Sauternes and Barsac produced a host of pure and luscious sweet wines in 2025.

The Ciron river’s morning mists combined with warm, sunny days and late August/early September rainfall created near-perfect conditions for the spread of rapid and even noble rot; while the clay-limestone and gravel terroirs retained just enough moisture to prevent excessive shrivelling.

The late-August rains refreshed the vines without diluting sugars, and the cool September nights preserved acidity with a window of dry, sunny and windy weather concentrating the grapes towards the end of September and beginning of October.

Château Coutet completed six passes between 17 September and 14 October with homogeneous noble rot each time.

Château Filhot, Château Lamothe Guignard and Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey all noted the ideal mist-and-sun cycles that produced pure, concentrated musts.

The result is wines of remarkable aromatic purity and precision – rich in botrytis-driven notes of quince, apricot, honey and exotic fruit, yet supported by vibrant freshness, refined texture and a saline minerality that gives them lift and ageing potential.

Many estates achieved high residual sugars (140-158 g/l) with excellent acidity and lower pH than in hotter years, producing a classic yet energetic style that sits comfortably between the concentration of 2023 and the harmony of 2015.

Flirting with perfection

Yields in Sauternes are always tiny (25hl/ha is the maximum allowed) but some 2025 crops were wince-inducingly small, such as Château Broustet's 8hl/ha.

Château d'Arche was below average at 11hl/ha but Château Guiraud managed 15hl/ha, and both Château Caillou and Château Doisy-Védrines 14hl/ha.

Pierre Montégut technical director of Château Suduiraut described the 2025 as ‘like 2023 for sugar’ (the 2025 is a very rich 158 g/l), and comparable to the great 2009 and 2010 vintages.

Sandrine Garbay at Château Guiraud (145 g/l residual sugar) said the conditions were ‘great for the vines’ with an ‘early start, no frost and no issues with the weather’.

She added that after the first rain at the end of August and beginning of September, the period from mid-September to mid-October was ‘perfect with humidity in the morning sometimes from rain and then dry in the day’.

This allowed three successful sortings with a ‘high concentration of sugar’ but als, ‘high acidity giving a classic expression not so far from 2023, and from 2015 which was such a perfect vintage’.

What's new

Château d’Yquem: Lorenzo Pasquini officially took over from Pierre Lurton. Pasquini had been estate manager / technical director / operations director since 2020 and was mentored by Lurton who originally recruited him in 2015 for Cheval des Andes. Pierre Lurton remains chairman, focusing on external relations and strategic direction.

Further reading from this report

• Pomerol
• St-Emilion
• Pessac-Léognan & Graves
• Dry whites
• Crus Bourgeois
• Pauillac
• St-Estèphe
• Margaux
• St-Julien

Bordeaux 2025: Top wines from Sauternes

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Nestled on the highest gravel terrace in the heart of Sauternes, overlooking rolling golden slopes and neighbouring icons like Château d’Yquem, Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey is more than a Premier Grand Cru Classé estate – it’s a serene, transformative escape where history, luxury and the art of living converge.

The property’s roots stretch back over 400 years, with viticulture documented as early as 1618 under Sieur Raymond Peyraguey. Classified as a First Growth in the legendary 1855 ranking, it has long produced some of the world’s most revered sweet wines, born from the magical interplay of morning mists from the Ciron river and the noble rot that concentrates the grapes’ essence.

Visionary ambition

In 2014, Swiss businessman and then Lalique CEO Silvio Denz acquired the estate, infusing it with visionary ambition. To mark its 400th anniversary in 2018, he unveiled the exquisite Lalique Hôtel & Restaurant, a five-star Relais & Châteaux property where four worlds – wine, crystal, gastronomy and hospitality – harmoniously intersect in a celebration of beauty and precision.

The 17th-century honey-coloured château, with its elegant tower and fortified origins dating to the 13th century, has been meticulously renovated under the guidance of designers Lady Tina Green and Pietro Mingarelli.

Lalique’s signature crystal artistry shines throughout: bespoke chandeliers resembling vine leaves cascade from ceilings, panels etched with intricate motifs adorn walls, and one-off pieces – from decanters to furniture – create an atmosphere of refined enchantment. The on-site boutique offers these items for purchase, alongside estate honeys, jellies, and of course a large selection of wines from the property – as well as Denz’ other estates Château Péby Faugères and Château Faugères (both St-Emilion Grand Cru Classé), and Château Cap de Faugères in Castillon-Côtes de Bordeaux.

Intimate wine experiences

Yet the true heartbeat of Lafaurie-Peyraguey lies in its wine experiences. Curated tours and tastings reveal the secrets of this 36-hectare mosaic of gravelly terroirs. Visitors explore the historic ‘enclos’ vineyard, the cellars with their classic oak barrels (including a unique solid crystal barrel by Lalique), and the charming chapel fully decorated with crystal motifs.

Options range from classic visits with tastings of three wines, including the grand vin, to the exclusive ‘Hidden Treasures’ prestige tour for hotel guests, delving into the private historic cellar housing over 350,000 bottles from Bordeaux and beyond.

Day visitors – arriving by car or coach – can enjoy tours and tastings without staying overnight, making the estate accessible.

These intimate, appointment-only experiences demystify the labour-intensive creation of Sauternes – multiple passes through the vines to harvest botrytised berries – while highlighting the estate’s dry whites too.

Exquisite dining

No stay is complete however without dining at the Michelin two-star restaurant, helmed by chef Jérôme Schilling, named Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2023, who calls himself a ‘cuisinier des vignes’. It was indeed one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life with impeccable service, incredible food flavours and thought-provoking wine pairings.

His inventive, precise cuisine draws inspiration from the Sauternes terroir, using seasonal local produce to craft dishes that elevate the estate’s sweet and dry wines.

Panoramic views of the vineyards frame meals in the elegant dining room, where golden Sémillon leaf motifs on the ceiling echo the landscape outside. The extensive wine list (over 100 pages) spans France and the wider wine world including deep verticals of some of the most well-known estates (from Bordeaux and beyond) with many including their first ever vintage.

Masterful pairings are created by head sommelier Adrien Cascio unlocking new dimensions in the wines’ complexity. Dinner menus start around €220 for four courses (excluding drinks), with accessible €59-60 discovery lunches in low season for locals. The restaurant is determined to secure a third Michelin star – the first for any Bordeaux restaurant.

In warmer months, the summer terrace offers a more relaxed al fresco option, perfect for lighter menus amid the vines.

Calm elegance

The boutique hotel itself – just 13 rooms and suites across two floors – exudes calm elegance. Each space is uniquely appointed with Lalique crystal accents, high-end fittings and sumptuous fabrics.

Hotel amenities include a bar (with an impressive spirits and cigar selection), lounge, concierge services and complimentary e-bikes for exploring quiet lanes and nearby châteaux like Sigalas-Rabaud or Clos Haut-Peyraguey.

Personalised services from Maître de Maison Pierre Gazeau anticipates every whim – from car hoovering to organising chapel weddings or last-minute helicopter landings (requiring a quick call to the gardener for the field heliport). The hotel also holds two Michelin keys, joining the restaurant’s two stars in prestigious recognition.

In a region with no shortage of impressive estates, Lafaurie-Peyraguey stands apart as an intimate, worthy destination for a tasting, a gastronomic pilgrimage, or a multi-night immersion while enjoying the slow, soulful rhythm of Sauternes.

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There’s been a radical shift within the Sauternes region over the past decade. A producer once told me: ‘As an indulgence, you can take a mistress or buy an estate in Sauternes. But nobody can afford to do both.’

He was alluding, of course, to the completely uneconomic proposition of producing Sauternes.

Scroll down for notes and scores of nine superb Sauternes wines

Swimming against the tide

Yields are minuscule – one third of those for red Bordeaux, if you’re lucky – and its production is entirely dependent on the caprices of the climate.

Unripe grapes, the lack of noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), rain at harvest, insect infestation – all can wipe out, or diminish, a crop.

Moreover, it’s hard to sell, thanks to a misconception that Sauternes is heavy and syrupy.

Those who relish a fine wine from Château Climens or Sigalas Rabaud among others, will know that the wine’s richness and sweetness are balanced by bracing acidity that refreshes the palate.

The heavy, tarry wines that existed some decades ago are very much a thing of the past.

In order to boost revenue, many producers are reducing the quantities of sweet wine they make and stepping up the production of fashionable dry styles.

Consequently, only the best sites within an estate are now reserved for the sweet wine, and quality has risen even as the number of bottles has shrunk.

Style and substance

Sauternes ages like a dream, but climatic conditions strongly influence the style of each vintage.

Below, I explore three, all of which can be drunk now but are categorised as: a ‘best enjoyed young’ – the 2020 vintage; an ‘approachable now but will keep for some years’ – the 2018; and one ‘close to indestructible’ – the 2009.

Lighter styles offer pleasure as aperitifs, while richer Sauternes works well with foie gras, sweetbreads, blue cheese and fruit.

One famous estate pairs each course with a differently aged Sauternes, showing its versatility.

However, while it’s true that some such pairings can succeed, it ignores the fact that Sauternes has a strong personality of its own that can dominate the table. It needs to be appreciated as great wine in its own right.

For this task, I’m comparing three stellar estates. Château Doisy Daëne is in Barsac, where the limestone soils usually deliver a fresh, intense style of Sauternes; it’s generally aged in just one third new oak, unlike many other classed growths, which use 50% or more.

Château Coutet, also in Barsac, offers a richer style. And Château Suduiraut is a very consistent first growth that usually produces more opulent wines.

There’s little difference in ageing potential between the three.

2020

A year that demonstrates a great vintage for red Bordeaux isn’t necessarily a stellar one for Sauternes.

First, a difficult flowering followed by mildew complicated the growing season, although the summer was hot and very dry, so that noble rot didn’t arrive until late September.

The first picking was of shrivelled (passerille) grapes without botrytis, while the botrytised grapes were picked in October until heavy rain halted the harvest.

Yields varied from about 8hl/ha to 16hl/ha, but the problem was a lack of concentration in the wines.

Most of them are of good quality but lack persistence and staying power. In short, it’s a vintage to consume fairly young while there’s still some energy on the palate.

Scrupulous selection at harvest ensured that quality was surprisingly high, but the wines lack the structure of a long-lived vintage.

2018

Although the summer was sunny and warm, the vintage was not without its difficulties.

Mildew in May and June, as well as sporadic hail in mid-July, severely reduced yields at estates such as Guiraud, and Yquem’s crop was 40% below normal.

September was warm and dry, which prevented noble rot from attacking the grapes. Eventually, showers in mid-October brought botrytis. Picking continued into early November.

The wines showed varying degrees of concentration with moderate sugar levels, but some acidities were low, which is why this is a medium-term vintage.

Some colours seem quite evolved, but there are few signs of early oxidation. It shows more depth and unctuosity than 2020, and can be approached now with much pleasure.

2009

This was a great year for reds, but also, unusually, for Sauternes.

A trouble-free flowering ensured a good crop, and was followed by a sun-drenched summer, with timely showers and storms to refresh the grapes.

A mixture of rain and warm nights in mid-September led to ample noble rot and a relatively straightforward harvest that was mostly over by mid-October.

If anything, the fruit was too ripe, and producers needed to work on curbing sugar and alcohol levels by blending lots of varying ripeness.

Château d’Yquem thought the vintage had the potential to outshine the superb 2001, and it was certainly of the highest quality.

Clearly, it can be drunk now, but like all the great Sauternes vintages, it has the potential to age further.

Nine Sauternes wines spanning three vintages

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Full vintage analysis & top-scoring wines | How the weather conditions shaped the vintage | The growing season month by month | Wine styles: what to expect | Market conditions and pricing strategies 

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Sauternes & Barsac 2024: Fresh and moderately sweet wines with vibrancy

Average yield Sauternes:13hl/ha

Variance from 2023: -4.6% (12.4hl/ha)

Average yield Barsac: 11.5hl/ha

Variance from 2023: -4% (12hl/ha)

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top wines from Sauternes & Barsac 2024

Vintage overview

The 2024 vintage in Sauternes and Barsac delivered a fresher, more elegant expression than usual, with lower residual sugar levels contributing to a less opulent, more vibrant style.

Quality was uneven across the appellations, with some wines lacking precision in their fruit expression.

Sémillon, the backbone of most blends, often showed a marked bitterness this year. Château la Tour Blanche even increased the proportion of Muscadelle for its floral lift and softening effect that helped balance the bitter component.

Among the highlights, Château Coutet and Château Suduiraut stood out for their balance, aromatic purity, and refined structure.

The 2024 sweet wines may not be built for long-term cellaring, but their freshness and moderate sweetness make them particularly appealing for earlier drinking within the first 10 to 15 years.

Standouts

• Château de Rayne Vigneau
• Château Suduiraut
• Château Coutet

Highlights

• Château Suduiraut
• Château Coutet
• Château Bastor-Lamontagne
• Château Doisy-Védrines
• Château Guiraud
• Château La Tour Blanche
• Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
• Château Guiraud
• Château La Tour Blanche
• Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
• Château Rieussec
• Château Suau
• Château Doisy-Daëne

See all 25 Sauternes & Barsac 2024 en primeur wines tasted

See the top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2024 wines

Search all 700+ Bordeaux 2024 en primeur ratings 

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Sauternes & Barsac: Sheer excellence

Average yield: 12.2hl/ha

Variance from 2022: -14%

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Sauternes & Barsac en primeur 2023 wines

Vintage overview

From Château Coutet in Barsac to Château Suduiraut in Sauternes, the botrytised sweet wines of Bordeaux had a fine vintage.

Although the Barsacs have a slightly flintier edge compared to the richer Sauternes, the difference between the two appellations is not as clear cut in 2023 as it sometimes is, says Sauternes expert Bill Blatch.

Unusually, both appellations were picking at roughly the same time – between October 2-12 – when Barsac usually harvests first. The extra ripeness means that the traditionally lighter Barsacs have a more Sauternes-like heft and unctuousness in 2023.

Sauternes suffered from virulent outbreak of mildew in June, seeing 45% more rainfall than normal that month and with higher-than-normal daytime temperatures. Hotter weather in late August and a hotter-than-normal September led to concentrated grapes, but with little botrytis.

Initial September pickings featured mostly raisined grapes with just some botrytis, accounting for only 15-20% of everyone’s total harvest. Finally, significant late rainfall allowed the development of considerable amounts of noble rot.

For Bordeaux oenologist Axel Marchal, ‘harvesting botrytised grapes with a good level of concentration was not a problem in 2023’, and he classifies many wines as ‘outstanding’.

For Blatch, Sauternes and Barsac reflect the richness of the 2022 vintage, but with more pronounced acidity.

Some wines proved flabby or lacking intensity, but most – and from different price points – convey opulence, botrytis spice and freshness. These include two standout Barsac wines in Château Coutet and L’Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne, and Château de Fargues, Château Guiraud, Raymond-Lafon and Château Suduiraut in Sauternes.

See the top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2023 en primeur wines

Search all 550+ Bordeaux 2023 en primeur ratings published

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When was the last time you opened a bottle of sweet Sauternes? Perhaps Christmas, or maybe with some cheese at a dinner party? Have you one in the fridge, ready to enjoy as and when the weather warms? I hope the answer’s yes, but the likelihood is it’s not.

As consumer tastes and preferences shift towards drier and lighter wines at lower alcohol levels and less sweetness, in recent years, bottles of Sauternes have unfortunately been relegated to the confines of dusty cellars or (wrongly, in my opinion) opened solely at the end of meals. But, as the saying goes, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, and Sauternes producers are now finding opportunities for diversification and market demand for their growing number of terroir-influenced dry white styles.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 18 dry white wines from Sauternes to seek out

While sweet wines will inevitably (and should) remain the focus in Sauternes, there’s a strong case for dry whites, too: world-class winemaking know-how and facilities, heavy investment in top-quality grape production resulting in large quantities of beautiful old-vine Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, and terroirs that are perfect to show both freshness and power. ‘They also have ageing potential, which puts them in the category of fine wines,’ say Jean-Jacques Dubourdieu and David Bolzan, co-directors of the appellation’s management body.

‘Other sweet wine-producing areas – Jurançon, Vouvray and Germany – all produce dry whites, so why shouldn’t Sauternes?’ asks ex-négociant and long-term proponent of Sauternes, Bill Blatch. ‘Historically that was the case, and the beauty is that it’s adaptable.’

