A day out in Sauternes

Hi,

Many appellations in Bordeaux have a "Portes Ouvertes" weekend once a year. I love these because they enable me to visit little-known estates that I would never have discovered otherwise. In fact, I tend to avoid the more famous estates on purpose.

So, I visited 11 châteaux in Sauternes and Barsac this past Saturday with friends from Bolivia and Colombia who live in Paris and came down specially because of a soft spot for these wines. Here are the thumbnail sketches.

1) Château d'Anna: Anna was born six years ago. Her father is winemaker at nearby Grand Enclos du Château de Cérons, but he owns a miniscule plot of vines in Barsac and decided to name the wine after his daughter. This is the tiniest estate in the appellation, but they make a very good wine indeed. The 2006 was more than OK and the 2007 was extremely pleasurable. I think I'll go back and buy some when it's bottled in the spring! The wine cellar has to be seen to be believed. It's about the size of a couple of broom closets with stone walls and 4 or 5 barrels – the estate's total production. This first visit of the day was undoubtedly one of the best.

2) Château Jany: This estate is also in Barsac. It's a largish one (16 hectares) run by M. & Mme Turtaut and their son. An increasing percentage of their wine is now sold under the château label instead of in bulk to négociants. The son innovated in 2005, producing a cuvée vieilles vignes which won a star in the Guide Hachette. A good, middle-of-the road wine best consumed relatively young.

3) Château Simon, also in Barsac, is a large estate that has been in the Dufour family for 5 generations. They also make a considerable amount of white and red Graves and have a flourishing business in direct sales to private customers. We tasted several of their wines and found them to be classic Barsac, which is to say (in a nutshell) less sweet, less heavy, and well-suited to pairing with food. The two cuvées exceptionnelles we sampled, 2001 and 2005, were clearly a cut above the standard blend. The former is already fine to drink now. I came away with a couple of bottles of the latter.

4) Eleven-hectare Château Gravas was the last stop in Barsac. The owners, Florence and Michel Bernard are friends, so I can hardly be objective here. Michel took over from his father about 5 years ago and this 100 Sémillon wine is in a slightly different style now, a touch lighter and more understated. We tasted 2006, 2005, and 2001. The 2001 was our favorite. Gravas are now selling some of their wine in a large flask that looks like it contains Chanel no. 5!

By then, it was time for lunch. We went to the Auberge des Vignes in Sauternes for a hearty meal and a bottle of 2003 Domaine de la Solitude, Graves rouge. This was ripe, but in no way flabby, and an excellent partner to an entrecôte cooked over vine cuttings.

Suitably fortified, we went to visit a series of wines in the Sauternes appellation

5) The first was Ch. Trillon. The Descacq family own this 8 hectare estate as well as the 13 hectare Ch. Monthes-Mouret in Fargues. I'm afraid that neither are likely to set the world on fire if the 2002 vintage we tasted is anything to go by.

6) The next stop was Premier Grand Cru Classé Clos Haut Peyraguey (15 hectares). I've long been a fan of this wine and was not disappointed with the 2006 vintage we tasted. Serious, long, powerful wine with great aging potential. The Pauly family also have another 5 hectare estate in the same commune of Bommes called Château Haut Bommes. This is not a second wine. It represents tremendous value for money and I walked away with a few bottles of the 2001 (having paid for them, of course…).

7) On a roll, we went to another First Growth, Ch. Rabaud Promis, also in Bommes, a largish (33 hectare estate). We tasted the 2006 and the 2003. The latter was heavier and sweeter. They had a special sale on the former at 19.50 euros a bottle, so one of these has duly gone into my cellar. The château have changed their label, which was annoyingly similar to that of their neighbor with a similar name and identical classification, Sigalas Rabaud, for many years. The new label is modern and attractive.

Domaine de Pistoulet (Bommes): This 2.7 hectare estate produces everyman's Sauternes. A fruity, upfront, early-maturing wine selling for the very reasonable price of 10.50 euros a bottle. Best value for money of the day. Artisanal operation.

