Château Carbonnieux· Pessac-Léognan

Carbonnieux traces its history to 1234, which makes it one of the oldest names I carry, older than most of the appellations that now define Bordeaux. The Perrin family has run it for generations, and under them it has become, quietly, one of the great white-wine addresses of Pessac-Léognan.

I buy here for the blanc first. Across ninety-two hectares of gravel and clay-limestone, it is the white parcels, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon with a whisper of Muscadelle, that earn the Cru Classé de Graves billing on both colours. The wine has cut and length and a refusal to flatter, which is exactly what I want from a Graves white.

The rouge is honest, mid-weight Pessac, cassis and tobacco, sensibly oaked at a third new. It is the kind of bottle I recommend without ceremony and never regret.