Dry Sauternes whites are made using the same grapes allowed in the production of sweet wines but picked before, or in the absence of, the onset of botrytis (noble rot, the fungus that concentrates grape sugars and flavours in the fruit, resulting in the traditionally luscious, rich and complex sugary styles) and then fermented to dryness.

Wine of the times

The dry whites are typically blends, as the sweet wines are, often with a majority of Semillon, the most widely planted grape (80%) in the Sauternes region, known for its full-bodied texture, low acidity and honeyed flavours. Sauvignon Blanc is added for its high acidity as well as herbaceous aromas and citrus and orchard fruit flavours. The grapes are complementary, creating a balanced wine with freshness, complexity and body, as well as ageing potential.

There are exceptions in the dry wines, however, with single-varietal bottlings made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Small amounts of Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle can also be used to add aromas of stone fruit and spice, as well as extra florality.

Harvesting early (as soon as mid-August) ensures the grapes retain higher levels of acidity and lower levels of sugar, resulting in wines that are crisp and refreshing, with lower alcohols than their sweet cousins. Early picking for dry whites also ensures the producers of a harvest, meaning they can offset the risk of a season in which the onset of botrytis (for the production of sweet wines) isn’t wholly successful – something which is beginning to happen more often with climate change and increasingly unpredictable weather.

Where the grapes for dry whites come from and what the viticultural practices are can vary. Some pick early from the same vines used to make sweet – such as Châteaux Climens, Coutet and Sigalas-Rabaud – while others plant vineyards specifically for dry whites.

See a selection of more recently tasted dry white wines from Sauternes, including 2o from the 2022 en primeur spring tastings

Estate identity

In his Clos des Lunes range, Olivier Bernard, owner of Domaine de Chevalier and Château Lespault-Martillac in Pessac-Léognan, produces three dry whites based on different blends, ageing methods and soil types. The grapes are sourced from vineyards not suitable for Sauternes production and grown in the same way as Bordeaux’s white wine-producing areas of Entre-deux-Mers, Pessac and Graves.

Having a dedicated vineyard for dry whites is easier to control and less labour-intensive to harvest, while picking earlier effectively reduces the potential quantity of grapes that could go towards making a sweet wine. Both approaches carry different commercial and stylistic implications, though generally fermentation and ageing is carried out in barrels or wooden vats, with some estates wanting the signature of and connection between their sweet and dry wines, even favouring a touch of botrytis and residual sugar (as at premier cru supérieur Château d’Yquem) or opting to enhance certain terroir expressions of minerality and salinity (first growth Château Rieussec).

Pockets of limestone, favourable for growing Sauvignon Blanc, can be found across the Sauternes region, along with areas of deep gravel and gravel over clay, as well as limestone and alluvial deposits left by the nearby Garonne river, all adding to the rich tapestry of potential terroir expressions to be had.

Leading by example

Dry white production is not an entirely new phenomenon, with a few estates ahead of the curve. Second growth Château Doisy Daëne released its first bottle of dry white wine in 1949, followed in 1959 by Yquem with Y d’Yquem (‘Ygrec’ in French). However, the wider move to high-quality dry white production since 2000 is thanks to the late Denis Dubourdieu, a leading winemaker-consultant and champion of dry white wines in Bordeaux.

For Christian Seely, managing director of AXA Millésimes, which owns the first growth Château Suduiraut, economics is one of many motivators. ‘The sweet wines have never been as great as they are today; technically speaking everyone is performing extremely well,’ he begins. ‘The commercial reality however is that, though there is a core of a fairly small number of enthusiastic consumers around the world, the demand for great sweet wines is less than we’d like it to be, and less than it has been, so it’s logical to adapt.’

Alongside technical director Pierre Montégut, Seely made the estate’s first dry white, called S de Suduiraut, in 2004. ‘We believed in the potential of our premier cru terroir to make a serious dry white wine,’ Seely adds – the wine is based on terroir-sensitive Semillon, which comprises 90% of the Suduiraut plantings.

Since then, the pair have been honing their dry white offering. In 2020, they launched two wines: Vieilles Vignes Grand Vin Blanc Sec, replacing S de Suduiraut, made with grapes from the estate’s oldest and best vines usually reserved for the sweet grand vin; and Pur Sémillon, a small-production varietal wine showcasing the estate’s signature grape. ‘Our underlying strategic plan is that, in 10 years, Château Suduiraut will be known as a great property with two grands vins: sweet and dry,’ Seely says. ‘It’s in no way an abandonment of making the best sweet wine that we can, but the aim is to make two great wines from one great property.’

Increasing the production of dry whites would inescapably mean sacrificing the amount of sweet wine, but according to Seely that isn’t necessarily negative. ‘If Sauternes has a problem, it’s that we’ve had a succession of great years – there’s a lot of good Sauternes around,’ he argues. ‘If the leading properties reduce the amount of great sweet wine they make, but maintain at least the quality of today, and make a great dry white too, I think it will make economic sense for the region. The wines are thrilling, so for consumers we’re giving two aspects of what Sauternes can do.’

At Château d’Yquem, the idea is similar. ‘It’s not simply to make another wine,’ says estate manager Lorenzo Pasquini; ‘it’s to give another version of the terroir and carry the link and signature of Yquem, while expressing the vintage as graciously as possible’. While botrytis is the ‘miracle’ and remains the focus, Pasquini calls the dry white production ‘a philosophical exercise that serves the cause of Yquem’.

Positive moves

Questions over the possibility of a ‘Sauternes Sec’ designation – to move the wines away from their current labelling as Bordeaux Blanc, and stop them being compared with those other wines and priced as such – have mostly been dismissed, not least because there’s not widespread support for it, but also a lack of consensus as to what it may entail. ‘There are other elements to focus on before considering developing a new appellation,’ says Jean-Marc Dulong, director of Crus et Domaines, the fine wine entity of Les Grands Chais de France. It markets the 22 properties of the Helfrich family, including Château Bastor-Lamontagne in Sauternes, which carries styles under its name from the dry B de Bastor and Confidence wines to sweet grand vin and less-concentrated, more easy-drinking SO.

‘We have to revitalise the customer base and that’s not going to happen just by swapping names on a label,’ says Dulong. ‘Sauternes is well known, but Bordeaux is the main category, and Bordeaux dry whites already have a good image. The development of a dry white is a good idea commercially. We have to attract people in different ways and each château has its way.

‘As long as the final target is the same, then it’s possible, and there’s no doubt of the renewed interest in the region and more inclination to work together, which is a positive sign for everybody.’

Renewing a region

Sweet winemaking is a labour of love and one that doesn’t always pay off, yet it must be protected. ‘It took centuries of knowhow to reach the level of exceptional sweet wines that we have today,’ say Dubourdieu and Bolzan. ‘Prices for generic Sauternes haven’t been so high for 23 years and stocks never so low, but there is still so much to do to make the wines known to as many people as possible.’ Dry whites from Sauternes can be a wondrous vehicle for this, putting this dynamic region back into the spotlight and bringing characterful, refreshing, versatile and site-specific expressions into homes and restaurants.

Due to the limited production in Sauternes – the vineyards cover only 2,200ha, according to the appellation body, with 150ha reserved for dry whites – these ‘Sauternes Secs’ are rarities. Demand is still relatively niche but growing, with collectors and enthusiasts enamoured by the complexity, quality and distinctiveness of this renowned winemaking region.

Taste of the future: 18 dry Sauternes whites to try

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 Sauternes & Barsac 2022

Average yield:

• Sauternes: 4hl/ha. A decrease of 71% from 2020.
• Barsac: 1.5hl/ha. A decrease of 86% from 2020.

What you find from the 2022 wines

Winemakers were tested in 2022 having to wait nervously for the onset of Botrytis after such a long hot and dry summer and only when crucial rain and wind arrived in the middle of October did the noble rot progress quickly.

Yields were much healthier than in 2021 and the resulting wines tend to be in one of two camps; intensely rich with high residual sugar or a little light and watery and lacking in acidity.

Some wines however manage the perfect combination of intensity, lusciousness and balancing acidity giving them such lovely, early drinking appeal.

See all 34 Sauternes and Barsac 2022 wines tasted en primeur

Top picks:

• Château Doisy-Daëne, l’Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne
• Château de Fargues
• Château Suduiraut
• Château Doisy-Vedrines
• Domaine de L’Alliance
• Château de Rayne Vigneau 
• Château Bastor-Lamontagne
• Château Doisy-Dubroca
• Château Guiraud
• Château Raymond-Lafon
• Château Coutet
• Clos Haut-Peyraguey
• Château Sigalas Rabaud
• Château Rieussec
• Château Doisy-Daëne 
  

See the top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2022 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2022 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Sauternes is one of the world’s most respected fine wines. Old vintages can fetch high prices at auctions, and Château d’Yquem is the quintessential show-off bottle on Instagram.

As people’s drinking habits change however and the appeal of sweeter wines lessens, the public is increasingly drifting away from Sauternes.

‘Over the last decade, we’ve seen consumption going down,’ confirmed Miguel Aguirre, vineyard manager of the historical Sauternes château, La Tour Blanche. ‘We produce more than we sell. For many, Sauternes is just a dessert wine. We need to promote a new way of consumption.’

Taking inspiration from the likes of Port and Sherry, some producers are looking at mixology as an avenue to ensure Sauternes’ future.

Premier Cru Classé Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey designed a simple serve to mark the 2018 launch of its new hotel and restaurant: ‘The idea was that people… could experience our own Sauternes in the form of a fresh and harmonious cocktail, served as an apéritif or as a simple drink throughout the day,’ explained Romain Iltis, wine director of Lalique Group, owner of the restaurant. Trademarked as Sweet’Z, the ‘Original’ serve is a simple, apéritif-style drink consisting of the château’s second wine – La Chapelle de Lafaurie – and orange zest, poured over ice.

More recently, Bordeaux’s wine council, the CIVB, embraced the concept by tapping mixologist Clément Sargeni, owner of local cocktail bar Cancan. ‘They realised that consumption had changed and wanted to introduce wine cocktails to new drinkers,’ said Sargeni. ‘I created some recipes… and now we do workshops based on those. I also present them at [official events] and at Bordeaux’s Cité du Vin.’

Asked to avoid the addition of other alcoholic components, Sargeni developed Sweet Cross, an austere serve featuring ginger and grapefruit zest-infused sweet wine and chocolate bitters.

In line with the CIVB’s philosophy, La Tour Blanche developed its own minimalist serves too, including Ginger Sweet, which involves ginger, mint, cucumber and ginger ale. ‘Now it’s served in restaurants and bars across Bordeaux, at La Co(o)rniche in Arcachon, in Tenerife and… in Miami,’ said Aguirre. ‘It’s a gateway to help people learn more about Sauternes.’

More complex serves

Despite the CIVB’s call for simplicity, more elaborate and complex cocktails have been inevitably popping up throughout the region.

Alongside Sweet’Z, Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s restaurant bar offers a comprehensive Sauternes-based cocktail list. ‘Our bartender creates new cocktails every season. And the sommelier too,’ said Iltis. ‘Our idea is that we can mix it, but never completely lose its character.’ On the list, La P’tite Vendange is a refreshing grape-themed cocktail featuring Sauternes, Crémant de Bordeaux, verjus and a low-abv white grape liqueur aromatised with cardamom and lemon peel. Meanwhile, Esprit d’Antan involves a Sauternes confiture mixed with Cognac, verjus and a mushroom emulsion. The bar’s signature cocktail however is From Bommes With Love, a spicy serve that combines the château’s wine with Sauternes cask-aged gin.

Sargeni has been offering more elaborate Sauternes cocktails in his own bar, too. A recipe involves Sauternes, Sauternes-finished Cognac, red grape reduction, verjus and China Calisaia bitters; another consists of gin and Bordeaux’s quintessential pastry, the canelé. Another cocktail, a Sargeni favourite, mixes Sauternes with Jamaican rum and vin d’orange – a Provençal fortified wine flavoured with bitter oranges.

Sargeni isn’t alone in betting on rum as Sauternes’ ideal spirit companion. Building on La Tour Blanche’s established relationship with Martinique distillery Habitation Saint-Etienne – which uses the winery’s barrels to finish some of its rum – Aguirre is currently developing a Sauternes and rhum agricole recipe. ‘We need to define the exact ratios but the ingredients are rum, our second wine, ginger beer and orange. We hope to be able to present this cocktail for the first time at Rhum Fest Paris in April.’

While positive about the potential of his mixology projects, Aguirre pointed out that not everyone in the region is keen on the cocktail revolution. ‘Some say that Sauternes is too noble to be mixed. They say you can only have it on its own.’ He explained that, while he agrees about the wine’s exceptional virtues, he is aware that some people – particularly younger drinkers – need some convincing to embrace Sauternes.

‘I always say that everyone likes Sauternes, but not everyone opens a bottle. First we need to get them to go back to Sauternes. After that, people will be open to learning how it’s made, the magic of noble rot, why it’s so expensive and precious, and why we can’t make it every year… what Sauternes is all about.’

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• A wines lover’s guide to Sauternes
• What’s the difference between Sauternes and Tokaji Aszú? – Ask Decanter

While vineyards are managed one vintage at a time, farming practices take a longer view. A survey of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers members found that, on average, about 90% wanted more education and resources for water conservation, climate resilience and climate-smart farming opportunities. This grant will go a long way to help provide those resources.

‘Farmers are by nature risk averse,’ said Molly Williams of Napa Valley Grapegrowers. ‘Climate change poses considerable risks. We aren’t planting for next year’s crop in vineyards but the next 30 years and beyond. A desire for agricultural permanence demands that we address climate resilience. Napa Valley grape growers are eager to learn more about climate science and how to plant and maintain future vineyards, mitigating as much immediate and long-term risk as possible.’

While Napa Valley has fared better than much of the state, California remains in a severe drought over the last 22 years. Because of the cache and name recognition that comes with the Napa Valley, the grape growers here have an opportunity to be at the forefront, establishing vineyard management practices that might be useful in other parts of the wine-growing world where climate change becomes more pronounced.

‘In Napa Valley, our impact is geographically small,’ Williams added, ‘but our solutions can impact a global scale. There are only 45,000 acres (18,200 hectares) of vineyards in Napa County, but there are 18 million worldwide, and 11% of the planet is covered in farmland. What models can we build and share? It’s an exciting question.’

Bill Muir-Hanna is John Muir’s great-grandson and the owner of Muir-Hanna Vineyards and has been farming in Napa for a long time. He said: ‘The biggest change I can discern with climate is the increase in variability of our weather.

‘If I look at picking dates, our latest and earliest picking dates over the last 40 years have occurred in the last ten. Similarly, spring bud break has fluctuated by nearly six weeks, although the average or mean date is drifting earlier. There are far fewer winter cold nights than I recall in the 1950s, although our record cold occurred in the 1990s. While we are buffered by our proximity to the bay and ocean, we do need to do all we can to minimise our contribution to the root causes and plan to adapt our viticultural practices to be more resilient during the extremes of our weather.’

As the California drought continues, the risks and variability will likely increase. This may mean less access to water, and other unknowns, like pest and disease risk in the vines, and even an increase in growing degree days. The US Department of Agriculture grant funding will go directly towards water management and recycling education programmes for Napa Valley growers and help them prepare for possible environmental regulations at the state and county levels.

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 Sauternes & Barsac 2021

Average yield:

• Sauternes: 4hl/ha. A decrease of 71% from 2020.
• Barsac: 1.5hl/ha. A decrease of 86% from 2020.

What you find from the 2021 wines

A disastrous year for sweet wines with extremely low, if any, yields (down 71% from 2020) that saw some estates pick grape by grape off the vine.

Those that did produce have triumphed with fresh, zesty and ripe flavours balanced by incredible acidity making these wines electric in 2021.

Top picks:

• Château de Fargues
• Château Suduiraut
• Château Doisy-Daëne
• Château Bastor-Lamontagne
• Château Coutet
• Clos Haut-Peyraguey
• Château Sigalas Rabaud
• Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
• Château de Rayne Vigneau 
  

See the top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2021 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2021 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Heritage Auctions said a single bottle of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ ‘SLV’ Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 – representing the Napa Valley red wine that beat top Bordeaux in the landmark 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting – fetched $12,300.