9) Haut Bergeron in Preignac has been a byword for excellence for decades. Curiously, I had never tasted wine from the Lamothe's 25 hectare estate in Barsac before, Ch. Farluret. The 2005 vintage left me with a good impression, but my heart was more won over by the 2005 Haut Bergeron and their second wine, Ch. de Fontebride. The latter was not cheap, but worth every centime, and I bought several bottles.

10) We crossed the Bordeaux-Toulouse highway to visit the last two estates, both in Preignac. The first is called Château Pierre Saint Maxime. We met the eponymous owner who explained that he had restructured the vineyard, which consists largely of plots formerly belonging to Château Lange. The estate, as such, has only existed for a short time. The wine was served too cold. It seemed on the honest, but unexciting side with perhaps too much oak.

11) Ch. Laville is a lovely old building just crying out to be renovated… We tasted the 2003 which I though above average and bought a bottle. I liked it most of all for its funky spicy flavors. When I got back home, I saw that it had been given two stars in the Guide Hachette. Laville also produces a Graves Supérieur (sweet white Graves) called Château Mauras. The 2000 was sensational and I bought a case, but the 2003 was only so-so.

All the best,
Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

Wow Alex - I never knew that 10 of these properties existed! Really interesting report.

The next stop was Premier Grand Cru Classé Clos Haut Peyraguey

This wine used to be available here in Alberta, in splits if I am not mistaken. Think I may have a TN somewhere!

Nice report, Alex. My complaint about Sauternes is that, delicious though it can be in the mouth, it often leaves a cloying after-taste. Did you not feel a little sated after tasting so much of it?

Tim,

To me, Sauternes is the greatest of natural sweet wines.
The reason is that, when in balance, it has not only the acidity to provide a counterpoint to the sweetness, but also a slight bitterness due to botrytis on the finish.

Yes, I've tasted cloying, syrupy Sauternes. But this is more the exception than the rule.

Furthermore, Barsac and Sauternes can be truly different in style, the latter being noticeably heavier and sweeter in many instances - but also more powerful and majestic.

I'd be interested to hear what the Belgians drink as an apertif. Here it's either a patent drink (Martini, Ambassadeur, etc.), a fortified wine (port, muscat de rivesaltes), Scotch or, in Bordeaux, Sauternes. As you can see, in most instances we are looking at sweet drinks. And not just for the women.

If you say you don't like sweet wines as a rule, that's just a question of taste. But if you say you like sweet wines, but not Sauternes, that leaves me rather puzzled.

I think that only the great wines of Germany are in the same category, and I'm wondering whether or not these can be enjoyed at table.

All the best,
Alex

Tim,

I'd be interested to hear what the Belgians drink as an apertif. Here it's either a patent drink (Martini, Ambassadeur, etc.), a fortified wine (port, muscat de rivesaltes), Scotch or, in Bordeaux, Sauternes. As you can see, in most instances we are looking at sweet drinks. And not just for the women.

A lot of Belgians copy the French in this. I think that this use of powerful sweet wine is an abomination!!

Quite a few of our friends like brut champagne or another sparkling wine for aperitif. Alternatively a lightish white demi-sec, such as Pinot gris, Mosel Kabinett or Condrieu, which is nominally dry but not very crisp. I am usually alone in sipping Fino or Manzanilla sherry which I adore.

But if you say you like sweet wines, but not Sauternes, that leaves me rather puzzled.

That is not what I am saying. I love Sauternes in small quantities but, if I had to choose, I prefer wines with more minerality and acidity. I think that the great Germans score here and also some Loire.

I attended a grand tasting when Huet's Vouvray le Mont or le Haut-Lieu 1947 preceded Château d'Yquem 1967 and I preferred the former for its greater vivacity.

None of these liquoreux are IMHO very good food wines. I deplore the service of Sauternes or port with foie gras because of the lack of contrast and because they kill any following wines. Some strong cheeses work well but what I like best is sipping them after the meal as if they were a (much more delicious) liqueur. With this sort of use, I get round to drinking very little of them.

