Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan (French: [pɛsak leɔɲɑ̃]) is a wine growing area and Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, in the northern part of the Graves region of Bordeaux. Unlike most Bordeaux appellations, Pessac-Léognan is equally famous for both red and (dry) white wines, although red wine is still predominant. It includes the only red-wine producer outside the Haut-Médoc classified in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, the premier cru Château Haut-Brion, and also includes all of the châteaux listed in the 1953/59 classification of Graves. These classed growths account for a third of the wine produced in Pessac-Léognan.

Pessac-Léognan lies on the left bank of the Garonne. It is immediately south of the city of Bordeaux (with a small portion to the west): indeed some of the northern vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are completely surrounded by the housing estates of Bordeaux, as a result of the city's southward expansion. It consists of 8 communes: (from north to south) Mérignac, Talence, Pessac, Gradignan, Villenave-d'Ornon, Cadaujac, Léognan and Martillac. A significant part of the area is forested. It includes 1580 hectares of vines. The soil is very gravelly.

Pessac-Léognan has a long wine-making history. Red wine from this region (and the rest of Graves) was the wine originally loved by the English as claret, during the 300 years that Aquitaine was under English rule, from 1152 to 1453. The area includes the oldest named property in Bordeaux, Château Pape Clément, founded by Pope Clement V in 1306. In the mid-seventeenth century, Château Haut-Brion became the first château of international renown, being praised by Samuel Pepys in 1663, while the Médoc was still swamp.

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