That marks a new record auction price for the wine, said Heritage.

It was sold to a bidder who wished to remain anonymous during an auction of nearly 4,000 wines from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ ‘legacy collection’.

Steven Spurrier’s 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting helped to put California and Napa on the world wine map.

Winning wines have been named by the prestigious Smithsonian Institution as among 101 items that ‘made America’, alongside Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit and Abraham Lincoln’s top hat.

Only a handful of bottles of 1973 ‘Stag’s Leap Vineyards’ (SLV) Cabernet remain in Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ collection, Heritage Auctions said.

Its auction of bottles from the winery’s ‘legacy collection’ included many vintages of estate-grown labels SLV, Fay and Cask 23, plus Artemis Napa Valley Cabernet and its Napa Merlot.

Other highlights included an 18-litre ‘melchior’ bottle of Cask 23 1985, which fetched $9,840. Total auction sales from the collection reached $600,000.

Frank Martell, senior director of fine and rare wines at Heritage Auctions, said ‘56% of all Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars lots sold at or above the high estimate.’

Marcus Notaro, winemaker for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, said, ‘This auction was the first time we’ve opened up our library at this level, and we are thankful to all the collectors and bidders who turned out and showed the pent-up demand for our high quality and age-worthy wines.

‘We hope our legacy collection wines will be enjoyed to their fullest.’

The sale was part of a two-day auction event held by Heritage over 10 and 11 March. Hosted from Beverly Hills, total sales at the two-day event were $2.55m, with more than 700 bidders from around the world, Heritage Auctions said.

There has been particularly strong demand for fine wines globally in the past year, according to several merchants and analysts.

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The Judgement of Napa: in celebration of Paris

After tasting more than 800 Bordeaux 2019 wines in bottle, Georgie Hindle has given her verdict on how the wines are tasting now.

Here we present a quick and easy way to see tasting notes and scores for the top 29 Sauternes and Barsac wines.

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Bordeaux 2019 in bottle: overview and top-scoring wines

Photo highlights: Bordeaux 2019 in bottle

What are the key differences between the two well-established sweet wines made with botrytis-infused grapes?

The perfect mesoclimate for botrytis

The smooth onset of botrytis cinerea on white wine grapes requires certain growing conditions. Humidity in the early morning combined with aerated, sunny afternoons in autumn is a must for the fungus to remain benign and develop complex flavours as the berries shrivel to a perfect status.

Needless to say, both Sauternes of south Bordeaux, France and the Tokaj of northeastern Hungary enjoy the ideal terroir for botrytis, allowing the noble fungus to puncture microscopic holes through grape skins and nurture some of the world’s top expressions of these golden, lusciously sweet wines, which are capable of ageing for decades.

In the case of Sauternes, the cooler tributary Ciron feeds into the warmer Garonne, creating misty mornings in its communes and allowing the onset of botrytis in autumn. Meanwhile, the warm, sunny afternoons reduce the moisture and prevent the fungus from going rogue.

Likewise, the Tisza and Bodrog rivers that meet in Tokaj are the reasons behind the foggy autumn mornings that trigger the inception of botrytis, with the sunny and breezy afternoons safeguarding the healthy development of the fungus.

Despite sharing a similar mesoclimate, producers of Sauternes and Tokaji Aszú are using different grape varieties and taking a diverse approach in winemaking to create their own versions of ‘liquid gold’.

Choice of varieties

Sémillon is the primary grape for Sauternes due to its thin skins, which are highly susceptible to botrytis. The grape tends to provide a rich, textured body in addition to beeswax, citrus and honeyed stone fruit flavours to the sweet wine. Sauvignon Blanc is its crucial blending partner, providing fresh acidity and a lift to the palate. Sometimes Muscadelle is also added to provide further aroma complexity.

Furmint, on the other hand, is the diva of the Tokaj wine region. This versatile variety has the ability to go from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, with the high, mineral acidity being its ‘hallmark character’, according to Caroline Gilby MW, wine writer and consultant specialising in Central and Eastern European wines.

Also read: Furmint – A versatile variety to watch

When making Tokaji Aszú, Furmint is ‘typically supported by Hárslevelű and Muscat to add fruitiness and fragrance’, says Gilby.

Production methods

Making naturally botrytized wine can be costly and extremely labour-intensive, as it demands careful, manual selection in the field. The shrivelled berries have to be picked by hand only when they are ready. Also, producers may risk insufficient onset or even no-show of botrytis when the weather condition is less ideal.

The classic production method of Sauternes involves carefully pressing these precious, noble rot-infected berries, before painstakingly going through a slow fermentation process, often in partial or all-new barriques, until the alcohol level reaches around 14%.

Also read: Best Sauternes and Barsac 2020 wines tasted en primeur

Winemakers in Tokaj, however, adopt an ancient, arguably more flexible approach in extracting the botrytis flavours.

In fact, the first written records of the Aszú (the Hungarian word for shrivelled and botrytis-affected berries) method can be traced back to 1571, far before noble rot was recognised as a legitimate method of making sweet wines in France.

‘Sauternes are made from berries that are still juicy and can be pressed and fermented. The Aszú berries, however, are so raisined and dry. If you try to press them, you get a trickle of thick syrup, so sweet it barely ferments at all,’ explains Gilby.

Therefore, in order to extract sweetness and flavours, Aszú producers have to soak the sweet paste of botrytis-influenced, shrivelled berries in either grape juice, young wine or fermenting must. The wine is then aged in barrels under oxidative conditions for at least two years.

Indeed the word ‘Puttony(os)’ used as a unit to describe the sweetness of Tokaji Aszú refers to the bucket traditionally used to collect Aszú berries. Though today the sweetness of Tokaji is no longer measured by the number of Puttonyos added but based on residual sugar, said Gilby.

Read more: What is Aszú and why is it special?

Tell them apart in blind tastings

If we are to blind taste quality Sauternes and Tokaji Aszú, what should we look for to tell them apart? Stephen Brook, contributing editor to Decanter, provides his thoughts.

‘In the past, the various quality levels of Aszú – 3, 4, 5, and 6 Puttonyos – were defined by strict rules requiring minimum levels of residual sugar, acidity, and sugar-free extract. They no longer exist in a rigorous form, so there is now a far greater stylistic variation among Aszú wines. But two trends are discernible,’ says Brook.

‘First, the wines are far sweeter than they used to be. The same is true of Sauternes, but Aszú wines have a much higher acidity, giving them a different character. Moreover, most Aszú wines used to be deliberately oxidative. There was much debate about whether oxidation was intrinsic to Aszú, but today few would argue that case.

‘So Aszú wines are no more likely to be oxidative in style than good Sauternes. In short, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the two wines apart, although the higher acidity and raciness of Aszú wines remains a major difference.’

French entrepreneur Matthieu Gufflet, founding chairman of EPSA and with business interests including sustainability and hospitality, has acquired a majority stake in holding company Financière Guiraud, owner of Château Guiraud in Sauternes.

It’s a significant move in the world of Bordeaux’s premier sweet wine, and Guiraud said the deal would ensure the continuity of its two pillars: wine tourism and organic viticulture.

Peugeot Invest, which was the majority shareholder, jointly announced the news and has retained an unspecified stake in the winery. Winemaker Xavier Planty has decided to step back after 38 years at Premier Cru Classé Sauternes estate. Planty is no longer a shareholder, a spokesperson confirmed.

Tourism has been a focus for a number of Sauternes wineries in recent years and Gufflet’s arrival is set to further develop Guiraud’s visitor offering – with plans to add accommodation alongside the existing La Chapelle restaurant.

‘We want to make Château Guiraud a benchmark in sustainable viticulture and hospitality,’ said Gufflet, who also owns Château de Callac in the Graves appellation and has developed the ‘Terres de Natures’ chain of hotels and high-end restaurants.

Guiraud is already certified organic, at the forefront of a growing movement in Bordeaux.

The deal could also contribute to wider efforts in the area to revitalise the image of Sauternes on the market.

‘Our long-term project is also to continue the qualitative development of the estate led until now by the teams in place and its shareholders, with the ambition to contribute to the renewal of the Sauternes region,’ Gufflet said.

Robert Peugeot, chairman of Peugeot Invest, said, ‘We see the potential that the natural hotel experts Matthieu Gufflet and his team bring to Château Guiraud.

‘Peugeot Invest has been working with Château Guiraud since 2006 and we are delighted to participate in a new episode in the development of this prestigious vineyard by remaining a shareholder alongside it.’

A Peugeot Invest spokesperson said that Olivier Bernard, of Domaine de Chevalier, and Stephan von Neipperg, whose family owns Canon La Gaffelière in St-Emilion, also remained minority shareholders in Guiraud.

A ‘re-invention’ for Rieussec

News from Guiraud came in the same week that fellow Sauternes estate Château Rieussec announced a new look, including new packaging and bottle design, beginning with the 2019 vintage.

Rieussec, which shares the same owner as Château Lafite Rothschild, has launched a new ‘durable bottle’ that the team said ‘leaves behind the classic wine bottle format in favour of non-transparent 95% recycled glass marked with a simple yellow crown’.

It comes with a replaceable closure, emphasising that ‘Sauternes can be stored for several weeks in the fridge’, and the bottle is designed to encourage wine lovers to keep it after the contents have been drunk.

‘It is easy to remove the label and turn the bottle into a water jug or vase,’ the estate said.

‘The time had come for Rieussec to reinvent itself, so that the vineyard, wine and bottle all share the same commitment to sustainable development,’ said Saskia de Rothschild, chairwoman of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR Lafite).

Alongside the emphasis on sustainability, there is also a desire to help Sauternes to revitalise itself on the market.

‘For Rieussec and [DBR Lafite], it was urgent to act and put the spotlight on this region and the magic that is worked to produce these very great wines,’ said the announcement.

Rieussec 2019 will be the first vintage in the new bottle, to be launched at the end of November, the announcement said.

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Sauternes is one of those wines that can be enjoyed young but in good vintages can age and evolve for decades. In the past, it wasn’t so accessible when young, often due to high doses of sulphur dioxide at bottling, which suppressed many of the wine’s characteristics, in particular its fruit.

Today, SO2 additions are more tightly regulated, and winemakers prefer to use the minimum in order to preserve the wine’s intrinsic freshness.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 10 great Sauternes to drink now

Even so, it’s usually worth giving a Sauternes at least five years in bottle before pulling the cork.

As the wine matures, high acidity and any flagrant new oak aromas will usually subside or integrate. Depending on the vintage, the wine will develop more opulence and nuance as it ages, so the primary expression won’t be of simple fruitiness, but will show more complexity.

The following vintages can all be broached now, and the 1999 and 2005 should not be kept too much longer – while, in contrast, the 2001 and 2011 are still in their prime.

2011

This vintage delivered a variable summer that was often cloudy and damp, especially in July. Warmer weather in late August brought early botrytis infection, while the sunshine concentrated the fruit. Yquem began its harvest on12 September and completed it on 5 October, comparing the quality of the vintage to 2009.

Nairac, unusually, was able to pick the entire crop over the last eight days of September. The cooler summer kept acidity levels high, which helped balance the very concentrated fruit. Yields were above average at about 20hl/ha, except in Bommes, where there had been hail over Easter.

Many of the best wines in 2011 were from Barsac, as the following notes confirm.

2009

The sun-drenched summer, with its cool nights, offered ideal growing conditions in Sauternes as in the rest of Bordeaux.

Rain fell just at the right time in mid-September, which caused botrytis infection to explode. Moreover, the grapes were fully ripe by this time. If anything, they were too ripe, and estates had to avoid picking grapes with very high potential alcohol levels, as had occurred in 1990. This also meant that the harvest was swift as there was nothing to be gained by leaving richly botrytised fruit on the vines.

Climens picked 93% of its crop in eight days. By mid-October the harvest was over, just as stormy weather arrived in the region.

The wines were of high quality, and careful blending ensured that alcohol levels were not excessive.

2005

A hot and dry year, which resulted in great red wines but was more problematic for Sauternes, which needs humidity to encourage noble rot.

There was some rain in mid-September, but cool winds kept botrytis at bay. Some Sauvignon was picked in late September, and further pickings (mostly Semillon) took place during October, which provided an Indian summer. With cool nights and morning mists, conditions were ideal for the development of noble rot.

It was a prolonged harvest, but the fine weather allowed châteaux to pick each plot at the right moment. The quality of the botrytis was excellent, but the acidity was relatively low, so this is probably not a vintage for long cellaring. Yields were generous at about 20hl/ha.

2001

The vines matured fast, and by late August the Sauvignon was ripe. While a dry, early September delayed the onset of botrytis, it helped conserve the high acidity in the grapes. Rain fell on 20 September and botrytis infection began, while wind and sunshine concentrated the fruit on the vine.

Sauvignon was picked first, and noble rot continued to spread after rain showers in early October. The very warm but damp conditions were perfect for botrytis.

For most estates the harvest was completed by mid-October, although a few, including Yquem, made a final foray at the end of the month. The wines were fresh and distinctly sweet, often with residual sugar levels of up to 160g/L.

The balance and energy of the wines generated a rapturous reception from critics, which has proved justified.

1999

Sauvignon Blanc ripened fast and botrytised fast, and many grapes were picked in the first half of September. Rain followed, but by early October it was possible to begin picking the Semillon.

Downpours during the harvest period complicated the vintage: some pickings had to be rejected, and rigorous sorting was widespread. The fruit that went into the presses was very concentrated and had pure flavours, and growers were happy with the quality overall.

Indeed, Yquem compared it to 1990, but in retrospect that may have been a touch overenthusiastic. Selection meant that this was a fairly small crop, although Yquem reported close to normal yields. However, La Tour Blanche ended up with modest yields of only 7hl/ha.

See tasting notes and scores for 10 great Sauternes to drink now

The recommended wines are listed in score order by descending vintage and were tasted between 2018 and 2021.

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Sauternes 2020 and Barsac 2020

Average yield: 12hl/ha (last year 14hl/ha)

Individual estates went even lower:

• 8hl/ha at ChâteauBastor Lamontagne for example,
• 6.5hl/ha at ChâteauBroustet,
• 6hl/ha at Clos Haut Peyraguey,
• 3hl/ha at Châteaude Fargues.

What to expect

Another tough year, with very low yields after the dry summer, and a difficult harvest where patience was required. 10mm of rain in July,; 50mm in August.

The beginning of September was so dry that no botrytis was able to form, and concentration happened through drying of the grapes (passerillage).

Things got better with the 70mm falling in late September – but then storm Alex in early October threatened too much rain and dilution. It meant a very short window for harvest, and some difficult decisions.

Some producers, such as Sigalas-Rabaud decided not to make a first wine at all in the vintage, others have produced tiny yields. meaning you can expect a range of styles, with the best showing a knife-edge balance and aromatic intensity.

And as if things weren’t tough enough, these appellations have been badly affected by frost for the 2021 vintage (Climens at 100%, Doisy Vedrines at 80%). So once again I would say support these wines if you possibly can.

Top Sauternes 2020 and Barsac 2020 picks:

• Châteaude Fargues,
• Château Coutet,
• Château Doisy-Daene,

Value picks:

• Château Broustet,
• Château Sigalas-Rabaud, Lieutenant de Sigalas
  

See the top-scoring Sauternes 2020and Barsac 2020 en primeur wines

Search all Bordeaux 2020 en primeur ratings published so far

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

Suduiraut 2020, rated 96 points by Decanter’s Jane Anson, has been released in the Bordeaux 2020 en primeur campaign today (20 May) at around £504 per 12 bottles in bond. 

It’s ex-Bordeaux price was €42 per bottle, up by around 20% on the equivalent 2019 release, according to Liv-ex. The 2018 vintage was released at around €40 ex-Bordeaux.

Described by Anson as ‘full of pleasure, silky and richly textured’, Suduiraut 2020 is one of the top-scoring Sauternes of the vintage. Anson reported that around 3,000 cases have been produced.

Yet it’s also ‘the most expensive Suduiraut on the market from the last 15 vintages’, according to Liv-ex. 

There is plenty of choice when it comes to finding previous vintages, it added. Sauternes has generally seen more muted demand on the secondary market than its vaunted red wine peers further north. 

