Principal white grape
Sauvignon Blanc
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” and “ohn” are nasal vowels: say them through the nose, with no n. “ny” is the ny in “canyon”. The recording is the reference.
Sauvignon Blanc is a white grape with Savagnin as one parent, itself a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, and level with Sémillon as the leading white grape of Bordeaux.
Sauvignon Blanc is a white grape. DNA markers show that Savagnin is one of its parents; the other is unknown, VIVC records, citing Thierry Lacombe and colleagues (2013) and later studies. The pedigree diagram in Wine Grapes (Robinson, Harding, and Vouillamoz, 2012) makes it a sibling of Chenin Blanc. In 1997 John Bowers and Carole Meredith, of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, showed with DNA markers that Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. They called the Sauvignon Blanc contribution “a surprise”. Sauvignon Gris, which VIVC records as a color mutation of Sauvignon Blanc, has its own page.
Bordeaux long thought the grape its own. Auguste Petit-Lafitte, professor of agriculture of the Gironde, wrote in La vigne dans le Bordelais (1868) that it was to the white vines what the Cabernet was to the red. He called it “the most perfumed of grapes after the Muscat” (“le plus parfumé des raisins après le Muscat”) and, citing M. de Secondat, Montesquieu’s son, in a work of 1785, credited it with the body and sap of the wines of Barsac, Preignac, Sauternes, and Carbonnieux. He took its Loire and Burgundy names as signs that Bordeaux had given it to other regions. Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, listed “Savagnin” among those Burgundy names in 1868; DNA markers now make Savagnin one of its parents.
By 1816 André Jullien, author of the Manuel du sommelier, found the Sauvignon in the white wines of Barsac, Preignac, Sauternes, the Graves, and the slopes of Langoiran. In 1850 Charles Cocks wrote in his guide Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins that Yquem owed its superiority mainly to the exclusive culture of the Sauvignon. In 1868 the guide, by then signed with Féret, likened its taste to the fig and added: “In the Sauternes country, it is picked only when it is rotten and almost dry” (“Dans le pays de Sauternes, on ne le cueille que lorsqu’il est pourri et presque sec”).
The turn is recent. Between 1988 and 2018 the Gironde gained 1,431 hectares of Sauvignon, according to Agreste, the farm statistics service, while Sémillon lost share. In 2020 the CIVB, the Bordeaux wine council, gave Sauvignon 46% of the white vineyard of Bordeaux, level with Sémillon, and counted Sauvignon Gris among the other white grapes.
Oldest record in my library: “sauvignon”, 1736, in abbé Bellet’s catalog of the vines of Bordeaux and Cadillac, as printed in Viala and Vermorel, Ampélographie, vol. 1, 1910; “Sauvignon”, 1785, in Jean-Baptiste de Secondat, Mémoire sur la culture des vignes de la Guienne; André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1816
The family
Savagnin shown by DNA markers
Sauvignon Blanc
Cabernet Sauvignon shown by DNA markers
Sauvignon Gris its color mutation
- Lacombe et al. 2013; D'Onofrio et al. 2021; VIVC 10790
- Bowers & Meredith 1997, Nature Genetics 16:84-87; VIVC 1929
- VIVC, Sauvignon Gris passport: a color mutation of Sauvignon Blanc
The discovery: In 1997, John Bowers and Carole Meredith showed with DNA markers that Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
The names
As the Gironde books wrote it: Sauvignon, Surin-Fié, Blanc-Fumé, Servonien, Savagnin, Servoyen, Punechon, Puinechou, Douceblanche, Blanc-Doux.
Other names in VIVC: Blanc Doux, Blanc Fume, Blanc Fumet, Fie, Fie Dans Le Neuvillois, Fume, Fume Blanc, Fume Surin, Genetin, Genetin A Romorantin, Gros Sauvignon, Libournais, Petit Sauvignon, Puinechou.
Old names: Blanc-Doux (open), Rochalin (open)
In today’s rules
Principal (white) in 22 of the appellations and designations on this site; principal (sparkling) in 1; accessory (rosé) in 1.
