LE SAUTERNES L’aristocrate des vendanges tardives (à Bordeaux)

Sometimes you have to hit the bottom to bounce back. Sauternes winegrowers know very well what it is all about. These producers of sweet wines were among the first victims of the demonization of sugar. Long live adult dry taste, down with regressive and childish sugar! Today, the straighter, dryer a white wine, taut like a bow, lively like a cudgel, the more it vibrates. But wine is not a product of the food industry, but a creation of the earth.

A tranquil land of gentle slopes and misty mornings, defined by a thread of jade-hued water shrouded by overhanging trees, and punctuated by modest villages and medieval châteaux. Here family-owned properties rub shoulders with some of the world’s most famous wine estates, and modern winemakers are awakening the appellation’s luscious golden wines – and producing some exciting dry white wines – after decades of relative slumber.

Bordeaux is rightly famous for the great sweet white wines of Sauternes and Barsac. These stand alongside trockenbeerenauslese from Germany, Hungarian Tokaji and Tuscany’s vin santo as some of the finest and most delectable wines available.

And yet making sweet white wine is not for the faint-hearted. Minimal yields and uncertainty about the prospects for viability every year combined with high costs of production. Add to the equation the weak demand for sweet wines, and it’s a wonder that any is produced at all.

Sauternes came originally as a French dessert wine (though now the perfect match seems to be with oysters as well as cheese or duck) with a controlled designation of origin produced in Sauternes, one of the subdivisions of the Bordeaux vineyard. The vine is reputed to have been cultivated in the Bordeaux region since the end of the Roman Empire, but we have to wait until the Middle Ages to have documents attesting to this in Sauternes. The use of noble rot is not easy to date, though. Hugh Johnson mentions its use attested in 1836 at Château La Tour Blanche, but a century earlier, very late harvests gave a very rich wine that required ageing for several years in barrels. A local legend says that an owner (the trader Focke in 1836 at La Tour Blanche, or the Marquis de Lur-Saluces at Yquem in 1847) came home late to supervise his harvest. Finding the grapes overripe, he nevertheless decided to bring in his harvest despite the rotten appearance of the grapes. He took it well since he discovered the contribution of noble rot to the aromas of the wine.

The production area of ​​the appellation is made up of five municipalities: Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac and Sauternes, all located on the left bank of the Garonne, on either side of the Ciron river, south of Bordeaux. Its vineyard includes some wines of world-renowned prestige, such as Château d'Yquem, the only Premier Cru Supérieur retained in the official classification of Bordeaux wines in 1855.

However, Sauternes, this wine, sometimes golden, ranked among the greatest of Bordeaux in 1855, comes from a grey, noble rot, which concentrates the grapes so much that they are indeed sweet, mellow, sweet, syrupy. Its colour is deep, golden yellow like the sun concentrated in the glass, with shades from sunrise to sunset, from green reflections to ocher shades of autumn. The devil himself somehow.

The solely-sweet, Sauternes appellation comprises nearly 2,000ha, shy of 2% of the total Bordeaux vineyard area, includes 240 producers and gives rise to an average production of 5 to 6 million bottles a year. Sauternes can be a delicious, sweet treat. But this is part of its challenge. The most famous sweet wines of Bordeaux are generally referred to as ‘Sauternes’, although only the before mentioned five distinct communes are permitted to use this name. Harvesting by hand is mandatory, with successive passes through the vineyard (tries in French) required to pick the best grapes. Soils here are diverse, with clay, gravel and sand, with a higher limestone presence in Barsac. What makes the area unique is the presence of mists caused by the confluence of the warm Garonne and the colder Ciron rivers.

It is in this preserved and unique ecosystem that the autumn mists coming from the Garonne and the Ciron allow for centuries the appearance of the always mysterious "noble rot", a mushroom to which the scientists have given the austere name of "Botrytis cinerea (which in Latin means "ash"). The effect of noble rot is to dry out and concentrate grapes (particularly the thin-skinned Semillon) and promote the flavours found in botrytised grapes: marmalade, fruit zest, mushroom and honey. Everywhere else, botrytis is a parasite. Here, in Sauternes, it's gold!

You must have seen, this rot: from September to December, it preserves the grapes by evaporating their water and concentrating their sugars and their aromas. The grand crus classés of Sauternes were then sold for two or even three times more than the great Bordeaux reds! Forget your prejudices and set off to discover this little Tuscany located south of Bordeaux, made up of hills, dry stone walls and fragrant pines.

The cluster becomes mauve, blue, brown, black, shrivelled, a horror... And yet, it is she who will generate liquid gold! In the 18th century, the merchants of Bordeaux did not dare to tell the truth to their Dutch, English and American customers, they were ashamed of it. By tasting the rotten grapes, we understand everything: it's a delight! The mushroom brings notes of citrus, quince and honey. Sauternes is therefore not an ordinary sweet wine, it is something else entirely!

The appellation decree specifies that four grape varieties can be used without a rule of proportion: Muscadelle B, Sauvignon B, Sauvignon Gris G and Sémillon B. All are susceptible to grey rot. This defect becomes a quality during years when the local climate favours the nobility of this rot. Sémillon B is the main grape variety used to make Sauternes. Guy Lavignac says he comes from Sauternes. This variety with sometimes a little low acidity makes up for it with an ample structure, a lot of fat and sweetness in the mouth. It is a variety susceptible to rot, but the skin of its berries being thick, it lends itself well to botrytization.

Muscadelle brings a touch of complexity to the blend. This variety originating from the southwest is little cultivated, but with 5 to 10% of the blend, it already brings its touch. Its sensitivity to diseases (powdery mildew, grape worms, grey rot) and oxidation penalizes it.

Sauvignon Blanc B is a grape variety from Bordeaux or central France. It has typical varietal aromas in dry wine: citrus fruits, blackcurrant buds or boxwood. Vinified as sweet, it brings a touch of acidity to the blend, a guarantee of freshness and aromas. Sauvignon Gris G is the coloured version of Sauvignon Blanc. The characteristics of the wines are very similar, however, the sugar level is higher with Sauvignon Gris, a strong argument for making sweet wines.

First, it is the rarity, the microscopic yields: one glass of wine per vine. Then there is immortality: a bottle can be kept for a hundred and fifty years; over time the impression of sugar disappears in favour of flavours of orange peel, quince and saffron. It's ecology: to obtain noble rot, the vines cannot be treated with heavy chemicals. It's simplicity: by drinking it, you renounce all the rhetoric of tasting, because this wine cannot be described in words, it speaks to the heart and to the soul. Finally, it is gastronomy at its most contemporary: when young and peppery, Sauternes pairs beautifully with oysters! Older, it will sublimate lobster, sole, sea urchins, poultry, foie gras, duck à l'orange, sweetbreads or a beautiful creamy Roquefort or Brie cheese.

(ref. Decanter, map from Quattrocalici)