Analyst group Wine Lister also noted Suduiraut’s high scores, but added, ‘Buyers looking for a bottle to drink sooner might note some availability of the high-scoring 2009…at a price lower than that of the latest release.’

While the highlight of the Bordeaux 2020 en primeur campaign so far has arguably been the early debuts of St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A châteaux, several Sauternes and Barsac 2020 wines have now been released. 

They include:

• Coutet 2020 (Barsac), 94 points, £324 (12x 75cl in bond, Liv-ex)
• Guiraud 2020, 94 points, £33.6 per bottle in bond (expected price reported by Wine Lister) 
• Doisy-Védrines 2020, 95 points, £282 (12x 75cl in bond, Farr Vintners)
• Doisy-Daëne 2020, 96 points, £288 (Bordeaux Index)
• La Tour Blanche 2020, 93 points, £350 (Farr Vintners)

Lafon-Rochet and La Clotte 2020 release

One of the latest reds to release is Lafon-Rochet 2020, priced at around £325 per 12 bottles in bond. 

According to Liv-ex, that makes it around 11% more expensive than the current market price for 2019, although cheaper than 2018 and 2016. 

Rated 93 points by Anson, the St-Estèphe fourth growth’s 2020 vintage was also 3% below the ex-Bordeaux price of 2019, at €26 per bottle.

It could be an interesting wine to watch, because it is the first year of collaboration at the estate between two of Bordeaux’s top consultants – Eric Boissenot of Left Bank fame and Jean-Claude Berrouet, former Petrus winemaker.

Back in St-Emilion, La Clotte 2020 was also released. Anson gave the wine 93 points and said it ‘continues its improvements under the Ausone team’.

Farr Vintners and Bordeaux Index were selling 12 bottles in bond for £560. Fine & Rare was selling six bottles for £285 in bond, and reported that production was 10,000 bottles.

Look out for the feature on five Sauternes vintages to drink now in the 2020 Bordeaux supplement, free with the June issue of Decanter. 

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The hashtag #sweetwinehalloween was one of the small pleasures of Instagram last October, with wine estates from Sauternes, Rivesaltes, Jerez, Madeira and Malvasia getting involved by posting photos of their wines next to pumpkins and cobwebs.

Special respect goes to Château Climens for posting images of the entire team dressed in full Halloween gear (photo below).

It was started, I believe, by The Waverly Inn in New York, and it turned out to be a clever way to show the impact niche marketing can have on a style of wine that still needs to connect to its audience.

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Sauternes 2001 tasting notes and scores

These kind of word-of-mouth initiatives are essential because there still seems to be a ‘however, but, despite this, nonetheless’ hanging in the air when someone is discussing Sauternes.

This is true even with a vintage as undisputedly excellent as 2001, and even for a tasting of only 1855 classified estates – as this one was.

It could be because this is an appellation in retreat. There has been a decline of 24% in volume and 15% in surface area over the past 20 years.

The cost of vineyard land is also falling, dropping 15% between 2016 and 2017 and now standing at €30,000 per hectare.

That’s around the same as AOC Graves but a fraction (and I mean generously 10%) of the prices reached in the red wine appellations that were recognised in the 1855 Classification.

This despite the fact that the 19th century Bordeaux wine brokers were deciding the ranking on market positioning. They found only four châteaux to award as First Growth among the reds but a full 11 sweet wine châteaux in Sauternes and Barsac, with Yquem above all the rest as a ‘Premier Cru Supérieur’.

Before World War One, sweet wines accounted for 35% of Bordeaux’s production, while today they barely make it to 3% of overall production.

They have struggled to find their place in today’s market, despite the fact that you only have to spend a little time tasting wines like these to understand that they are worth saving.

Their history is scattered with tsars and European royalty, and the style is irreplaceable. Weather conditions that ensure the arrival of botrytis cinerea, or ‘noble rot’, are far from assured each year, and leave such concentrated juice in the grapes that yields are typically 10-15 hectolitres per hectare (hl/ha) compared to 40-50hl/ha in red wines.

The appellation also suffers from having Bordeaux’s red wine rules applied to it, when in reality it often succeeds in vintages that are dismissed for the majority of the region.

Take 2007, 2013 and 2017, for example; all brilliant vintages in Sauternes, but far more difficult in the major red wine appellations.

Even 2001, which we are tasting here, was not immediately recognised for its brilliance in the red wines. In Sauternes, by contrast, it was clear from the start that things were extremely special.

And where great red Bordeaux often needs 10 years to reach its drinking window, Sauternes can take far longer – but then keeps gathering in complexity.

‘Where red Bordeaux can often go through a dumb phase from three to six years [old], Sauternes tends to find the same thing a little later, often when eight to 10 years old,’ says Pierre-Antoine Castéja, of Château Doisy-Védrines.

‘It means you either need to drink them very young, when they are rich and luscious, or wait a little and have them once they have reached 15 years old or more.’

Drinking Sauternes 2001 now

The Sauternes 2001 vintage, now 20 years old, is perfect to showcase this theory.

With that extra decade in the bottle, the best in this tasting had taken on a savoury, dried fruit quality, with walnut, campfire and saffron notes, while being mouthwateringly tender and utterly moreish – still with a kick of ginger and lime zest.

As is often the case in Sauternes, a high quality vintage also coincided with an abundant year. Most estates recorded yields of around 20hl/ha, at the top end of what you expect.

This was because there was a rapid and intense spread of botrytis from rainfall in early October, coupled with good weather that remained throughout the month and allowed abundant and even harvesting.

Sandrine Garbay, Yquem’s technical director, said, ‘The rains in early October were supposed to be followed by heavier storms that could have ruined the harvest, but in the end the weather turned ideal, with a drying eastern wind, plenty of sun, cool night-time temperatures…everything that allowed for concentration of flavours and the ability to harvest whole bunches that were evenly covered with noble rot.

‘Every day we were filling two barrels with grapes, smooth as clockwork. If only that happened every year.’

See Jane Anson’s tasting notes and scores for 16 Sauternes 2001 wines, including Yquem

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Assessing the September releases plus final 21 wines tasted including Y d’Yquem

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s Sauternes & Barsac 2018 top scorers

See the full Bordeaux 2018 report here

See individual appellation overviews for:

St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis and Pessac-Léognan & Graves

A concentrated and powerful year, where patience was key due to the late onset of the botrytis. September saw just 0.5mm of rain fall in the area, meaning that there was no water to kick start the noble rot process and some estates saw grapes concentrating through simple water loss known as passerillage.

Jean-Jacques Durboudieu of Doisy-Daëne pointed out that late-onset botrytis used to be fairly common in the area, but I question the uplift on some of the wines.

However, this worry came only if winemakers had managed to make it through the early part of the vintage, as Sauternes suffered the same issues with rain and mildew as did other parts of Bordeaux.

Estates such as Coutet, Suduiraut and de Fargues had yields right down to 5hl/ha or less.

It means that this is a vintage for fans of a luscious style of Sauternes.

The dry whites saw some of their earliest harvesting in their history – August 13 at Yquem, and again it was a great addition to the tastings this year to taste the dry whites of the classified estates.

Among those of particular interest was the new dry white of Château Climens, Asphodèle. It’s a 100% Sémillon, as with the main wine, and also biodynamic, made in collaboration with Loire legend Pascal Jolivet – he worked just on this first vintage with them, making it a reason in itself to track down a bottle.

Top names to look out for:

• Sigalas Rabaud
• Yquem
• Lafaurie Peyraguey
• Doisy-Daëne

Value Pick:

• Château d’Arche

See Jane Anson’s top-scoring Sauternes & Barsac 2018 wines

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Premier cru Sauternes producer Château Climens has partnered with Devon-based distillery Salcombe to produce a limited-edition gin finished in Sauternes casks. Salcombe Gin Voyager Series Phantom (Alc 46%) spent eight months in barrels that were used to age the 2015 and 2016 vintages of Château Climens Barsac. 

‘This is the sixth release in our Voyager Series, which we introduced in 2018. Each one is developed in collaboration with either a world-renowned chef or an iconic winery,’ said Angus Lugsdin co-founder of Salcombe Distilling Company. 

‘As a long-term admirer of Sauternes wines, it was an enormous privilege to work in collaboration with Bérénice Lurton and Frédéric Nivelle of Château Climens. It’s about working with like-minded, passionate individuals to create a product that we can both be proud of,’ continued Lugsdin. 

The six French oak casks in which the gin was finished were sustainably sourced from Bertranges forest and hand-selected by Lugsdin and Nivelle, head winemaker at Château Climens, for their sweet perfumed residual aromas that contribute to the distinctive flavour profile of Phantom. 

‘The idea was to try to mimic some of the aromas and flavours that you’ll find in a Sauternes wine. It’s still a gin, so it’s still got juniper in there and it’s got a recognisable gin profile, but it’s also got some of the softer more nuanced notes that you find in Bérénice’s wines.’

Speaking at the launch of Phantom, Bérénice Lurton, owner of Climens, explained: ‘I wasn’t a gin drinker at all. But when Angus first visited Climens and explained his idea, we were totally hooked. We both share a deep respect for the history of winemaking and distilling, and a commitment to exceptional craftsmanship. It’s not only finishing the gin in Climens barrels, it’s much more than that.’

Botanical blend

In addition to the cask-ageing, a selection of botanicals from the biodynamic Château Climens estate were used to create Phantom, including rose petals, marigold flowers, bay leaf, cypress, nettles and fennel. These were combined with traditional gin botanicals, including Macedonian juniper, orange peel, coriander seed, and orris root, plus with lavender, orange blossom and apricots to replicate the trademark aromas and flavours of Château Climens’ wines.

The result is a gin that shares the fresh citrus profile of Salcombe’s core Start Point Gin, but is more lifted and elegant, with subtle, perfumed floral aromas. The smooth palate is layered with notes of fresh apricot, orange blossom, herbal freshness and honeyed sweetness.

Phantom is certainly a gin that you can sip neat, but if you prefer to pair it with tonic you get a very elegant G&T with floral and delicate honeyed notes, plus a sweetly lingering finish. 

Phantom is named after one of the Salcombe fruit schooners built in the port of Salcombe in 1867. These ships were traditionally used to transport fruits, spices and wines. 

Salcombe’s previous winery collaborations for the Voyager Series include working with Sherry producer Bodegas Tradición in Jerez and with Port producer Dirk Niepoort to create Guiding Star, a sloe and damson gin finished in colheita casks. 

£75/50cl, Master of Malt, www.salcombegin.com

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Napa Valley may only provide around 4% of California’s grape harvest, but even some merchants admit it’s difficult to keep track of all the wines being made; from exciting, niche varietal bottlings to the sheer breadth of Cabernet Sauvignon-driven styles.

This introductory guide provides inspiration for collectors looking to get more involved in the Cabernet-dominant wines of Napa, including:

• Merchant and analyst commentary approaching the market
• Top names to know
• A closer look at prices
• Investment potential of top-tier wines

Napa Valley wine

California is a vast treasure trove for wine lovers and the top Cabernet Sauvignon-driven wines of Napa Valley, in particular, are increasingly prominent on the fine wine market.

Spend even just a few days in California wine country and you’ll be struck by the diversity of wines on offer, from niche varietal bottlings to the depth and breadth of Cabernet Sauvignon-driven styles.

Standout vintages like 2016 and 2013 have generated significant press, but currentrelease Cabs from the more challenging 2017 vintage also display precision in the cellar and terroir-focused approach.

‘Even in a hot vintage like 2017, Opus [One] can deliver balance and sculpted elegance,’ said Decanter’s Jane Anson, after a recent tasting.

Some merchants see Napa Valley as a rising star of the international fine wine market. ‘We’ve backed Napa to be the next big thing,’ said Giles Cooper, buyer at BI Fine Wine & Spirits.

While this report focuses largely on Cabernet-driven wines, and particularly those of Napa Valley, it would, of course, be remiss of this article not to at least mention the many other avenues open to collectors in California.

Premium App members: you can also download and read the latest Collector’s Guide via the Decanter Premium app now. Available via the App Store or Google Play.

Decanter experts have shone a light on beautiful, age-worthy Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines being produced in cooler areas, from parts of Santa Barbara County to Sonoma’s Russian River Valley and also Anderson Valley further north.

Zinfandel has found new vigour, with fresher elegant styles sitting alongside traditional heavyweight wines. Paso Robles, known in particular for its Rhône varieties but also Cabernet, has been tipped as an area to watch, while the progress of Syrah is fascinating to track across Sonoma County, too.

Beyond that, how about new takes on Nebbiolo from fruit grown in Mendocino County, skin-contact Vermentino or exciting expressions of Gewürztraminer and long-lived Riesling?

You’ll even find Ribolla Gialla in Napa Valley, while trials began at Larkmead Vineyards last year to understand how Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo – among others – might help producers adapt to climate change

COVID-19 and retail sales

The year 2020 will likely go down as one of the most challenging for many producers.

Although the impact of Covid-19 has been tough, however, some retailers also say the availability of hard-to-find wines has increased.

Shaun Bishop, CEO of JJ Buckley, said, ‘California is selling very well right now, driven mostly by two factors – retail wine buyers are seeing a much wider offering of top California wines, as restaurant and winery sales are temporarily slow, due to the Covid restrictions.

‘And secondly, many French and Spanish wines sales are down, due to the 25% [import] tariffs which have resulted in much higher prices, and hence a shift to California.’

Ryan Woodhouse, domestic buyer at US merchant K&L, noted that he has been able to offer customers palettes of highly rated Kistler (Sonoma) Chardonnay wines that would normally only be sold via restaurants and bars.

He said that, in general, K&L has seen buyers return to classic names this year, such as Heitz or Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) Georges de Latour.

A note on wildfires

It must also be highlighted that there have been devastating wildfires in some areas in recent weeks. At the time of writing, the Glass Fire had damaged several Napa wineries, as well as homes, forcing thousands of people to evacuate.

There have, however, been remarkable displays of resilience.

‘All is not lost,’ said Chris Howell, winemaker and general manager at Cain, which saw its winery destroyed alongside the homes of three families living at the property.

‘What remains are the amazing people of Cain, a large number of friends, supporters and customers of Cain, most of the magnificent Valley Oaks, much of the 90-acre (36ha) Cain Vineyard, and the wines, all safely stored in south Napa.’

Such positivity cannot mask the difficult reality faced by communities or wineries, but it perhaps reflects the sort of proactive approach that has put this region’s wines on the international stage in recent decades.

1976 and all that

Napa, and California wine in general, remain relatively young players on the fine wine scene – even if a good number of vineyards trace their history back to the 19th century. Inglenook, which has been restored to former glories by Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, was founded in 1879, for instance.

There have been several seminal moments, from legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff releasing the first Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon in 1941 to the work by professor Harold Olmo at UC Davis to create the ‘Oakville Selection’ that cemented Cabernet Sauvignon as a focal point.

Tchelistcheff mentored several aspiring winemakers, from a certain Robert Mondavi to, in the 1970s, a young winemaker named Rob Davis at the newly formed Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley. Davis recently left Jordan after 43 years of making its wines.

As breakthrough moments go, however, the 1976 Judgement of Paris hosted by Steven Spurrier on 24 May certainly showed the wider world how California Cabernet and Chardonnay could mix it with the best of Bordeaux and Burgundy in a blind tasting.

It also possibly triggered an existential crisis among several prominent French wine critics.

Wines in this tasting have been named among the 101 items that ‘made America’ by the US Smithsonian Institute. They include the overall winner among the reds, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ ‘SLV’ Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 produced by Warren Winiarski. Of the whites, Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 1973 won overall, beating top Burgundy.

Top Napa producers today: a snapshot

The 10 most searched for Napa Valley wines on Wine-Searcher are:

• Opus One
• Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
• Dominus Estate
• Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
• Harlan Estate
• Joseph Phelps ‘Insignia’
• Caymus Vineyards ‘Special Selection’ Cabernet Sauvignon
• Shafer Vineyards ‘Hillside Select’ Cabernet Sauvignon
• Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
• Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon

In Sonoma County, the top 10 are:

• Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley)
• Jordan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon
• Ridge Vineyards Geyserville
• Kistler Vineyards ‘Kistler’ Chardonnay
• Marcassin Estate Chardonnay
• Peter Michael ‘Les Pavots’ Estate Red
• Vérité ‘La Joie’
• Beringer Vineyards, Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs
• Aubert Wines ‘Lauren Vineyard’ Chardonnay
  

This really only touches the surface of the options available, even in the world of Cabernet-led and Chardonnay wines, and trade buyers themselves can find it difficult to keep track of newer names.