To return to my original question, I would hesitate before embarking on an all sweet venture like your Portes Ouvertes day. I once attended a Mosel dinner where there was a succession of auslesen, BAs and even a couple of TbAs; it was too much even with their greater acidity.

But clearly I need more Sauternes and Barsac education.

Tim,

There's no arguing with taste. If you prefer Vouvray to Ch. d'Yquem, so be it.

However, having sampled Sauternes with food over the years, I have had some delightful surprises.
The marriage of foie gras and Sauternes is celestial comfort food to many gastronomes (not just me).
And the interplay of Sauternes with ripe melon and Parma ham is wonderful (we stole that idea from the Italians).

I, too, was sceptical about passing from a sweet white to a red but, in practice, it is not very challenging at all.

On the aperitif score, I like different kinds. I love dry sherry as well, but my French friends don't like it at all.
Certainly, we can agree on the beauty of Champagne as an aperitif!
I far prefer it that way to having it with the dessert at the end of a meal: a common French practice.

As for tasting thirty Sauternes or so in a day, I spat every drop and did not neglect to drink water from time to time!
It's a terribly fruity wine and many of the châteaux make fresh wines as well. Believe me, it was no hardship!

People's tastes can change. Maybe yours will one day with regard to Sauternes if you have it in the sort of setting I'm used to.
(of course, maybe it won't, which is your perfect right!).
For instance, I avoided beer for most of my life. But when I went to Belgium about 5 years ago I said "Hey, when in Rome"... So, during a
weeklong stay in Bruges , I tried different beers and some of them were very enjoyable. I now drink beer about once a week on
average.

Yours sincerely,
Alex R.

Tim:

I agree with you on putting top flight Dessert Chenin Blanc in the array.

As to Sauternes with Foie Gras, I do not particularly care for that combination alone. However, if you add (according to the Marquis de Lur-Saluces himself) freshly cracked black peppercorns to the foie gras, that makes it a delightful match with the Sauternes. That peppery, spicy bite added to the mix makes a big difference, and relieves much of any cloyin effect of the Sauternes, while contrasting beautfully with the silkiness of the foie gras.

I agree that tasting many sweet wines is no more challenging than any other type of wine provided that there is appropriate time for water and whatever palate refreshers are needed.

Yes, lots of sweet wines one after another can become monotonous, but so can acidic red wines, fat oaky white wines, etc, etc.

Plus, I happen to love sweet wines, so....

[David M. Bueker]

If you prefer Vouvray to Ch. d'Yquem, so be it.

Luckily for me, I prefer Rieussec to Chateau d'Yquem.

I far prefer it that way to having it with the dessert at the end of a meal: a common French practice.

Alex,

As a francophile and supporter of France's increasingly attacked gastronomic tradition, I am distressed by quite a number of traditional French wine and food pairings. Champagne with dessert, port with zakouskis, fine red Bordeaux with the plateau des fromages are all abominations, as well as subtle white wines nearly freezing in the ice bucket. Some French sommeliers and wine writers agree but this does not seem to penetrate very far.

If I ever I dare to raise polite doubts about any of these (in Belgium also), I am often left to understand that, as a foreigner, I cannot expect to have a valid opinion with the word "barbare" unspoken.

On a non wine-related subject, one of my youthful memories was of a French hostess who expressed incomprehension when I referred to Mozart's Don Giovanni; she retorted "you mean Don Juan; we don't recognise all these English names!"

Tim,

Hugh Johnson does not like to drink fine wine with cheese, but acknowledges that he is very much in a minority.
One to which you seem to belong .

While a strong soft-ripened cheese will indeed annihilate the nuances of a great wine, I find there are many cheeses that are complementary
(Brie, St. Marcellin, St. Félicien, brebis de Pyrénées, vieux Gouda, etc.).

