We’re just here to say good-bye.
News flash for French wine lovers and all students of wine! As of this month (October 2025), the Graves Supérieures AOC has been declassified by the INAO (Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité/French National Institute of Origin and Quality) and cancelled by the EU. To put it simply, the Graves Supérieures AOC is no more.
The Graves Supérieures AOC, established in 1937 and located in the southern reaches of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, originally allowed for the production of just one style of wine: sweet, botrytis-affected white wines containing the standard white grapes of Bordeaux.
Sweet white wine lovers—have no fear. These wines are still being produced and the parameters surrounding them have not changed. However, moving forward, they will be bottled under the Graves AOC. The Graves AOC will also continue to be approved for dry red wines and dry white wines.
- The requirements for sweet white wines (white wine with residual sugar) produced under the Graves AOC, as amended, include the following:
- Allowed grape varieties: Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, and Muscadelle—grapes must be “overripe” and harvested by hand in successive selections, (Note: the cahier des charges mentions “mainly Sémillon” and the presence of botrytis with no further details.)
- Minimum potential alcohol: 13.5%
- The use of rectified grape must and chaptalization is allowed.
- Minimum residual sugar: 34 g/l
These wines are intended to be “round, generous wines of a golden color with aromas of candied fruit.” Those of us who have been lucky enough to taste one will also say that they are complex, somewhat earthy, delicious, and a great match for pear-based desserts and blue cheese.
References/for more information:
- EU amendment – Graves Superieures declassified October 2025
- Graves AOC-declassified Graves Superieures
Post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator: jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org