Much of white Bordeaux is in fact inexpensive and inoffensive, fermented and aged in steel tanks and intended for early drinking. Some of these comes from Entre-Deux-Mers, a region between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers that once accounted for a great deal of modest white wine but has now been largely replanted in reds. The more interesting whites, which we sought for our tasting, tend to be aged in barrels and come from west of the Garonne, from Pessac-Léognan just south of the city of Bordeaux and occasionally from Graves, to the south of Pessac-Léognan.

Once, the name Graves encompassed the entirety of these two regions. It was easy to remember and apt, with its linguistic reference to the gravelly soil that underlies many of the best parts of Bordeaux west of the Garonne and in the Médoc to the north.

In the 19th century and up until World War II, Bordeaux produced more white wine than red. If it was not always of the highest quality, Graves at least was well known, and was particularly favored in England. In 1987, the large Graves appellation was divided. The northern part, which contained most of the best producers, was renamed Pessac-Léognan. What was gained in precision was lost in name recognition.

Image No. 2: Les Hauts de Smith Pessac-Léognan 2011 Credit... Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

While red grapes thrive in the famous gravel beds, the best whites come from soils with components of clay and limestone as well. These particular soils are in short supply in Bordeaux. That’s one reason most producers of white Bordeaux, even those at the absolute pinnacle like Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion and Domaine de Chevalier, which can charge as much if not more for their whites as for their reds, make far more red than white.

Haut-Brion blanc and La Mission Haut-Brion blanc (formerly known as Laville Haut-Brion) were far beyond our budget, but they were nonetheless represented in our tasting. The two estates are both owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon, which makes a single second wine of plots that, for one reason or another, are not included in the top wines of each chateau. That wine, the 2010 La Clarté de Haut-Brion, just squeaked into the tasting at $99 but was our favorite, exhibiting quiet complexity, a beautiful texture and great depth.

The Clarté was 83 percent sémillon, an unusually high proportion for a dry white Bordeaux. By contrast, our No. 2 wine, the 2011 Les Hauts de Smith (the second wine of Smith-Haut-Lafitte), was 100 percent sauvignon blanc. Even if the aromas and flavors ran toward floral and pepper rather than lanolin and beeswax, it showed none of the grassy pungency we associate with sauvignon blanc. Instead it offered a richness and succulence that I believe reflects the terroir more than the grape.