I admit there is a cultural factor here. Virtually any meal in France includes a cheese course (is it the same in Belgium - are you in the French speaking part?)
So one comes to expect it.

I have many times served a prize claret with the cheese platter. I can't remember the wine coming off worse for it.

Getting back to Sauternes, you have surely heard of the associating Roquefort with sweet white Bordeaux.
I'm a great fan, but I'll wager you would find the cheese too overpowering...

Best regards,
Alex R.

Tim,

While a strong soft-ripened cheese will indeed annihilate the nuances of a great wine, I find there are many cheeses that are complementary
(Brie, St. Marcellin, St. Félicien, brebis de Pyrénées, vieux Gouda, etc.).

Alex, my problem concerns cheese and fine RED wines.

As a coarse generalisation, I find that white wines tend to go better with cheese than red; even then they can struggle against soft assertive cheeses like Camembert, Pont l'Evêque and Brie but other combinations such as white Chinon with Sainte-Maure and Sancerre with Crottin de Chavignol can be magic.

However, the French (and French speaking Belgian) reflex seems to be the service of a fine red, often the best in the line-up, with ALL types of cheese, including those mentioned above and blue cheeses, where IMHO the match is nothing less than flavour scalping. If I were to propose a white, that would be another demonstration of my "barbare" Englishness.

With care, a suitable cheese for reds can be found, particularly among the harder textured types. When I stayed at Cordeillan-Bages in 1997, the sommelier recommended a Cantal Salers to finish a bottle of Pichon-Baron 82 and it worked well but this sort of refinement is well beyond 99% of waiters and diners.

A few numbers ago, there was an interesting article in the RVF by Olivier Poussier, formerly Best Sommelier in the World, about cheese and wine. I will look for this article. I recall his comment that many cheeses cut off the long finishes of fine red Bordeaux; this is not particularly troubling to the average consumer who goes mainly for entry and mid-palate but spoils the enjoyment for geeks.

Yes, Sauternes with Roquefort is excellent as is vintage port with Stilton.

[David M. Bueker]

I am somewhere in the middle on this wine/cheese debate. I do not like to have aged Bordeaux with cheeses, preferring to use a more "gutsy" wine to accompany a cheese course. Alternately I will choose a Riesling Auslese, which matches very well on most occasions.

Food and wine pairings have evolved over time. If one is wedded to the aged, old world traditions then some pairings might seem terrible, but a litle bit of experimentation can prove otherwise.

Perhaps this could be the subject of a poll?

Not that the majority - either way - is "right".

Alex

[David M. Bueker]

Perhaps this could be the subject of a poll?

Consider it done.

As a francophile and supporter of France's increasingly attacked gastronomic tradition, I am distressed by quite a number of traditional French wine and food pairings. Champagne with dessert, port with zakouskis, fine red Bordeaux with the plateau des fromages are all abominations, as well as subtle white wines nearly freezing in the ice bucket. Some French sommeliers and wine writers agree but this does not seem to penetrate very far.

Tim,
I feel your pain. In my experience, some of the most ardent defenders of French culinary traditions are foreigners, with the English foremost among them. In fact, one of those individuals told me that the tradition of Champagne with dessert stems from the 19th C when sweet Champagne was far more popular (perhaps because of the Russian aristocracy's love of it). The practice of placing all white wines into an ice bucket is to me just a misunderstanding of the idea that most white wines should be "chilled," just as in the US where red wines are often served at a "room" temperature of 25 C. I draw a lot of amused attention in restaurants when I remove the white wine from the ice bucket, only to place the bottle of red into it!

If I ever I dare to raise polite doubts about any of these (in Belgium also), I am often left to understand that, as a foreigner, I cannot expect to have a valid opinion with the word "barbare" unspoken.

On a non wine-related subject, one of my youthful memories was of a French hostess who expressed incomprehension when I referred to Mozart's Don Giovanni; she retorted "you mean Don Juan; we don't recognise all these English names!"

Classic.

Mark Lipton