Napa winery deals

Investors have come from far and wide, but the arrival of wine families from Bordeaux has been notable in the last few decades.

There is Opus One, founded in 1978 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild (Mouton) and Robert Mondavi, and Dominus, established in 1983 by Christian Moueix (of Petrus fame).

More recently, the owner of Château Latour, François Pinault, bought the highly regarded Araujo Estate in 2013 from Bart and Daphne Araujo, renaming it Eisele Vineyard Estate. The Araujos now have Accendo Cellars, another name to know.

In January 2020, the Cathiard family of Château Smith Haut Lafitte bought a Napa vineyard estate lying at the base of the Mayacamas mountains and originally founded in 1885. It will be interesting to see how this project develops.

Other recent deals in Napa include:

• The Lawrence family and Carlton McCoy Jr bought Heitz Cellar (2018)
• The same buyers bought Burgess Cellars (2020)*
• Constellation bought cult producer Schrader Cellars (2017)
• Louis Roederer bought Diamond Creek (2020) (having bought Pinot specialist Merry Edwards in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley in 2019)
• E&J Gallo bought Pahlmeyer winery (2019) • Chanel bought St. Supéry winery (2015)
• The Schottenstein family took 100% control of Mayacamas (2017)

*Burgess Cellars winery was destroyed in the Glass Fire in September 2020. At the time of writing, the family said they were determined to rebuild and that the vineyards largely survived unscathed.

Napa Cab: know your style

‘There is massive stylistic diversity out there’, said Ryan Woodhouse, domestic buyer at the California-based K&L merchant. Both he and Giles Cooper, at BI Fine Wine & Spirits, advised new collectors to taste as broadly as possible to see where their palate sits.

Alongside a greater focus on terroir-driven wines, terms like restraint, elegance and freshness have chipped away at the big, bold and super-ripe Napa Cab stereotype of the last 20 years or so.

Retailers have noticed the trend in sales. ‘We continue to see a move to somewhat more restrained and focused style’, said JJ Buckley’s Bishop. ‘Wines like Eisele, Dominus, Vérité, Kapcsandy, and the stable of wines from JeanCharles Boisset are doing well.’

For some, it is a return to winemaking styles of old; for others, it is also recognition for how things have always been done.

Producers like Corison and Spottswoode in St. Helena, or Mayacamas with its longstanding commitment to neutral oak in the Mt. Veeder AVA, are among those known for pared-back Cabernet styles.

This can create different impressions of vintages between producers. A cool 2011 growing season was widely regarded as challenging, for instance, yet Cathy Corison believes conditions played right to her wines’ natural strengths.

Among the newer names to know in Napa, Decanter contributor Elin McCoy has highlighted Ashes & Diamonds, rising star Massimo Constanzo, and the Macdonald brothers making Cabernet from the historic To Kalon vineyard.

She said the latter ‘reflects the new sensibility of both power and restraint and the push toward organic and biodynamic viticulturein the valley’.

Buying the wines: how to approach the market

Direct sales are a significant part of the California fine wine scene.

‘Sixty-one percent of sales come direct for a small winery, whether that’s tasting room or [winery] club sales,’ said Rob McMillan, executive vice president and wine division founder at Silicon Valley Bank.

He said that the economic impact of Covid-19 had also pushed more wineries into online selling, as well as virtual tasting programmes with collectors – something he has long advocated for.

Trade body Napa Valley Vintners hosted an ‘en primeur-style’ sale from 8 to 10 September, linking through to new releases from the 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages at its winery members’ websites, for example.

Winery mailing lists offer some of the best opportunities to acquire new-vintage releases or acquire rarer, older wines.

Some cult wines are well-known for having waiting lists, including Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle, Scarecrow, Schrader, Peter Michael and Sine Qua Non, the vaunted Central Coast estate especially known for its use of Rhône grape varieties.

Wines are often small-production; Screaming Eagle is reported to make between 500 and 850 cases, for instance.

Ridge Vineyards (Santa Cruz Mountains) sells a portion of its renowned Monte Bello en primeur, via merchant partners. ‘We sell roughly half of our production en primeur with 20% of the total production dedicated to our international en primeur programme and 30% to our domestic retail-based programme,’ said Heidi Nigen, Ridge’s director of marketing.

‘The en primeur price has always ended up to be a significant discount versus the final release price.’

Giles Cooper, buyer at BI Fine Wine & Spirits, said traditional models were shifting as more wineries sought to reach out to new collectors internationally. ‘They’re looking at how they can expand their distribution.’

Several top names sell a portion of their new-release wines to international merchants via Bordeaux Place. Opus One has done so since 2004, and other names include Sonoma’s Vérité, Napa’s Inglenook Rubicon, Joseph Phelps Insignia and Quintessa, plus L’Aventure from Paso Robles.

Closer look at prices

Things have come a long way since Diamond Creek’s Al Brounstein released his Lake Vineyard Cabernet 1978 at $100-a-bottle. This was still considered rare in September 1989, wrote the Washington Post that year, noting Opus One was $50 and Dominus $35.

Several highly regarded, small-production ‘cult’ wines command lofty prices today – with names like Screaming Eagle and Harlan Estate more expensive than Bordeaux first growths.

The average global retail price of a ‘Bordeaux red blend’ from Napa Valley has risen by around 30% in the last five years, to average $193 per bottle ex-tax in September 2020, according to Wine-Searcher data.

Here is how a small selection of top-tier Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-driven wines have fared in the last five years, based on Wine-Searcher’s average global retail price (ex-tax) for all vintages.

• Dominus Estate, up by 40% to $271 per bottle (September 2020)
• Harlan Estate, up by 34% to $1,100 per bottle
• Scarecrow, up by 45% to $831 per bottle • Ridge Monte Bello (Santa Cruz Mountains), up by 31% to $230 per bottle
• Screaming Eagle, up by 26% to $3,649 per bottle
• Opus One, up by 37% to $411 per bottle
• Joseph Phelps Insignia, up by 24% to $255 per bottle

While these figures are clearly a broad generalisation and will vary between vintages, they give you a sense of the progression.

Wine-Searcher’s data also says the average price of ‘Bordeaux red blends’ from Sonoma County has broadly doubled in the past five years, backing up reports of greater interest in the region’s Cabernet-dominant wines. That said, Vérité’s ‘La Joie’ has stayed fairly stable at just under $400-a-bottle ex-tax, for example.

Weaker pricing in 2020?

Some market observers say prices for top California wines look a little weaker overall in 2020.

‘Given that overall demand for all fine wine, including top California Cabs, is down due to Covid-19 restrictions on restaurants, bars, hotels, and winery visits, prices are a little soft,’ said Shaun Bishop, CEO of US merchant JJ Buckley.

‘However, I see that due only to the current situation and I think based on retail demand for these wines, we will see prices firm up again as soon as these businesses can open.’

SVB’s McMillan said that a ‘more fragile consumer’ in the wake of current economic concerns could drive prices down. But, he also said that luxury wine producers would avoid discounting wherever possible. ‘There will always be wealthy people who want to buy the best,’ he added.

Woodhouse questioned whether the 2017 vintage wines would struggle to find their place sandwiched between the strong 2016 and 2018 crops. However, he said Dominus 2017, released earlier this year, ‘went gangbusters for us and did really well’.

Looking for value

There are plenty of options further down the price ladder.

‘If you’re a savvy shopper there are great wines to be had and you don’t have to spend an absolute fortune,’ said K&L’s Woodhouse, adding $40 to $50 can be enough to get a great bottle.

One example is Smith-Madrone, founded in Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain area by Stuart Smith in 1971, which recently released its 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon at $58, with only 1,375 cases produced.

Decanter’s Elin McCoy rated the wine 94 points and described it as ‘very much a mountain Cabernet, with classic structure, cassis and graphite aromas, and deep, savoury red fruit flavours with hints of mint’. She also noted the longevity of the estate’s Riesling wines.

Many other cellar-worthy Cabernet-driven wines can be found somewhere between the $100 and $150-a-bottle mark.

Cain Five was at $129 ex-tax (Wine-Searcher global average retail price, all vintages), for example. Corison Cabernet Sauvignon was at $114 ex-tax, with 2017 recently released on the winery website at $100 – even if its ‘Kronos’ single-vineyard Cabernet is more expensive.

Mayacamas released its Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 in September 2020 at $135. When reviewing the 2015 vintage recently, sommelier and Decanter contributor Matthew Luczy said of the wine, ‘The classic Mayacamas mix of dark fruits, svelte tannins and saline character is here in full force, and this vintage is a perfect candidate to spend decades in the collection of any serious wine lover who values balance, craft and expression.’

It’s also worth digging into a winery’s portfolio. For instance, Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, rated 98 points and lauded as ‘excellent’ by Decanter’s Jane Anson, averaged $561-a-bottle on Wine-Searcher.

The winery’s ‘Altagracia’ 2017, comprising 82% Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, was priced at $137, but was still rated at 93 points and should drink well for another 16 years.

Looking to other regions, K&L’s Woodhouse highlighted Paso Robles as an area to watch. ‘Paso has had a really good few years,’ he said. ‘There’s now an appreciation that they can rival Napa.’

Paso-based L’Aventure’s Estate Cuvee, which blends Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with a smaller amount of Petit Verdot, averaged around $111-a-bottle ex-tax, according to Wine-Searcher.

‘Owner Stephan Asseo has deftly brought out opulent swathes of redcurrant and raspberry fruits laced with liquorice and cigar that is both striking and moreish,’ said Anson after tasting the 2018 vintage.

The investment scene: how big is the secondary market?

Only a narrow band of California wines have traditionally been considered investment grade options.

US wines accounted for 2% of Sotheby’s wine and spirits sales across auction and retail in 2019, albeit up from 1% in 2018, and the 10 best-selling producers constituted a fairly classic list:

• Screaming Eagle (33% of US wine sales by value)
• Harlan Estate (24%)
• Opus One (7%)
• Dominus (6%)
• Ridge (4%)
• Sine Qua Non (3%)
• Scarecrow (2%)
• Heitz Cellar (1%)
• Colgin Cellars (1%)
• Joseph Phelps (1%)

Price softness at retail level (see above) has also been seen on the secondary market recently. The Liv-ex California 50 index – tracking 10 vintages each of Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Ridge Monte Bello, Opus One and Dominus – has dipped versus two years ago, for instance.

That said, the index has doubled in value over the last decade and there are signs that California’s strength in depth is starting to filter through to secondary market trading.

Liv-ex said US wines overall had doubled their share of trades by value on its online global marketplace in 2020, peaking at 8% in July.

Napa Valley accounts for the vast majority of trades. While Opus One used to dominate, trading has expanded to include a broader array of names (see chart).

Liv-ex cofounder Justin Gibbs said 2016 was the most traded US vintage by value in the past 12 months. However, trading was markedly lower on preceding vintages. Gibbs said this reflected limited supplies on the secondary market, which might prove a ‘lid’ on California’s future potential market share.

Auction house Zachys sold $2.95m-worth of California wines via its ‘600,000+ point California Collection’ online sale in May this year. That made California the third bestselling region at Zachys in the first six months of 2020, with $4.33m in sales versus $7.97m for Bordeaux and $14.2m for Burgundy.

Charles Antin, head of auction sales at Zachys, said, ‘I’d say in general the appetite out there is huge. In some ways, the market is bifurcated in a very general unscientific way between old school and new school.

‘In the old school, I’d put wines like Heitz, Ridge, Mondavi, Mayacamas. In the new school Screaming Eagle, Marcassin [Sonoma Pinot and Chardonnay specialist], Colgin [and] Harlan. Though admittedly some of those in the “new” school are not particularly “new” wineries I am talking specifically about the auction market.’

Auction demand still largely comes from the US, but Screaming Eagle is strong in Asia, he said. Older wines from specific vintages with top ratings see strong demand, he added.

Governing principles

Professional storage with temperature and humidity control is especially important if you have one eye on selling for returns, and costs must be factored in.

As ever, there are no guarantees when it comes to wine investment. Check up-to-date prices carefully when making decisions, and prices vary between merchants.

When buying older vintages, find out as much as possible about the wine’s provenance and condition.

Ups and downs on specific wines

The figures below are based on Wine-Searcher global average retail price per 75cl bottle, excluding tax, from October 2015 to September 2020 unless otherwise stated. Data sourced on 14 October 2020.

UPS

• Corison, Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2011 This single-vineyard Cab has limited availability and has risen by 57% in the last five years to $239.
• Opus One, Napa Valley 2012 This vintage from one of the top names has risen by 74.5% over five years to average $438.
• Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains 2007 The 2007 Monte Bello has risen by around 59% in the past five years, to $239.
• Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2005 The 2005 vintage of this small-production wine was up by 66% over five years to average $4,129.
• Scarecrow, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley 2012 This cult wine has risen by almost 29% over the past five years to $691, albeit only available in limited quantities.

Downs

• Vérité, La Muse, Sonoma County 2007 This Merlot-dominant wine was rated 99 points by Decanter in 2019 but has seen a mixed price performance over five years, down by around 7% to $416.
• Harlan Estate, Napa Valley 2012 Several vintages have shown price gains but the 2012 was down by around 10% over five years, albeit still averaging $1,076.
• Spottswoode, Family Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa Valley 2010 Another top producer, but the average price of this 2010 Estate Cabernet was down by nearly 9% over five years to $319.
• Heitz Cellar, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2011 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard bottling averages above $200-a-bottle, while Heitz Cabernet is generally under $100. The 2011 has dipped by 6% to $47 over five years.
• Schrader Cellars, Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2014 The 2013 vintage price has risen in the past year, but the 2014 has dipped to $367. It was also down by 18% since October 2016, albeit with limited availability.
  

A downloadable PDF version of the Napa Valley Collector’s Guide is available here.

Click here to join Decanter Premium now and enjoy instant access to the latest Napa Valley Collector’s guide as well as past Collector’s Guide’s including Napa and Piedmont.

Report by Chris Mercer for Decanter Premium. A freelance journalist and former editor of Decanter.com, Chris has written about the global fine wine market for more than a decade

Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice.The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

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See all Sauternes and Barsac 2019 en primeur wines

There are some great wines to choose from here and, as ever, some truly excellent dry whites.

Winemakers had to wait for noble rot to set in, after beautiful summer conditions that lasted well until late September. The botrytis cinerea eventually developed in early October, on already concentrated grapes, resulting in luscious flavours.

Scroll down to see the top-rated Sauternes and Barsac 2019 en primeur wines

There were dangers though – Château de Fargues sets out the issues many had to face in their vintage report: ‘Within several days, the berries reached wonderful concentration. Unfortunately, sour rot set in even faster. There was a race against time to sort the grapes as quickly as possible’.

At de Fargues one third of the grapes were botrytised and picked, while the other two thirds were afflicted with sour rot, and therefore left on the ground. But by October 16 , the vast majority of the grapes were safe.

Having said that, these winemakers are some of the most talented in Bordeaux, well used to challenges, and among the best estates, I found 2019 to be not only rich and concentrated but also precise, with high aromatics and balanced overall.

Yields

The average yield of the classified growths this year was 10hl/ha – under half the allowable maximum yield of 25hl/h in these appellations (which itself is around half most red wine AOCs).

Scores

There are two wines that scored 98 points with Lafaurie Peyraguey and Extravagance de Doisy Daene, both real standouts, but there’s also a good crop at 97 and in total nine estates coming in at over 95 points.

The ‘strong buys’ at 94 points include Bastor Lamontagne, Haut Peyraguey and the dry white S de Suduiraut.

Top Scoring

Extravagence de Doisy Daene, Doisy Daene, Doisy Vedrines, de Fargues, Lafaurie Peyraguey, Coutet, Guiraud, Sigalas Rabaud, Raymond-Lafon.

Best Value

La Tour Blanche, Domaine de l’Alliance, Equisse

See the top-rated Sauternes and Barsac 2019 wines

The following wines have all been scored 94 points and above

Not yet tasted: Château d’Yquem, Château Rieussec, Château Rabaud-Promis, Château Filhot, Château Lamothe-Guignard, Château de Myrat, Clos Dady, Château de Veyres, Château Liot, Château La Clotte-Cazalis,Château Romer

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Sauternes cocktails are not the way to create new fans of Bordeaux’s premier sweet wines, according to Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces, former owner of Château d’Yquem and who’s family has owned Château de Fargues in the region for several centuries.