- Principal · white
- Barsac, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Cadillac, Cérons, Côtes de Bordeaux, Côtes de Bordeaux-Saint-Macaire, Côtes de Bourg, Entre-deux-Mers, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Graves, Graves Supérieures, Graves de Vayres, Haut-Benauge, Loupiac, Médoc, Pessac-Léognan, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, Sainte-Foy Côtes de Bordeaux, Sauternes
- Principal · sparkling
- Crémant de Bordeaux
- Accessory · rosé
- Bordeaux (Sémillon and the 2 Sauvignons together: up to 20% of the estate’s vines for rosé and of each lot for sale; the 2 Sauvignons together: up to 10%)
Area planted
- 46% share of white-variety area, Bordeaux vineyard (CIVB), 2020
CIVB, Bordeaux Key Facts 2021 (data labeled 'Signature grapes (2020 data)'), PDF hosted at https://www.about-drinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CIVB-Bordeaux-Key-Facts-2021_09.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 31,751 ha planted area, France, 2024
FranceAgriMer, Les chiffres-clés de la filière viti-vinicole 2024 (December 2025 edition), p. 11 'Les principaux cépages plantés en 2024', source printed: DGDDI, déclarations de plantation au 31/07/2025 (CVI), https://www.franceagrimer.fr/sites/default/files/2025-12/20251121_CC%20VITI%20VINICOLE%20%202025.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12
Stands out at
In the books
“the first growth of this country, Yquem, owes its superiority mainly to the exclusive culture of this vine”
le premier crû de ce pays, Yquem , doit sa supériorité principalement à la culture exclusive de ce cépage
“In the Sauternes country, it is picked only when it is rotten and almost dry.”
Dans le pays de Sauternes , on ne le cueille que lorsqu'il est pourri et presque sec .
“the Falfas vineyard counts 100 journaux and about 120,000 vines, of which 40,000 malbec, 30,000 cabernet, 20,000 merlot, 10,000 sauvignon blanc and 20,000 various vines”
le vignoble de Falfas compte 100 journaux et environ 120,000 pieds de vigne , dont 40.000 malbees , 30,000 cabernets , 20,000 merlot , 10,000 sauvignon blanc et 20,000 cépages divers
“The white vineyard is planted only with fine vines: sémillon, sauvignon, muscadelle”
Le vignoble blanc est exclusivement complanté en cépages fins : sémillon sauvignon , muscadelle
My library records it planted at 85 estates, and 12 of them have a page here:
Timeline
- 1816Jullien lists 'le sauvignon' among the Gironde's white vines and describes its wines as dry and warm.
André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, ch. XX 'Guienne et Gascogne', §I Gironde, pp. 198-201 - 1868Petit-Lafitte names 'Sauvignon gris' and 'Sauvignon blanc' as possible variations of Sauvignon, but says no well-defined varieties of it are known in the Gironde.
Auguste Petit-Lafitte, La vigne dans le Bordelais, 1868, p. 167 - 1997Sauvignon Blanc is shown to be a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bowers & Meredith 1997, Nature Genetics 16: 84-87 - 2018Sauvignon gains 1,431 ha in the Gironde between 1988 and 2018 and increasingly challenges Sémillon.
Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), '1. Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, p. 73, Figure 2 'Évolution des surfaces par encépagement entre 1988 et 2018, en hectare' (sources printed: RGA 1988, CVI 2018), https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12; Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), p. 73 text, https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 2020Sauvignon holds 46% of the white-variety area in Bordeaux.
CIVB, Bordeaux Key Facts 2021 (data labeled 'Signature grapes (2020 data)'), PDF hosted at https://www.about-drinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CIVB-Bordeaux-Key-Facts-2021_09.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 2024France has 31,751 ha of Sauvignon Blanc.
FranceAgriMer, Les chiffres-clés de la filière viti-vinicole 2024 (December 2025 edition), p. 11 'Les principaux cépages plantés en 2024', source printed: DGDDI, déclarations de plantation au 31/07/2025 (CVI), https://www.franceagrimer.fr/sites/default/files/2025-12/20251121_CC%20VITI%20VINICOLE%20%202025.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12
In the lab
More than 2,880 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.
