushness of white burgundy. It's also a nifty moment to buy them. Recent vintages have been of mixed quality for reds, since it keeps raining before the grapes are fully ripe. The white grapes, though, ripen earlier, and in many recent vintages have been picked before the worst of the rain set in.

Top buys

1999 Blason de Maucaillou Sauvignon Blanc, Bordeaux (Sainsbury's, £3.99) Supple, fresh and creamy, with a smooth style, ripe acidity and the structure to sort out a trout (17/25).
1999 Chartron la Fleur, Chateau Les Graves du Haut Perron, Bordeaux (Tesco, £3.99) Remarkably concentrated for this price, with lemon-souffl? scents and a fencing-master style of citric cut and dash (18/25).
1999 La F?ret Hilaire, Entre-Deux-Mers (Tesco, £4.49) Melony scents, lime flavours, yet those characteristics are not the point: this wine is a good example of white Bordeaux's ability to form a discreet supporting partner to a delicious summer meal (17/25).
1998 Château de Tourte, Graves (Wine Society, 01438 740222, £6.50) There are some real bargains at this mid-priced point, as this subtly mentholated wine shows. The scents of mint, lemon verbena, lime and honey are compelling, and in the mouth it's demurely understated, elegant and concentrated (19/25).
1998 Château le Chec, Graves (Adnams, 01502 727222, £6.95) Another mid-priced winner, this beautifully labelled, cherub-plump wine has a sumptuously creamy scent and some of the lanolin fattiness of a dry Sauternes (19/25).
1997 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, Margaux (Lay and Wheeler, 01206 764446, £32.95) Yes, there is a little white wine made by some of the M?doc's grand dukes. Classy French oak dominates the scents, while the flavours are choice, sumptuous and souffl?-soft, meshing greengage, apple and white peach fruit with a coffee-cream richness (19/25).
1996 Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-L?ognan (Corney and Barrow, 0207 539 3200, £33.53) As the best white Bordeaux ages, it starts to do some very interesting things. This is just on the cusp between the gooseberry of youth and the gooseberry crumble of age. Intense and vivid, time will begin to ladle out its honey soon (18/25).
1994 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-L?ognan (Fortnum and Mason, 0845 300 1707, £45) I loved the slightly oxidative style of this wine's aromas, suggesting hawthorne blossom, almonds and walnut butter; in the mouth, it's got the best intensity of all, decked out with perfumed orange and almond. A first cousin to Savenni?res and white Hermitage (20/25).

Best of the rest

Sainsbury's 1999 Bordeaux Blanc (Sainsbury's, £3.29) A simple wine, as you'd expect from this rock-bottom price, yet it's a lean-line classic, too, with lots of deep, clean lime, gooseberry and apple (15/25).
1999 Calvet Sauvignon (Safeway, £3.99) There's a zingy, spritzy style to this modern, no-spots-on-me white Bordeaux (16/25).
1999 Num?ro 1 de Dourthe (Safeway, £4.99) I'd guess you get a kiss of oak for your extra pound, with a richer, more vivid style and some mellow orange and tangerine (15/25).
1998 Ch?teau Bertinerie, Côtes de Blaye (Berry Bros and Rudd, 0870 900 4300, £5.95) With its clipped grass scents and nettley pungency, this good-value wine seems to be nodding towards New Zealand, Marlborough, and bays with clouds drifting over them (17/25).
1998 Mouton Cadet (widely available eg, Tesco, £5.99) Moderate concentration and a slightly lifeless finish, yet I liked the nougat and honey notes in this amenable and crowd-pleasing Bordeaux stalwart (16/25).