While there is little argument that estates in Sauternes and Barsac produce some of the world’s finest sweet wines, it’s also no secret that sales have struggled in recent decades and there has long been debate in the region on how to tackle this.

Some châteaux have experimented with Sauternes styles that can be used in cocktails, such as mulled wine, a ‘saujito’ – a fresh take on the classic mojito – or simply with sparkling water, or orange zest.

But, in a letter sent to French trade publication Terre de Vins, Lur Saluces said it was ‘arrogant’ to think that Sauternes wines could be enhanced through mixology. 

He said that such methods have been tried in the past, without success, and the obstinacy of those looking to improve Sauternes with additives ‘would be better used to promote the truth of Sauternes’. 

He added that the wines’ true qualities and authenticity have been ‘very poorly communicated in the recent years’.

Several châteaux responded to the letter, including Lafaurie-Peyraguey, which was bought by Silvio Denz, of Lalique, in 2014 and briefly launched a mulled wine using Sauternes in December 2019 at its new fine dining restaurant on the estate.

David Bolzan, MD of the estate, said that the team has pursued excellence in its winemaking but that it was also important to make Sauternes accessible.

‘Sauternes can lay claim to a legendary longevity but everyone should know that the impatient amateur can also enjoy it,’ he said in a follow-up letter published on Terre de Vins. He called on producers to work together.

Do Sauternes cocktails work?

Laura Vidal, a sommelier who previously did a mixology event with a Sauternes brand and a group of well-known bartenders, told Decanter.com, ‘The natural sweetness, the smoky quality brought by the noble rot and the the unique mineral qualities of the wine make for an interesting component [in] a cocktail.’

‘You can be surprised by how a skilled bartender can really make a product shine,’ said Vidal, who co-created the Paris Pop Up dining experience and co-owns La Mercerie restaurant in Marseille.

Of Lur Saluce’s recent comments, she said, ‘I understand his perspective that alone a Sauternes is enough in and of itself, but perhaps it can also be enjoyed on occasion as a luxury product associated [with] other delicious products in an expert’s shaker.’

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Sauternes: A fresh debate

It’s not always the case that a great year for red Bordeaux translates into an equally great vintage for Sauternes. Excessive rain is the enemy of fine claret, but without showers and moisture, the all-important noble rot fails to set in on golden bunches in Sauternes.

Scroll down for Stephen Brook’s top 18 Sauternes 2015 tasting notes and scores

A good example is 2000: it was a splendid vintage for red Bordeaux, but in Sauternes the heavens opened as the bunches were beginning to attract botrytis, and most of the crop rotted on the vine. In 2015, however, the viticultural and climatic planets aligned, and Bordeaux as a whole made outstanding wines.In Sauternes, the flowering took place in warm conditions, and the summer was as hot as in 2005, although light rain in August was welcomed, and also helped to provoke botrytis. This allowed the first picking, at least at Château d’Yquem, to take place in early September.

Showers in mid-September spurred on more noble rot, and cool, dry conditions thereafter concentrated the fruit. A second third of the crop was picked from late September. Two further pickings took place in October Yquem’s winemaker, Sandrine Garbay, noted that the October lots had less acidity than those picked in September, but they had more volume and a more pronounced dried-fruit character. And for once, yields were good, with Château Climens reporting 21hl/ha.

Xavier Planty, the recently retired winemaker at Château Guiraud (where this tasting was organised), declared: ‘The picking dates were very variable in 2015. By early October, Yquem had picked half its crop, but Filhot hadn’t even started the harvest. Yet the wines are very homogenous, although some are racier than others, while some are richer and weightier. Each château has its own style, and succeeded well within it.’

Ripe and fresh

Having retasted the wines, that assessment seems about right. The hallmark of the vintage is the fine acidity of the wines, conserved by the cool autumn nights. This combination of ripe botrytised fruit with refreshing acidity is beguiling. Some vintages have the volume but lack freshness; others are zesty but lack richness and complexity – 2015 has them both.

This vintage character seems to have suited Barsac particularly well, and most properties here made outstanding wines. As is often the case, the wines from Sauternes or Bommes are richer and more sumptuous but slightly less fresh and bright. It is a question of style rather than quality, and superb wines are to be found in all communes.

Garbay compares the year to 2005, ‘but with more acidity’. This is a vintage to relish: Sauternes that can be enjoyed young but has undoubted ageing potential too. However, as has so often been lamented, these gorgeous wines remain under-appreciated and underpriced. There is no reason to expect a renascence of Sauternes’ fortunes with this vintage, but it’s certainly deserving of it.

Stephen Brook has been a Decanter contributing editor since 2006, and is author of The Complete Bordeaux, now in its third edition

See Stephen Brook’s top 18 Sauternes 2015 tasting notes and scores

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As the number of Napa Valley labels continues to climb, new wineries grab buzz with $200-plus Cabernet cuvées or obscure varieties, while some wineries with 40-year histories have slipped under the radar, their wines sidelined by fascination with the latest.

That’s the current tale of Silverado, founded in Stag’s Leap District in 1978, whose first Cabernet was the 1981 vintage. Ever since, the winery has produced long-lived examples at reasonable prices – my main takeaway from a recent vertical tasting at the winery at the end of May was that they don’t get nearly as much attention as they should do.

Background

Diane Disney Miller, the only daughter of Walt Disney, fell in love with Napa Valley on a 1975 visit, and with her husband Ron and mother Lillian purchased vineyards in Yountville and Stags Leap. Soon after, they built this winery to make their own wines.

About six miles north of the city of Napa on the eastern side of the valley, Stags Leap was then (and still is) basking in the glory of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon triumph at the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting.

Despite a long history for a Napa winery, the estate has had only two winemakers, which surely contributes to the wines’ consistent quality – as does owning over 160 hectares of prime vineyards. And in contrast to Napa’s tiny boutique wineries, Silverado produces some 25,000 cases of Cabernet annually – similar to that of a Bordeaux château.

Today, five of the 14 wines Silverado produces are Cabernets, three of them single-vineyard expressions. In its eponymously-named Silverado Vineyard in Stags Leap, the University of California at Davis has identified a unique Cabernet clone and given it ‘heritage’ status, one of only a handful recognised in this way.

Varying styles

When I turned off the Silverado Trail and drove up to the impressive stone and stucco Mediterranean-style winery, flowers were blooming and I had a panoramic view of the valley from the long terrace.

The tasting, though, took place in a brightly lit room in the winery itself, with maps of Silverado’s six vineyards on the walls and a lineup of magnums, stainless steel spittoons and polished glasses on a long white table. We were sampling eight vintages of the estate Cabernet Sauvignon, spanning four decades, and seven vintages of Solo, one of Silverado’s single-vineyard Cabernets, which debuted in 2002.

Long-time winemaker Jonathan Emmerich, associate winemaker Elena Franceschi, and managing director Russell Weis were all on hand to fill me in on the details.

As we sampled vintages of the estate blend, what struck me was the way the styles fell into distinct eras.

The 1987 is 100% Cabernet from Silverado Vineyard, and though still alive with a core of fruit, it’s a bit rustic.

Examples from the 1990s, aged in a combination of French and American oak, incorporated Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, with half the grapes from Silverado Vineyard and half from the historic Mt. George Vineyard in cool Coombsville, purchased in 1988.

Both areas are noted for warm days and cool nights, which allow the grapes to retain acidity and develop flavour without getting too ripe.

The wines from the 2000s reflected Napa’s push toward riper, more powerful wines with higher alcohol and aged in more new oak, but were never over the top.

From 2000 to 2007, Silverado added purchased grapes to the estate blend to scale up production. ‘We lost our way for a few years,’ explains Emmerich, but they eventually rejected the idea and began tweaking viticulture and winemaking for higher quality – switching from cordon to cane trellising, using fewer and shorter pump overs, and adding optical sorting. Emmerich calls the subtle changes ‘death with a thousand cuts.’

With the last few vintages, the estate Cabernet seems even better than before. The wines are savoury, structured, juicy and elegant, yet cost less than $60.

But Silverado’s biggest change was adding single-vineyard bottlings to the range to showcase the individual terroirs of their major Cabernet vineyards, which began in 2002.

In contrast to the estate blend, Solo is 100% Cabernet from the heritage clone in Silverado Vineyard and is aged only in French oak.

It’s denser, deeper, and more intense and complex than the estate bottling, but still has a lush, red fruit prettiness. For me, the standouts are 2008 and 2016.

Diane Miller died in 2013, and Ron just this year, in February. But unlike many Napa wineries with succession problems, it’s not for sale. Four of the couple’s seven children are actively involved .

Silverado Cabernet through the years:

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It’s hard to think of a more unusual wine in Bordeaux than Château Gilette.

I can say without hesitation that I have never used the phrase unicorn wine in my life.

But what else do you call a Sauternes that is aged exclusively in concrete vats for 20 years before release – never seeing any oak or oxygen – and which has a production of 4,000 to 5,000 bottles per year, if it is made at all?

While in vat, the wine sees no racking, no topping up, no extra sulphur and no lees stirring; in short, no nothing. It is moved into vat after fermentation with natural yeasts that can last until the summer following harvest.Vats are specially made in Italy and sized between 14 hectolitres (hl) and 45hl, each one adorned with a rather lovely carving of a single canary-yellow bunch of grapes.After a 20-year hibernation, the wine is racked off the lees, briefly freeing the aromatics that have developed anaerobically over two decades. It is then bottled.

The current vintage is 1999.

Just to drive the point home, this wine was laid down when Bill Clinton was US president, the European single currency had just been born and The Matrix was released at the cinema.

Gilette has been making wine like this since 1937, ploughing its own furrow in the face of confusion and raised eyebrows from the neighbours and trade.

It was a non-choice at first, due to the circumstances of Réné Medeville, grandfather of current owner Julie Gonet-Medeville.

He was forced off to war at a time when barrels and bottles were almost impossible to come by, and so a portion of his production was simply left in a vat to be dealt with when he returned from the front.

He did come back, eventually, but by that time it was 1946 and the wine was still there.

Fully expecting it to be ruined, he opened up the vat and found instead that the wine had stayed fresh and developed an array of aromatics that stood it apart from other Sauternes being made at the time.

Réné was impressed but unwilling to bet the house on the result, and so he made a crème de tête from this style of long-aged, unoaked botrytis wine, while continuing to make other styles that ranged from mouelleux to demi-sec to fully dry.

In 1967, his son Christian, who had taken over in 1953, decided to turn the entire production from the Château’s 4.5 hectare walled vineyard to the crème de tête production, where it has stayed ever since.

The vines in Preignac lie on sandy-gravel-over-limestone soils.

It is not for nothing that the owners are called the antique dealers of Sauternes.

Not only is the wine carefully protected for decades, but in the vineyard no plots are pulled up and no vines replaced except one-by-one, as the old plants die out. The oldest vines are almost entirely Sémillon, planted in the 1930s.

Since 2000 only three vintages have been missed – the 2000, 2012 and 2017 – but there have been long spells when nothing was made at all, such as from 1991 to 1995.

As you might expect, the entire production is sold direct. Try finding a négociant who is willing to hand-sell this story. Seventy percent goes abroad, mainly to Michelin-starred wine lists and to private collectors.

But then the Médevilles have always been self-sufficient.

They have been in the same building since 1710, backing on to the Garonne river by the former port and the Preignac church.

On the far side of the river the spire of St-Croix-du-Mont church sits high, but is only visible from certain angles, as the 1,500m-long Ile de Gruère obscures the view from one bank to the other.

Julie casually tells me that the Médeville family owns half of the island, which it shares with France’s agricultural research agency, INRA, and that they used to raise cattle on it. Today they grow only poplar trees. 

How the wine tastes

This is without doubt a wine apart.

Single bottles fetch around €200, putting Gilette squarely into the upper echelons of luxury wine, certainly in Sauternes, where I can only think of d’Yquem that equals it in price.

Maintaining that position takes a lot more than simply having a good story, as countless of their Sauternes neighbours can attest.

But I can promise you that the taste of this wine lives up to the myth.

Different vintages offer by turn caramelized fruit, salt-water taffy, tarte tatin, juicy apricot and fresh lime, all curiously weightless.

When young – 20 years old is young in this case – it’s fresher than you might expect.

When old it has the mandarin zest and spiced complexity of a Tokaj.

You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know you like it, which is why giving scores was exceptionally difficult during the tasting.

All I can really tell you is that you should get hold of some, and see for yourself.

The current owners, Julie and Xavier, are perfectly placed to understand how to keep fanning the flames of this strange period piece of a wine.

Xavier is from Mesnil-sur-Oger, where his family owns the Champagne house Philippe Gonet, and the couple now has a small Champagne estate Gonet-Médeville in Bisseuil, along with micro-productions of two wines in Margaux.

They have no more than 45 hectares in total across all their estates, making tiny quantities of sought-after bottlings.

That is a smart strategy, and one that saw Julie win a Talent award in 2018 from the Centre de Luxe et de la Création that recognises those who promote French artisanship worldwide.

There is also a separate Preignac estate, called Château les Justices, that follows a – slightly – more traditional path of two years ageing in vat and one year in bottle, still entirely unoaked.

But Château Gilette itself remains stubbornly true to its beliefs. ‘My father did try 27 years in vat with his first vintage and he had to admit that it was simply too long,’ says Julie.

Her own first vintage was 2005, which is still in hibernation right now. ‘That’s another benefit of our system,’ she says with a smile. ‘I’ve still got a good few years before I am judged on the result.’

Tasting notes for Château Gilette wines

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My first Sauternes love was Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1983. I was so enamoured with its vibrancy and citrus and tropical fruit fragrance that I bought two cases for what today seems a very derisory price.

Thirty-six years on and the colour may have changed to amber and the aromas become more confit, but there’s still a wonderful tangy tension. Good Sauternes wines may be rich in residual sugar, but an important part of its beguiling quality is the balance brought by perceived freshness.

Scroll down for James Lawther’s top 10 wine picks from Sauternes & Barsac

To this day I am unaware of the residual sugar content and total acidity in the Semillon-based wine, which is probably just as well. What goes down on paper as statistical analysis does not always correspond to the gustatory and aromatic sensation.

You can have what appears to be good acidity and lower residual sugar in a wine that seems less fresh. The opposite can also be the case. Other factors also come into play, namely terroir, vintage and, in particular, the quality and quantity of botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, and the aromatic complexity that stems from it. ‘The notion of freshness is brought by the aromatics, not technical data,’ declares François Amirault, winemaker at Château de Fargues for more than 25 years.

In terms of terroir, all agree that the lower-lying limestone soils of Barsac offer an extra edge of minerality and freshness. ‘A wine may have the same residual sugar content as a Sauternes, but on the palate the Barsac will seem less sweet and have more tension,’ explains consultant oenologist Marie-Pierre Lacoste-Duchesne, who also runs the family property Château La Clotte-Cazalis in Barsac. For wine lovers, it’s a point to bear in mind.

If this is the blanket case for Barsac, in the rest of Sauternes, where the soils are varied (sand, gravel, clay), the results can be subtly nuanced. It’s what helps, for instance, with the complexity at 100ha Château d’Yquem. ‘The clay and gravel soils around the château definitely impart freshness due to the early ripening nature of the site and subsequent onset of botrytis,’ says Yquem winemaker Sandrine Garbay. ‘On the north-facing slope, in contrast, there’s more clay and it’s cooler, so the botrytis generally arrives later, providing the rich heart of the blend but less freshness.’

Acid test

At this point, it is probably worth underlining the distinction between acidity in a wine and the perception of freshness. The former is a constant that can be measured and, of course, it imparts vivacity; the latter is purely a sensation that’s provoked by a mix of factors – in this case terroir, botrytis and individual vintage conditions.

In certain vintages, total acidity can be quite marked, something both measurable and perceptible in the wine. Even in the case of a wine such as Château d’Yquem 2014, where residual sugar is as much as 146g/l, it is clearly evident. As a whole, 2014, due to a cooler summer, is a vintage where acidities are exceptionally strong but residual sugar is also generous. So, if a nervier Sauternes or Barsac is your preference – as opposed to one that is rich and powerful like those of 2009 – then this is a vintage to seek out. Other readier-to-drink vintages where a heightened acidity can be perceived are 2008 and 2002, although they are lighter in weight and intensity.

