Graves de Vayres
A Graves of its own, across the Garonne from the Graves: red and white from 2 communes in a bend of the Dordogne west of Libourne, a name its growers defended in court in 1928.
The place
Graves de Vayres is 2 communes, Arveyres and Vayres, on the left bank of the Dordogne just west of Libourne, on a plateau and on the river plains held inside a wide bend of the river. The name is the ground: beige, very sandy soils, and clay and gravel soils whose heavy load of stones and gravel is bound in ochre clay. The climate is oceanic, and the sea air comes up the river. In 2010 the vineyard covered 500 hectares and made an average of 25,000 hectoliters of red and 8,000 of white, about 2 thirds of the white dry, from some 40 producers.
The rules
Red from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, also called Cot, Merlot and Petit Verdot; white from Muscadelle, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris and Sémillon, with Merlot Blanc, an old local variety, as an accessory. At least 4,500 vines a hectare, in rows no more than 2.50 meters apart. The red asks 189 g/l of sugar for Merlot and 180 for the others, 10.5% of natural alcohol and 53 hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 65; it is raised until May 1 and sold from September 1 of the year after the harvest. A dry white asks 170 g/l, 10.5% and 55 hectoliters with a ceiling of 72; a white with more than 4 g/l of sugar asks 178 g/l, 11% and 50 hectoliters with a ceiling of 55. The cahier des charges (the appellation’s official rulebook) in force, the appellation’s official rulebook, dates from the arrêté of November 26, 2025.
The names
No classification. The growers went to court to keep their name apart from the Graves of the left bank of the Garonne, and the judgment of February 11, 1928 confirmed it. The decree of July 31, 1937 made it an appellation. It sits inside the Entre-deux-Mers country, but it is an appellation of its own.
- Colors
- Red; white, dry or with sugar
- Communes
- Arveyres and Vayres
- Vineyard
- 500 hectares, some 40 producers; 25,000 hectoliters of red and 8,000 of white, in 2010
- Ground
- Beige, very sandy soils; clay and gravel bound in ochre clay
- Grapes
- Red: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot; white: Muscadelle, Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon, with Merlot Blanc
- Density
- 4,500 vines a hectare at least
- Yield
- Red 53 hectoliters, ceiling 65; dry white 55, ceiling 72; other white 50, ceiling 55
- Alcohol
- Red 10.5%, dry white 10.5%, other white 11% natural at least
- Release
- Red from September 1 of the year after the harvest
- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
- July 31, 1937; cahier of November 26, 2025
Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges Graves de Vayres, arrêté du 26 novembre 2025 · INAO, Graves de Vayres blanc
The stack
The same ground in Graves de Vayres may also be labeled Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux. A grower chooses which appellation to sell under, and the narrowest is almost always the dearest.
The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map