GRAND 11-VINTAGE TASTING COMING UP SOON! Today we’re looking at everything you need to know about Sauternes wines, yes the sweet wines made in Bordeaux from rotten grapes, I mean, grapes beautifully affected by the noble rot aka the Botrytis fungus giving those wines an extreme concentration not only in sugar but also flavors, and an outstanding age-worthiness.
Featured map in the video from www.bordeaux.com/
Video Content (transcription):
What is up guys? Julien here, the French winemaking guy who makes wine videos here on KZread, Yes Wine Videos. This is Episode #52 of the Tasting with Julien Series. Today we’re looking at everything you need to know about Sauternes wines, yes the sweet wines made in Bordeaux from rotten grapes, I mean, grapes beautifully affected by the noble rot aka the Botrytis fungus giving those wines an extreme concentration not only in sugar but also flavors, and an outstanding age-worthiness. Those are the most expensive Bordeaux wines to produce, although they’re certainly not always the most expensive ones to buy, yet they’re fantastic complex wines to taste and explore. So Today we’re going to be first looking at just a few key facts about Sauternes that you need to know before tasting them. Then tasting those 10 beautiful wines from a famous Grand Cru Classé, Chateau Coutet from vintage 1995 to 2016, we’ll first compare how a young Sauternes tastes compared to an older one. Should you age your Sauternes wine? And why would you do that for? We’ll find out. Then we’ll consider the vintage variation, tasting wines from close-by vintages like 07,08, 09, 2010. Is there really a difference in how they taste even from the same chateau? and what’s this difference like? We’ll find out as well. Finally, I’ll be tasting all of these wines for you to find out which is the best vintage in Sauternes of the past 2 decades. Let’s go.
What you need to know about Sauternes
I’ll keep it short and to the point here, only with key facts. So we are in the South of the Bordeaux region on the left bank, kind of after the Graves to the South when you come from Bordeaux the city. This area has a particular spot in between two rivers, the Garonne and the Ciron river, which gives the area a high level of humidity in the atmosphere, which is not great for making dry wines because the grapes rot, but which is great for making wines from noble rot. So the Botrytis fungus slowly eats up the grape berries and the skin in particular, which allows the grapes to dry up slowly and concentrate sugars and aromas. That’s essentially how Sauternes is made, letting the grapes slowly rot late in the season, those are kind of late harvest wines if you wish, and making wine out of the juice you get. Those are so sweet even after fermentation, there are residual sugars hence Sauternes wines being sweet. The grapes of Sauternes are those of the classic Bordeaux whites, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, but mostly Sémillon here as it works better for this style of wine. Sauvignon Blanc just adds different layers of flavors and a bit of acidic vivacity to the blends. Finally, the wines of Sauternes have been so reputable for so long, the best Chateaus of the area were classified in the famous 1855 Classification of the wines from Bordeaux’ left bank. There are 26 classified Chateaus, 14 Second Growth (Second Cru), 11 First Growths (Premier Cru), and 1 Superior First Growth (Premier Cru Superieur), of course, chateau d’Yquem. Oh and wines are aged in oak barrels. That’s essentially what you need to know in short. If I’ve missed anything or you’re wondering about something. Let me know in the comments.
But let’s more on to the fun part, tasting! Tasting in part 2 coming up April 220th, 2020. Stay tuned...
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