Entre-deux-Mers
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “eu” is “ay” said with rounded lips. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
The dry white of the country between the 2 rivers, 133 communes, recognized in 1937 for white alone and opened to red from the 2023 harvest, the largest change to a Bordeaux appellation in a generation.
The place
The
The rules
Dry white and, since the extension, red. The white is Sémillon, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle, with Colombard and Ugni Blanc as accessory varieties, at 65 hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 75 and 10.5% of natural alcohol, and it stays on its lees until November 15 after the harvest. The red is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot, with Carmenère as accessory, at 55 hectoliters with a ceiling of 65 and 12% of natural alcohol, and it cannot reach the consumer before January 1 of the second year after the harvest, which means at least 14 months of aging. The 2 colors are planted at no less than 4,500 vines a hectare. The cahier des charges in force, the appellation’s official rulebook, was homologated by the arrêté of September 19, 2025.
The names
No classification. The appellation was recognized on July 31, 1937 for dry white wine, and for 86 years that is what the name meant. In May 2023 INAO extended it to red, on about 5,500 hectares planted at more than 4,500 vines a hectare; the first vintage was 2023, and the first bottles reached the trade in 2025. It is the largest change to a Bordeaux appellation in a generation, and it came to the one appellation most people think of as white.
- Colors
- Dry white; red since 2023
- Communes
- 133, between the Dordogne and the Garonne
- Vineyard
- 1,783 hectares, 280 growers; about 5,500 hectares eligible for the red
- Soil
- Clay and clay with limestone, gravel in places, on the hilltops and the slopes
- Grapes
- White: Sémillon, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Muscadelle; Colombard and Ugni Blanc accessory. Red: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot; Carmenère accessory
- Density
- 4,500 vines a hectare at least
- Yield
- White 65 hectoliters, ceiling 75; red 55, ceiling 65
- Alcohol
- White 10.5%, red 12% natural at least
- Release
- White on its lees to November 15 after the harvest; red from January 1 of the second year, at least 14 months of aging
- Inside it
Entre-deux-Mers Haut-Benauge , on 8 communes- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
- July 31, 1937 for white; red from 2023; cahier of September 19, 2025
Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges
The stack
The same land in
It shares named communes with
The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map
The pyramid of names shows what each step promises: vines a hectare, bottles, ripeness, day of sale, grapes. Climb from here
Terroir
In 1496 the quarry at Rauzan sent its stone to Bordeaux for the spire of Saint-Michel. Beneath much of this country lies the starfish limestone (calcaire à astéries), left by an Oligocene sea whose reach matched, roughly, the borders of the Gironde department.
That limestone gives the country its frame, though it covers 18.2% of the delimited area. It shows along the valleys, where streams have cut down through the plateau and drain the rock through many springs, so the water it holds varies widely from one place to the next. Over it lies the larger share, 50.4%: clays and sands left by rivers and lakes as the land rose from the sea, the Agenais molasse.
On the hilltops lies the oldest gravel, reddened and bound in clay, its minerals carried mostly from the Pyrenees, and it reaches down the west and south slopes too. Gravel was dug here until the spreading pits began to compete with the vineyards, and the digging stopped. The abbey of La Sauve-Majeure helped first to clear this land, then to grow its vineyard. Where the starfish limestone ends, the country could end too.
- Slope wash and cover7.1%
- River and estuary deposits of today1.1%
- Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles8.9%
- Landes sand and the oldest river deposits5.4%
- Shell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the Miocene0.6%
- Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone50.4%
- Starfish limestone and marine marls18.2%
- Lake limestones and clays1.4%
- Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes6.9%
Shares of the delimited area, measured on BRGM’s geological map, in families by the age and rock its legend prints, youngest first.
Half its delimited soil lies above 73 m, and 9 tenths lies between 12 and 105 m. 16.1% of it is steeper than 10%.
Measured section
The line runs 22.3 km, from 1 m to 47 m. Inside the delimited area it lies between 11 and 110 m.
Colors: River and estuary deposits of todayIce age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebblesShell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the MioceneAgenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestoneStarfish limestone and marine marlsLake limestones and claysMolasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes
The units, as BRGM prints them
| Code | Name and age, as printed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Slope wash and cover | 7.1% | |
| CFp | Formations superficielles | 6.2% |
| and 2 more units under 1% each, 0.9% in all | ||
| River and estuary deposits of today | 1.1% | |
| Fy3-z | Alluvions subactuelles à actuelles indiféernéciées (sic), Pré-boréal à actuel | 1.1% |
| Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles | 8.9% | |
| Fy | Terrasses sous-flandriennes indiférenciées, Weichsélien - "Wurm" | 1.8% |
| Fxb3 | Basses terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse d'Izon (type 6), Saalien - "Riss" | 2.6% |
| Fwb(D) | Moyennes terrasses - Terrasses du Malleret sup. indifférencié (type 3 à 5), Esltérien - "Mindel" | 2.3% |
| Fu | Très hautes terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse de Cénac, Eburonien - Donau | 1.2% |
| and 4 more units under 1% each, 1.0% in all | ||
| Landes sand and the oldest river deposits | 5.4% | |
| Ft(Sa) | Fmt de Sadirac, Tiglien - "Biber-Donau" | 5.4% |
| and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.0% in all | ||
| Shell sands (faluns), limestones and marls of the Miocene | 0.6% | |
| and 5 more units under 1% each, 0.6% in all | ||
| Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone | 50.4% | |
| g2-A | Molasse de l'Agenais sup. à faciès argileux dominant, Chattien continental | 21.7% |
| g1-A | Molasse de l'Agenais inf. à facies argileux dominant, Rupélien continental | 27.3% |
| g1-S | Molasse de l'Agenais Inf. à faciès sableux dominant, Rupélien continental | 1.4% |
| Starfish limestone and marine marls | 18.2% | |
| g1-As | Calcaire à Astéries, Rupélien marin | 18.1% |
| and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.0% in all | ||
| Lake limestones and clays | 1.4% | |
| g1-Cc | Formation du Calcaire de Castillon s.s., Rupélien basal continental | 1.2% |
| and 3 more units under 1% each, 0.3% in all | ||
| Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes | 6.9% | |
| e7-g1-A | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies argileux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 2.2% |
| e7-g1-S | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies sableux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 2.9% |
| e7c-A | Molasses du Fronsadais inf. à moy. (facies argileux dominant), Priabonien sup. continental | 1.0% |
| and 3 more units under 1% each, 0.8% in all | ||
Informative figures, computed from INAO’s digitized parcel delimitation of October 12, 2026 and BRGM’s harmonized geological map (BD Charm-50); heights from IGN’s RGE ALTI 5 m. The plans held at the town hall are the legal reference. The delimited area is always somewhat larger than what is planted.
Sources: BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Podensac à 1/50 000, 1996; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Pessac à 1/50 000, 1978; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Libourne à 1/50 000, 1995; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Langon à 1/50 000, 1978; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Duras à 1/50 000, 1996; INAO parcel delimitation (file of 2026-10-12) laid over BRGM BD Charm-50 Gironde, harmonized geological map.
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