The storied First Growth Bordeaux property, Chateau Haut-Brion has been run by the descendants of American Clarence Dillon ever since the great financier and Francophile bought the estate in 1935.

Today his great-grandson, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, is President of Domaine Clarence Dillon, the company that controls both Haut-Brion and a later purchase, its neighbor Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion.

Not content to sit back and enjoy these jewels, Prince Robert has invested considerable time, energy and money over recent years in improving the properties. In addition, he has embarked on an entirely new project, a line of super-premium branded Bordeaux wines named Clarendelle.

These are not estate wines. Rather they are made with juice sourced from all across the region, but the company still employs the same exacting standards as those used at Haut-Brion and La Mission. As Prince Robert explains: “The style of wines we are trying to produce is, rather than following the fashion of fruit forward wines, we’ve remained constant in the style of Haut-Brion and La Mission, more traditional, elegant, complex wines that might not be so huge as far as tastings are concerned but ultimately are pleasant to drink.”

N.P. & Prince Robert

In this they are especially successful in the superb white, the Clarendelle 2006 ($20) this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine of the Week. Now Bordeaux is generally known for its quality red wine not its whites, but with two remarkable exceptions: Chateaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. So, if anyone knows how to make a good yet inexpensive white Bordeaux it is these people.

The approach is simple. Prince Robert explains: “As I said, we are producing wines in the same style as our estate wines. So when we are blending the wines we’re trying to make wines that have this aging potential, whether it’s the whites or the reds.”

Thus the 2006 Blanc is two years older than most of the competition at this price, and that extra time, along with the winemakers’ experience, really show in the glass. The wine is a perfect expression of what a good white Bordeaux should be, with the perfumed richness of the sémillon and the racy bite of the sauvignon blanc playing off each other in an exquisite waltz of opposites.

It is quite simply the best white Bordeaux I have encountered at anything close to this price, and as such is a triumph of both business and winemaking acumen.

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