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Sauternes is a
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
sweet wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...
from the region of the same name in the Graves section in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
. Sauternes wine is made from Sémillon, sauvignon blanc, and muscadelle grapes that have been affected by ''
Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" or ...
'', also known as
noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the w ...
. This causes the grapes to become partially
raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...
ed, resulting in concentrated and distinctively flavored wines. Due to its
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
, Sauternes is one of the few
wine regions This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes ...
where infection with noble rot is a frequent occurrence. Even so, production is a hit-or-miss proposition, with widely varying harvests from
vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
to vintage. Wines from Sauternes, especially the ''Premier Cru Supérieur'' estate
Château d'Yquem Château d'Yquem () is a '' Premier Cru Supérieur'' ( Fr: "Superior First Growth") wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Ch� ...
, can be very expensive, largely due to the very high cost of production. Barsac lies within Sauternes and is entitled to use either name. Somewhat similar but less expensive and typically less-distinguished wines are produced in the neighboring regions of Monbazillac,
Cérons Cérons ( Gascon: ''Seron'' or ''Serons'') is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest ad ...
, Loupiac and
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
. In the United States, there is a
semi-generic ''Semi-generic'' is a legal term used in by the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to refer to a specific type of wine designation. The majority of these were originally based on the names of well-known European wine-produci ...
label for sweet white dessert wines known as ''sauterne'' without the "s" at the end and uncapitalized.E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan: ''"French Wine for Dummies"'', pp. 73-77, Wiley Publishing 2001 .


History

As in most of France,
viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...
is believed to have been introduced into
Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...
by the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
. The earliest evidence of
sweet wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...
production, however, dates only to the 17th century. While the English had been the region's primary export market since the Middle Ages, their tastes primarily ran to drier wines, starting with
clairet Clairet () is a wine that is dark pink in style and may be described as a full-bodied and deep-coloured type of rosé. It is considered a specialty of the Bordeaux region and is thought to have originated in Quinsac in Premieres Côtes de Bord ...
in medieval times and eventually shifting to red
claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...
.winepros.com.au. It was the Dutch traders of the 17th century who first developed an interest in white wine. For years, they were active in the trade of
German wine German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhineland-Pala ...
s, ⁣⁣but production in Germany began to wane in the 17th century as the German lands were affected by conflict (particularly the Thirty Years' War) and as the popularity of beer increased. The Dutch saw an opportunity for a new production source in Bordeaux and began investing in the planting of white grape varieties. They introduced to the region German white wine making techniques, such as halting fermentation with the use of
sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
in order to maintain
residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, whi ...
levels. One of these techniques involved taking a
candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...
(known as a "brimstone candle") with its
wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...
dipped in the sulphur and burned in the barrel that the wine will be fermenting in. This would leave a presence of sulphur in the barrel that the wine would slowly interact with as it was fermenting. Being an anti-microbial agent, sulphur stuns the yeast that stimulates fermentation, eventually bringing it to a halt with high levels of sugars still in the wine. The Dutch began to identify areas that could produce grapes well suited for white wine production, and soon homed in on the area of Sauternes. The wine produced from this area was known as ''vins liquoreux'', but it is not clear if the Dutch were actively using nobly rotted grapes at this point.H. Johnson: ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'', pp. 185-188. Simon and Schuster 1989 . Wine expert Hugh Johnson has suggested that the unappealing thought of drinking wine made from fungus-infested grapes may have caused Sauternes producers to keep the use of ''Botrytis'' a secret. There are records from the 17th century that by October, Sémillon grapes were known to be infected by rot and vineyard workers had to separate rotted and clean berries, but they are incomplete in regard to whether the rotted grapes were used in
winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and w ...
. By the 18th century, the practice of using nobly rotted grapes in Germany and the
Tokaji Tokaji ( hu, of Tokaj ) or Tokay is the name of the wines from the Tokaj wine region (also ''Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region'' or ''Tokaj-Hegyalja'') in Hungary or the adjoining Tokaj wine region in Slovakia. This region is noted for its sweet wines ...
region of Hungary was well known. It seems that at this point the "unspoken secret" was more widely accepted and the reputation of Sauternes rose to rival those of the German and Hungarian dessert wines.H. Johnson: ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'', pp. 264-266, Simon and Schuster, 1989, . By the end of the 18th century, the region's reputation for Sauternes was internationally known: Thomas Jefferson was an avid connoisseur.J. Robinson (ed): ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition, pp. 611-612. Oxford University Press 2006 . Jefferson recorded that after tasting a sample of Château d'Yquem while
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
,
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
immediately placed an order for 30 dozen bottles.