By contrast, there are vintages where acidities are lower and the wines bountifully rich, but the sensation of freshness is still maintained. Two of the recent greats, 2015 and 2011, are perfect examples. Acidities are lower than in 2014 and there’s greater volume and concentration, but the wines remain vibrant and elegant in style. Both vintages had a couple of notable aspects that contributed to this condition: an early and rapid flowering, and a wave of very pure noble rot that arrived in early September. The purity and complexity of the aromatics with fresh fruit and floral notes is what has helped heighten the sensation of freshness in these years.

The key element to note is the rapid onset of noble rot. ‘When the botrytis arrives soon after the grapes have reached full maturity, you get an amplification of aromas due to the interaction between the two,’ explains Xavier Planty, co-owner of organically certified Château Guiraud. ‘Whereas grapes that are overripe, and that wait several days for the botrytis to be present, will provide concentration but offer less aromatic complexity – and consequently less of a sensation of freshness,’ he adds.

Vineyard management

When it comes to the production of Sauternes, ‘technique’ is a questionable word. ‘Contrary to dry white and red wines there’s no technical solution to modify what nature offers,’ states Frédéric Nivelle, technical director of biodynamically run Château Climens in Barsac. Even so, since the 1980s, producers have refined techniques that help prepare the vineyard for botrytis and later on protect the fresh fruit character in the wine.

With most châteaux producing less than the 25hl/ha appellation limit, excessive yields are not a problem. The main thrust has been in managing the vineyard so that the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc come to full maturity before the onset of the first wave of botrytis, normally in early September, when alternating heat and humidity provide the right conditions. ‘We work the soils to encourage the roots downwards, manage vine vigour and do leaf plucking to assist maturity so the botrytis can arrive on ripe fruit and not green,’ says Jean-Jacques Dubourdieu of Château Doisy-Daëne.

Another tip has been to avoid or limit spraying for disease during the flowering period, as it has been demonstrated that botrytis is already present on the vine but dormant. Organic or biodynamic cultivation has also been a solution for some. ‘You need to link acidity and maturity so I’ve rectified the trellising, adopted some biodynamic practices, and in the last four years have had a lower pH and higher acidities,’ declares Daniel Alibrand of tiny 6ha Domaine de l’Alliance in Fargues.

Clearly, the harvest period is critical, the windows of opportunity dependent on the weather and concentration of botrytis, and the level of competence of the pickers is more important than for dry white and red wine. ‘I prefer to pick with a little less concentration to help keep the vivacity, and with our experienced team we can react quickly and do a trie in a day,’ explains Laure de Lambert, owner of Château Sigalas Rabaud. Residual sugar content for most vintages at the 14ha estate hover between 120 and 130g/l. With an early harvest, another possibility is to pick both fully botrytised grapes and those at a less botrytised stage, raisins dorés, which also contributes to complexity and freshness.

Balancing act

Having completed the harvest, the next critical phase is to preserve fruit and freshness in the cellar. Here again, considerable advances have been made over the past 15 years. Generally speaking, additions of sulphur dioxide have been reduced; some estates now prefer the fermentation to be completed naturally at an ambient temperature rather than stopping it by lowering the temperature. Blending the different lots is also an important and skilled moment, but perhaps the biggest change has been in barrel ageing.

‘Oak ageing has one fault: it makes the wine seem heavier and less digestible,’ says Alibrand. He has chosen to use older and larger (350-litre) barrels with a lighter toast. At Château d’Yquem, where oak ageing is important for structure, maturation time used to be three-and-a-half years, but since 2005 this has been reduced to two. The number of rackings has also been cut to five over that period, down from 12. At Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, the new ownership (since 2013) has also reduced time in barrel and adopted a lighter toast. ‘A heavier toast emphasises sweetness, vanilla and caramel; a lighter toast underscores the citrus and fresh fruit,’ says cellarmaster Christophe Navarro.

When it comes down to it, there is no fixed recipe for creating freshness in Sauternes. Terroir has first say in the matter, followed by vintage, the latter more strongly felt in contrasting ways in vintages like 2014 and 2009. Thereafter there is the stylistic fine tuning at individual châteaux and the efforts made to preserve purity and freshness through successful blending and barrel maturation. In the end it’s all a question of balance, each factor adding something to the perception of freshness in the wine.

Based in Bordeaux, James Lawther MW is a contributing editor to Decanter and the author of The Finest Wines of Bordeaux

See James Lawther’s top 10 wine picks from Sauternes & Barsac:

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Sauternes had the same issues to deal with in the first half of 2018 as all the other parts of Bordeaux in terms of mildew and hail.

Many estates in Sauternes and Barsac had lost significant amounts of their potential harvests in mid-July, when the second bout of hail hit the appellation pretty badly. Guiraud said in October that it did not intend to make a first wine from the 2018 vintage.Châteaux that weren’t too badly affected were able to relax for a short while once the weather improved, but drought concerns soon started to ring alarm bells.Extended dry and sunny weather during harvest makes everyone happy in Bordeaux, except for sweet wine producers.

September saw just 0.5mm of rain fall in Sauternes, clearly not enough to kick-start the botrytis process, but dry and sunny enough to keep the grapes ripening and building sugars.

Noble rot really only showed up in mid-October, thanks to light rain showers.

Picking then ran until the end of the first week of November. Yields are generally extremely low as a result and were under 5 hectolitres per hectare at some estates, including Coutet, Suduiraut and Fargues.

Average yield across Sauternes and Barsac was 16hl/ha.

All of this means that 2018 doesn’t have the freshness and brilliance of the best vintages, such as 2001 or 2007.

But there are many delicious and extremely concentrated wines. The sugars are reasonable, with residual sugar generally between 115-135g per litre, and acidity is often low. This has made many wines rich and luxurious.

Some naturally handled conditions better than others.

Coutet 2018 in Barsac, for example, has luscious fruit flavours with lovely minerality.

And my top scoring estate tasted en primeur, Doisy-Daëne, has a beautiful pull between sweetness and acidity that not everyone has achieved in this late-harvest year.

Sauternes 2018 wines to watch: Doisy-Daëne, Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Best Sauternes and Barsac 2018 wines

See all the Sauternes and Barsac 2018 wines tasted so far

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A barrel made out of Lalique crystal and containing around 300 bottles-worth of Sauternes has been unveiled at Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey to mark the estate's 400th birthday.

Specialists at Lalique spent more than two years perfecting designs and building the 225-litre crystal barrique, which the company claimed was a ‘world first’.

The artwork now lies in Lafaurie-Peyraguey cellars and contains around 300 bottles-worth of the premier grand cru classé estate’s 2013 Sauternes vintage.

Lalique CEO Silvio Denz, who bought Lafaurie-Peyraguey in early 2014, commissioned the crystal barrel to mark 400 years since the property was acquired by Sieur Raymond Peyraguey, in 1618.

Denz said, ‘The alliance between Lalique and Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey is a marriage of French savoir-faire and savoir-vivre, a fusion between the gold of Sauternes and the crystal of Alsace.’

He paid tribute to the skill of Lalique’s glassmakers in creating the barrel, which has a crystal bung and is encased by leather straps fastened with crystal cabochons; designed to replicate the metal hoops that normally hold a barrel’s staves together.

The barrel also carries the ‘femme et raisins’ [woman and grapes] engraving created by René Lalique in 1928.

In January 2019, the recently opened ‘Lalique’ restaurant at Lafaurie-Peyraguey gained a Michelin star at the first time of asking, under the stewardship of chef Jerôme Schilling. The restaurant was opened as part of renovation work that also included the launch of luxury accommodation at the estate.

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Michelin has awarded stars to a record 75 new restaurants in its France 2019 guide, with debuts for the Perrin family’s L’Oustalet restaurant in the Rhône and Lafaurie-Peyraguey’s newly opened ‘Lalique’ in Sauternes.

The Perrins, owners of Château de Beaucastel, run L’Oustalet in Gigondas with chef Laurent Deconinck, who has overseen food at the restaurant since 2009.

Although newly starred in the Michelin France 2019 guide, L’Oustalet itself has been going for 40 years.

Owned by the Perrins since 2009, its focus on seasonal food and wine pairings, backed by a current cellar of 1,200 different wines, has already made it a destination for those in-the-know.

‘It’s just wonderful,’ said Deconinck of his star. ‘Michelin has followed my exploits and the evolution in my cuisine, and today has made sense of it all.’

Further west, Michelin also recognised the rising profile of Sauternes as a destination by awarding a star to ‘Lalique’ restaurant at the newly refurbished Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey.

The estate is owned by Lalique chairman Silvio Denz and the restaurant at Lafaurie-Peyraguey is run by young chef Jerôme Schilling. It has only been open for around six months and the restaurant is accompanied by a luxury accommodation at the estate.

Denz bought Lafaurie-Peyraguey in 2014, kick-starting fresh quality assessments of the vineyards and plans to renovate the château building; with a view to improving the luxury tourism offering in this rural, sweet wine-producing region south of Bordeaux.

Both Lalique and L’Oustalet formed part of a record year for Michelin France. Inspectors awarded one, two or three stars to a record 75 new restaurants.

See Decanter’s insider guide to Bordeaux châteaux restaurants

There were several high-profile surprises in the 2019 Guide.

Among them, chef Marc Veyrat lost a star only one year after being upgraded to three stars at his La Maison des Bois restaurant in Manigod, Haue-Savoie, eastern France.

And chef Sebastien Bras found himself back in the guide in 2019, despite handing back his three Michelin stars in autumn 2017 – citing the pressure of cooking to a particular set of rules.

To the apparent surprise of Bras, Michelin re-instated his two stars at Le Suquet restaurant in Aveyron, according to French media reports.

Those awarded three stars in the 2019 guide included Mirazur, located near to Menton on the French Riviera and led by chef Mauro Colagreco, as well as Le Clos des Sens, run by Laurent Petit in Annecy-le-Vieux.

‘From remarkable regional dynamism, to showcasing new talented youngsters, and to an unprecedented number of new star-studded restaurants led by women, the 2019 vintage shines brightly in many ways,’ said Gwendal Poullenec, international director of the Michelin Guides.

See also:

Best Bordeaux hotels

Great wineries to visit in 2019: Travel inspiration

Château Guiraud has confirmed that it will not make a 'first wine' from the Sauternes 2018 vintage due to hail damage, while other estates in the area have reported a nervous waiting game in recent weeks as noble rot left it late to make its mark in the vineyards.

• No Château Guiraud 2018 due to hailstorm during FIFA World Cup final

• Winemakers left ‘biting their nails’ after ‘horribly dry’ September

• Botrytis arrived in a rush to ‘save’ the vintage

Read Jane Anson’s latest ratings for Bordeaux 2016 wines in the bottle

Full story: Sauternes 2018 harvest

Hail destroyed 95% of grapes at Château Guiraud on 15 July, wreaking havoc on its Bordeaux 2018 crop while most of the nation was enjoying watching France beat Croatia in the FIFA World Cup final, said estate director Xavier Planty.

‘I’ve never seen that in 40 years of experience,’ he told Decanter.com.

It means that Guiraud only plans to produce some dry white wine and a small amount of second wine as Sauternes from the 2018 harvest.

For those who escaped hail and fought off mildew, it has still been a long road.

Grapes picked during the week of 22 October revealed excellent botrytis, also known as noble rot. But, even for a famous late harvest wine style, 2018 goes down as a long growing season.

‘Last week’s harvest has been seriously botrytised, and I have tasted some superb musts of great purity,’ said Sauternes expert Bill Blatch, of Bordeaux Gold.

But vintners were biting their nails throughout a botrytis-free September. As Château Raymond-Lafon wrapped up its harvest on 26 October, owner Jean-Pierre Meslier exclaimed: ‘We are saved’.

He added, ‘It was like poker; we had to be very patient with the hand that we were dealt’.

That hand was marked by ‘hopelessly dry conditions’ in September and early October, Blatch said. ‘It is an incredibly late harvest, causing anxiety, while the noble rot refused to appear, but then it all came good in a rush.’

Some 30mm of rain at the end of September kick-started the noble rot. By 25 October, pickers at Château d’Yquem had brought in about half the harvest.

‘What was so unique this year was the huge delay between grape ripeness and the true onset of botrytis on 20 October,’ said Yquem director Sandrine Garbay. Grapes were ripe to pick by 23 August for the dry wine Y d’Yquem, she said.

One worry could be low acidity. Blatch acknowledged ‘some concern’ over high pH levels, but added that ‘everything is so fruit-fresh that it probably won’t matter too much’.

At Yquem, Garbay reported ‘somewhat low acidity’ but she stressed the ‘truly excellent spread of botrytis’. She added that moderate September temperatures – between 20-22°C maximum, and 2-3°C in the mornings – stopped grapes from becoming over-ripe and helped to maintain ‘pretty fruit and freshness’.

Volumes will be low, however, because of mildew and hail that struck vineyards in the south-west corner of Sauternes. Yquem will have about 20% less 2018 wine than its average potential harvest, Garbay said.

Editing by Chris Mercer.

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Top scoring Bordeaux 2016 wines: Médoc re-tasted in the bottle

Bordeaux red wines in 2018: Balance key amid high alcohol levels

Seventy firefighters have managed to prevent a fire at Château Suduiraut in Sauternes from getting out of control.

The fire broke out in a wing of Château Suduiraut that is rented out for conferences, but has left vineyards and winemaking areas untouched, said Christian Seely, the managing director of AXA Millésimes, which owns the Sauternes premier cru classé property.

Blamed on an electrical fault, the fire was very localised and no one was hurt, Seely told Decanter.com. The greatest damage was done in the dining room, kitchen and some bedrooms.

Asked if smoke taint could be an issue for the vines, Seely said no. ‘It’s not a problem at this time of year and the fire was in the middle of the château, not near the vineyards.’

All wine in tanks or barrels was safely sealed off, he said.

Flames began on the morning of 20 June, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air. At least 70 local firefighters battled to bring the fire under control.

All staff working at Suduiraut were safely evacuated and an investigation to confirm the source of the fire was underway.

This is not the first time Suduiraut has been hit by a blaze, albeit the first fire caused more damaged.

The property was burnt down during ‘the Fronde’ – as a series of French civil wars between 1648 and 1653 under Louis XIV are known – and then rebuilt in the second half of the 17^th century.

Alongside its signature Sauternes, Suduiraut also makes two dry white wines. The most recent, Blanc Sec de Suduiraut, was first made from the 2015 vintage.

As well as wine, the estate is known for its elegant gardens, designed by King Louis XIV’s gardener, André Le Nôtre, who also created the gardens at Versailles palace outside of Paris.

Farr Vintners director Tom Hudson said that he didn’t expect news of the fire to impact sales of Suduiraut, although he added that, in general, ‘Sauternes remains quite a hard sell’ in the current market.

Editing by Chris Mercer

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For Premium members: Why Sauternes second wines are worth a look – and which to drink

Accessible and affordable, second wines offer the chance for a wider audience to experience the unique sweet character of Sauternes. James Lawther MW explores how these second wines are made and recommends bottles to try...

The first thing I was offered at La Chapelle, the recently opened restaurant at Château Guiraud in Sauternes, was a tasting glass of the estate’s second wine, Petit Guiraud. It arrived with a tiny, savoury amuse-bouche, a delicious concoction made with Bayonne ham.

This was all part of the new charm offensive that Sauternes is currently laying on for visitors to freshen the traditional image of this sweet wine appellation.

Forget the age-old ‘pudding wine’ concept and think aperitif, appetiser, wine by the glass, wine bar, relaxed atmosphere and immediate gratification via the more accessible second labels.

Scroll down for Lawther’s pick of second labels from Sauternes

Sauternes has long been accused of being dusty and outmoded, but there’s a shake-up going on.

Wine tourism and gastronomy are being developed – the Guiraud brasserie and a Relais & Châteaux hotel with fine dining at fellow first growth Château Lafaurie- Peyraguey being two examples.

Down the line, second growth Château d’Arche is set to complement its hotel with a new spa.