- Oenological Performances of New White Grape Varieties
A. L. de Sousa Dias, Charlie Guittin-Leignadier, A. Roy, Somaya Sachot, Faïza Maçna, et al. (incl. Aurélie Roland), 2025 - Characterization of varietal effects on the acidity and pH of grape berries for selection of varieties better adapted to climate change
Marc Plantevin, Yoann Merpault, Julien Lecourt, Agnès Destrac-Irvine, Lucile Dijsktra, Cornelis van Leeuwen, 2024 - Quantifying the grapevine xylem embolism resistance spectrum to identify varieties and regions at risk in a future dry climate
L. Lamarque, C. Delmas, G. Charrier, R. Burlett, Ninon Dell'acqua, J. Pouzoulet, G. Gambetta, S. Delzon, 2023 - Essai de l'utilisation du kaolin contre l'échaudage et effets sur le potentiel oenologique de la vendange : étude sur les cépages Cabernet-Sauvignon et Sauvignon Blanc dans le Bordelais
Florent Vesselle, 2021 - Diversity buffers winegrowing regions from climate change losses
Benjamin I. Cook (with Iñaki García de Cortázar-Atauri, Thierry Lacombe, Ignacio Morales-Castilla, Kimberly A. Nicholas, Amber Parker, Kees van Leeuwen, Elizabeth Wolkovich), 2020
Sources
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026 (passport 10790, Sauvignon Blanc; pedigree bibliography; Sauvignon Gris passport 10792)
- Lacombe, T., Boursiquot, J.-M., Laucou, V., et al., 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2):401-414, 2013, doi 10.1007/s00122-012-1988-2
- D'Onofrio, C., et al., 'Parentage Atlas of Italian Grapevine Varieties as Inferred From SNP Genotyping', Frontiers in Plant Science 12:605934, 2021, doi 10.3389/fpls.2020.605934
- Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes, 2012, pedigree diagram
- John E. Bowers & Carole P. Meredith, 'The parentage of a classic wine grape, Cabernet Sauvignon', Nature Genetics 16:84-87, 1997 (pp. 84 and 85)
- Auguste Petit-Lafitte, La vigne dans le Bordelais, 1868, pp. 164-167
- Almanach du buveur, 1870, and Cocks, Bordeaux et ses vins, 1874, publisher's lists: 'Auguste Petit-Lafitte, professeur d'agriculture du département de la Gironde'
- Petit-Lafitte 1868 on J.-B. Secondat de Montesquieu, son of the author of L'Esprit des lois, and his Histoire du chêne printed in 1785
- André Jullien, Topographie de tous les vignobles connus, 1st ed., 1816, ch. XX, Gironde, pp. 198-201 (title page: 'Auteur du Manuel du Sommelier')
- Charles Cocks, Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 1850, p. 152
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (2e éd.) (1868), 'Cépages de vignes blanches', p. 24
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (6e éd.) (1893) (Falfas)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite (9e éd.) (1922) (Nairac)
- INAO, cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux, section V.1 'Encépagement', https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDC-Bordeaux.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), 'Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, p. 73, Figure 2 (RGA 1988, CVI 2018), accessed October 2026
- CIVB, Bordeaux Key Facts 2021 ('Signature grapes (2020 data)'), https://www.about-drinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CIVB-Bordeaux-Key-Facts-2021_09.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Pierre Viala & Victor Vermorel, Ampélographie, t. I, Paris, Masson, 1910, 'Histoire de l'ampélographie' (Tallavignes), p. 537 note, printing abbé Bellet's 1736 catalog of the vines of Bordeaux and Cadillac (dated 1736 by Petit-Lafitte, La vigne dans le Bordelais, 1868)
- Jean-Baptiste de Secondat, Mémoires sur l’histoire naturelle du chêne […], sur la culture de la vigne, et sur le vin de la Guienne, Paris, De Bure fils aîné, 1785
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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