Climate and geography

Like most of the Bordeaux wine region, the Sauternes region has a maritime climate, which brings the viticultural hazards of autumn
frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above- freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a ga ...
,
hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
and rains that can ruin an entire vintage. The Sauternes region is located southeast of the city of
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
along the
Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...
river and its tributary, the
Ciron The Ciron (; oc, Siron) is a left tributary of the Garonne, in Gironde, Southwest France. It is long. Geography The Ciron rises in the eastern end of the Moors of Gascony, in Landes. It flows north-west, mainly through the moors of Gironde ...
. The source of the Ciron is a
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...
which has cooler waters than the Garonne. In the autumn, when the climate is warm and dry, the different temperatures from the two rivers meet to produce mist that descends upon the vineyards from evening to late morning. This condition promotes the development of the ''Botrytis cinerea'' fungus. By midday, the warm sun will help dissipate the mist and dry the grapes to keep them from developing less favorable rot.


Wine regions

The Sauternes wine region comprises five ''
communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
''— Barsac, Sauternes,
Bommes Bommes (; oc, Bòmas) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Bommes is located in the Sauternes wine appellation of Bordeaux. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The foll ...
, Fargues and Preignac. While all five communes are permitted to use the name Sauternes, the Barsac region is also permitted to label their wines under the Barsac appellation. The Barsac region is located on the west bank of the Ciron river, where the tributary meets the Garonne. The area sits on an
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
plain with sandy and limy soils.J. Robinson (ed): ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition, p. 71. Oxford University Press 2006 . In general, Barsac wine is distinguished from other Sauternes in being drier with a lighter
body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of animal ...
; currently more Barsac producers are choosing to promote the wines under their own name. In years when the noble rot does not develop, Sauternes producers will often make dry white wines under the generic Bordeaux AOC. To qualify for the Sauternes label, the wines must have a minimum 13%
alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
and pass a tasting exam where the wines need to taste noticeably sweet. There is no regulation on the exact amount of residual sugar that the wines need to have. Unlike the red wines of the Médoc, which received five degrees (from Premier Cru to Cinquième Cru), the Sauternes and Barsac wines were classified in two: Premiers Crus and Deuxièmes Crus. In order to recognize the special prestige and extremely high price of the wines from the Château d'Yquem winery, its wines were classified as Premier Cru Supérieur. No other winery in the Bordeaux wine area, whether red or sweet, has received the classification of Supérieur. Currently, there are eleven Premiers Crus and fifteen Deuxièmes Crus wineries. The commune of Barsac has the most cataloged wineries with ten, followed by Bommes and Sauternes with six each, Fargues with three and Preignac with two. Among the outstanding wineries in the Sauternes region, it is worth mentioning the Château d'Yquem, the Guiraud, the Filhot, the Rayne-Vigneau, the Climens, the Coutet, and La Tour Blanche. In addition to the classified wines, there are numerous unclassified Sauternes-Barsac designation of origin wineries, such as Château de Villefranche or Château Cantegril. Many wineries also carry second brands of inferior wines, usually with names based on the château, such as La Chartreuse de Coutet (from Coutet), or Petit Vedrines (from Doisy-Védrines). Wine areas close to Sauternes, such as Cérons, Loupiac and Cadillac (and the further Monbazillac area) also tend to produce sweet botrified-style wines under their own appellation of origin, although these wines are considered to be of much lower quality than those from Sauternes.


Wine style and serving

Sauternes are characterized by the balance of sweetness with the zest of acidity. Some common flavor notes include
apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...
s, honey, peaches but with a nutty note, which is a typical characteristic of noble Sémillon itself (cf. Australian noble (late-harvest) Sémillon). The finish can resonate on the palate for several minutes. Sauternes are some of the longest-lived wines, with premium examples from exceptional vintages properly kept having the potential to age well even beyond 100 years. A Sauternes typically starts out with a golden, yellow color that becomes progressively darker as it ages. Some wine experts believe that only once the wine reaches the color of an old copper coin has it started to develop its more complex and mature flavors. Several Sauternes are sold in half bottles of 375 ml though larger bottles are also produced. The wines are typically served chilled at , but wines older than 15 years are often served a few degrees warmer. Sauternes can be paired with a variety of foods. Foie gras is a classic match.


References


External links

{{Portal bar, Wine, France Bordeaux AOCs Noble rot wines Dessert wine