Simultaneously, an increasing number of châteaux, including Yquem, are now open to the public by appointment. Further afield the problem is persuading consumers to take the plunge and experience the delights and complexity of this great wine – and that’s where the second labels play a part.

This is not to say the grand vin is being sidelined. All producers agree that their ultimate goal in any given vintage is to make as much of the top wine as possible.

And with the increasing sophistication of viticultural and winemaking practices (pruning methods, selective harvesting, control of sulphur dioxide, barrel fermentation, ageing), as well as the botrytised potential of recent years, this has become more and more feasible.

But these are great wines that need time to open and develop in bottle. They also have the potential to age for a considerable length of time. The product of a natural phenomenon, botrytis cinerea or noble rot, they require skill, patience and experience to produce, so naturally there is a price to pay. Enter the second wine.

New intentions

Until the new millennium most Sauternes classed-growth second wines were what Pierre Montégut, technical director at first growth Château Suduiraut, describes as ‘a typical Bordelaise second wine, made without a clear guideline to production and style, from young vines and batches that were unwanted in the grand vin’.

Most producers look to their second wines as a more open interpretation of their top wine, but these days extra thought goes into the shape and form and how it is achieved. The second wine, after all, serves as both an introduction to Sauternes and a stepping-stone to the top wine.

Château Suduiraut even has two second labels – Castelnau de Suduiraut and Lions de Suduiraut.

Montégut explains: ‘As the selection for Suduiraut became increasingly rigorous from 2001 onwards, our tastings began to identify batches of wine that expressed themselves earlier than those for Suduiraut.

‘Some were more classical in style so are now aimed at Castelnau, while others were fruitier and flattering which is the style of Lions. The batches were then traced to individual parcels, which enabled us to draw up a map identifying the plots for each of thethree wines. It doesn’t always work 100% this way, but gets us very close.’

Castelnau, which was originally created in 1992, evolved like this, with Lions taking on a separate identity from 2009. As Montégut points out, it’s not necessarily a question of young vines but terroir, as there is a parcel of 60-year-old vines on sandier soils which is usually destined for Lions.

Nor is it a question of residual sugar: the three cuvées from 2013 all hover around 143g/l to 150g/l of sugar. ‘You need a certain concentration to allow the botrytised aromatics of Semillon to develop,’ he argues. Length of barrel-ageing and the percentage of new oak do, however, vary for the three wines.

In a structured way Suduiraut has created three cuvées for three different profiles:

• Suduiraut for the connoisseur with deeper pockets who is willing to bide his or her time;
• Castelnau for the eager, classical palate;
• Lions for the freewheeling, debutant consumer.

The last two are half the price of the grand vin. In a certain way this democratises decent Sauternes, allowing the first-time buyer a taste of good botrytised wine.

Style choices

While Suduiraut and Château Rabaud-Promis, with its second wine Promesse, have opted for a more full-blown, richer style for their second wines, Château Guiraud has taken the opposite tack.

‘We wanted a wine that was more spontaneous in style, something sapid and aromatic, which gives instant pleasure and is limited in its concentration, the idea being that it would bring new consumers into the fold,’ explains Xavier Planty, manager of Guiraud for the past 32 years and co-owner since 2006.

Consequently, the previous second label, Le Dauphin, was abandoned and Petit Guiraud was introduced in 2011. The 2013 version, which is presently being poured from magnum at La Chapelle restaurant, weighs in at 76g/l residual sugar.

As at Suduiraut, certain parcels at Guiraud have been identified for making the second label. But two other factors are brought into play when it comes to the balance of the wine.

Guiraud has more Sauvignon Blanc planted than many estates and the blend of 65% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc in the 2013 reflects this feature.

The other characteristic is that the search for concentration is less extreme. ‘Whereas we will never harvest grapes for the grand vin under 20% or 21% potential alcohol, those for Petit Guiraud are picked at 17% or 18% when the botrytis offers aroma but less concentration,’ explains Planty.

There are, of course, other factors such as pH and acidity that have an influence when it comes to judging the balance and concentration of a Sauternes.

Vintage, too, plays a part, with years like 2013 and 2014 offering greater acidity and perceptive freshness than richer, ‘solar’ years like 2015 and 2016. That being said, the majority of second wines I tasted from a range of vintages had a residual sugar level of between 113g/l to 127g/l and came across as balanced, with just the right degree of sweetness.

‘Our style is one of lightness and finesse with less residual sugar and our second wine, Lieutenant, mirrors this character,’ says Laure de Lambert, owner of first growth Château Sigalas Rabaud.

Fresh approach

Another tip, if you are searching for a little more freshness, is to take a look at the second wines from Barsac, one of the five Sauternes communes.

Located on a lower-lying plateau, Barsac – which has the right to label its wines as Barsac or Sauternes – has a reputation for acidity and freshness, a feature provided by the red, clay-like sand and limestone soils found in this part of the appellation.

Château Climens is the leading estate here and its second wine, Cyprès, is as good as it gets. Calling it a second label is almost abusive.

Created in 1984, the name Cyprès (‘cypress’ in English) was inspired by the fact that way back in the Middle Ages a cypress branch was issued as a receipt to prove that the tax for shipping wine from Barsac to Bordeaux had been paid. These days cypress berries have a more practical use as they are included in a preparation used to spray for grapevine moth at the biodynamic-certified Climens.

The production of Cyprès is based uniquely on tasting, with both the grand vin and second wine receiving exactly the same treatment when it comes to vinification, maturation, percentage of new oak and time of bottling.

The quality of the harvest is the fundamental factor at the outset. ‘There are no flying winemakers in the cellars tweaking the wines, as it’s all down to nature,’ says technical director Frédéric Nivelle. Thereafter the various batches of wine (between 15 to 25 batches, which is the equivalent of 150 to 200 barrels depending on the year) are tasted on a regular basis and the blend for the two wines is made gradually during the period of maturation, dependent on how each batch evolves.

The eventual result gives an average in terms of volume of 60% grand vin, 40% second wine – and on the evidence of tasting the 2015s side by side, it produces a Cyprès that is open and expressive early on, compared to the more intense but reticent Climens.

Of course, there is no second label at the great Yquem, but in a way this is just as well, as it would probably be another vehicle for speculation.

Essentially, the second wines being produced by the classed growths today are for drinking, the objective being to encourage a new clientele.

And with a slight change in mindset and the comprehension of quality and value they could help win the day for Sauternes in its battle for viability and global appreciation.

Sauternes at a glance

Area under production: 1,978ha (2016)

Communes: Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac, Sauternes

Production: 43,178hl or 5.8 million bottles (2016)

Yield: 21.8hl/ha (2016)

Growers: 142

Classed growths of 1855: 26 (45% surface area, 40% volume)

Grape varieties: Semillon (80%), Sauvignon Blanc (17%), Muscadelle (3%)

Soils: Sand, gravel, clay, limestone

Vintages:

Lively, fresh with good acidity and citrus notes (still with botrytised concentration): 2014, 2013, 2011, 2007.

Richer, rounder with tropical fruit notes: 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009.

Lighter and more uneven: 2012 (sometimes no grand vin made), 2008

See Lawther’s pick of second labels from Sauternes

Read more Decanter magazine articles online here

The 38th Auction Napa Valley raised US$13.6 million for local community charities - including some lots going over $1 million each...

Auction Napa Valley 2018 raises over US$13 million

The annual Auction Napa Valley, held by the Napa Valley Vintners, had another successful year of fundraising.

This year’s total of US$13.6 million is down on last year’s record of almost US$16 million.

The honorary chairs for this year were the fourth-generation Mondavi sisters of the Peter Mondavi Sr. family – the youngest ever to chair the event.

‘We were thrilled to share everything we love and have experienced throughout our lives in the beautiful Napa Valley,’ said Angelina Mondavi.

‘My sisters and I are so grateful for the generosity of our vintners, bidders and community. Their contributions will help children and families in Napa County, from American Canyon to Calistoga.’

Million dollar lots

Lot 11, which included four imperials of Opus One and an experience for two couples to attend the Masked Ball at the Palace of Versailles, was frantically bit over and eventually raised a total of US$1.4 million.

Lot 20 included 18 bottles of Napa Valley wine and an experience at the 2019 U.S. Open Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach, went for US$1 million.

The Napa Valley Vintners ‘Fund-the-Future’ – a donations section – raised US$2.35 million.

Barrel and online auction

The highest lot for the barrel auction was VGS Chateau Potelle, red blend 2016, which went for US$114,300.

Other top lots included Cardinale 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon for US$68,900 and Staglin Family Vineyard 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon for US$54,150.

In the online auction, a salmanazar of Shafer Vineyards 1995 Hillside Select went for US$20,200. A lot of six Mayacamas Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 in various bottle sizes, plus a golf getaway for four, went for US$20,000.

A trio of three litre Aubert Wines Chardonnay 2014s sold for US$15,050.

Signorello Estate, which was burned in the Napa Valley fires in 2017, donated a five-liter etched bottle of the 2008 Padrone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and a dinner for eight cooked by their chef in your home, with wines picked by their sommelier. This lot sold for US$12,500.

The Auction Napa Valley has been running since 1981, raising money for local community charities.

Jane Anson's scores and tasting notes for the Sauternes 2017 wines, exclusive to Decanter Premium members...

See all Sauternes 2017 wines 

Some wonderfully rich and ripe Sauternes and Barsac wines can be found in the Bordeaux 2017 vintage, but unusually the brilliant dry white wine vintage does not quite so easily translate to a truly exceptional sweet wine one this year.

The challenge was the gap of four to five weeks between the ripening of the white grapes and the onset of the noble rot. Sauternes had just 37mm of rain across July and August, which meant early ripening of white grapes.

The cool mid-August weather was great for ripening of white grapes while retaining freshness and ensuring high and concentrated aromatics. But maintaining those characteristics is not easy in white grapes, particularly the aromatics in Sauvignon Blanc. Most dry whites were being brought in by the third week of September.

The dry August mean there were a few less instances of the famous Sauternes mists that usually occur from late August onwards and that kickstart the botrytis. It meant that some of the grapes that had been left for the sweet wine began to over-concentrate with a touch of raisining.

The 65mm that fell from September 1 to 16 were essential, because this then began the process of botrytis, and in the end harvest was fully underway by the third and fourth week of September.

Careful sorting was essential, as was picking quickly to preserve as much freshness as possible.

This is a rich and gourmet vintage, some wonderful wines for hedonists, somewhere close to 2009 in style says Sandrine Garbay at Yquem, similar for its early ripeness and then rich botrytis coming behind.

But low acidity means many of the wines lack a little contrast between light and shade, sweetness and bitterness – something that in my experience this style of wines need to be truly thrilling.

Jane Anson’s top Sauternes 2017 wines

Château Guiraud was ‘one of the successes of the appellation’ writes Anson, with a ‘silky and concentrated’ wine.

Château Doisy-Daëne, l’Extravagant is ‘a fantastic example of accomplished winemaking’ and Château de Fargues is ‘really utterly delicious.’

The wines below all scored 91 points and above. Find all Sauternes 2017 wines here. 

Back to the main Bordeaux en primeur page

How does the ageing of half bottles differ from full sized...?

Ageing of half-bottles – ask Decanter

Max Helmore, London asks: I have two cases of half bottles of Sauternes stored in ideal conditions: Suduiraut 2013 and Climens 2015.

If they were 75cl bottles, I wouldn’t even consider broaching them yet, but as they are halves I don’t want to leave them too long. What time frame should I have in mind?

Stephen Brook replies: How wise of you to have bought two such excellent Sauternes in digestible half-bottles!

You need have few fears about their cellaring potential. I opened a mixed case of 1983 halves of Sauternes after 25 years and no bottle was past its best, though most were fully ready to drink.

See Jane Anson’s Sauternes 2017 tasting notes and scores

I suspect the Climens will age effortlessly, but to avoid disappointment I’d open a half bottle of both wines in about 10 years.

You will then be able to tell whether they are ready (and whether you are!) or whether either or both bottles would benefit from a few more years of slumber.

Stephen Brook has been a Decanter contributing editor since 1996.

This question first appeared in the June 2018 issue of Decanter magazine, subscribe to Decanter here.

See more questions answered here.

Jane Anson considers the mechanics of putting together a tasting note, and what factors she believes are worth considering.

I’ve been thinking a lot about wine notes recently. Bear in mind that this is the period when I am writing up Bordeaux en primeur wine notes, across Left and Right Banks, plus Sauternes – this year for Decanter Premium – and you can start to see why I might be eating, sleeping and dreaming tasting notes.

As I often find, whether researching for a book or writing up vertical tasting reports, one of the tough things is deciding how much technical information to include.

A tasting note about a finished, bottled wine needs to give an accurate reflection of what someone will find when they pull the cork.

En primeur notes are a different kind of challenge, because here it is not so much about what the wine tastes like today, but what it will become.

That means trying to pick apart the different elements of a young wine that is not even bottled yet, to see if it has the necessary quantity, quality and balance to develop over time, and for how long.

You want to suggest when a wine might be ready to drink, and why.

How to write your own tasting notes – A guide by Andrew Jefford

In both cases, I tend to think that giving a certain amount of technical information is helpful. But not everyone agrees.

Even alcohol is considered unimportant for most American wine reviewers. I had a discussion with a prominent American wine writer about this recently, and he was very clear that his readers were not interested in alcohol levels and didn’t find them helpful to record in his notes.

In fact he believed that it could be extremely unhelpful, because alcohol is perceived differently according to grapes, regions and styles of wine and/or producer – or even, for different tasters, according to the time of day or what food they pair with it.

I can see his point. There are always wines that remind you that you know nothing. Ausone from St-Emilion is one, with its 100% new oak that melts away into its perfect balance. And there’s Pingus from Ribera del Duero, into which 15% alcohol somehow disappears without a trace.

But I still believe that to make an informed judgement on whether to buy a wine, and to anticipate what you are going to find in the bottle, there are certain facts that are helpful. And all those variables mentioned by my American colleague are exactly why providing readers with some technical information is helpful.

We can’t second-guess how people are interpreting our notes, so it is surely useful to give them the tools with which to read and use a review as they need.

A 15% wine enjoyed with supper at home, for example, is a very different proposition to that same wine at a lunch table when you have a meeting immediately afterwards, never mind how perfectly in balance it is. Our role is to do our best to help buyers make informed choices, so in my opinion these things matter.

If a wine is given a rich vanilla flavour though the addition of oak chips rather than barrel ageing, it might not affect enjoyment in the short term, but it will mean its ageing ability is impaired.

And if a wine is brought to balance through manipulation in the cellar (it’s not unheard of to add sugar to increase alcohol and then tartaric acid to freshen things up), it will rarely age as well as one that reached that natural balance in the vineyard.

Not all technical information is useful, and we might not get it right every time. But thinking about these things forces us to look deeper at a wine and its building blocks – and that seems fair not only to the reader, but also to the winemaker who has spent his year working towards its being in bottle.

This column was originally published in Decanter magazine in 2017 and has been updated for Decanter.com.

Jane Anson’s ratings and tasting notes for hundreds of Bordeaux 2017 en primeur wines will be published online exclusively for Decanter Premium members next week 

How to join Decanter Premium

Jane Anson has re-tasted 2015 Sauternes and Barsac wines two years after harvest. Decanter Premium members can read her notes and ratings below.

Sauternes 2015 in bottle

‘It’s an outstanding vintage, with many fleshy, rich wines but with good acidity levels so as to avoid coming off as heavy or cloying,’ said Ian D’Agata, who tasted Sauternes and Barsac en primeur for Decanter.

As Jane Anson assesses how these wines are tasting now, she notes that Sauternes are some of the highest scorers, along with Pomerol and St-Emilion.

See Jane’s notes and Sauternes 2015 wines below.

Related

Bordeaux 2015: How it looks in the bottle

More on Bordeaux 2015

Sauternes producer Château Climens does not plan to make any 'first wine' from the 2017 vintage after seeing vineyards damaged by devastating frost that struck Bordeaux early in the growing season.

Climens, the 1er Cru Classé estate based in Barsac, said today (Friday 26 January) that it has conceded defeat to the weather in the 2017 vintage.

It was already feared that the severe frosts in Bordeaux in April 2017, particularly in the southern and Right Bank vineyard regions, could cause serious problems for some producers at harvest time.

Climens was badly affected by frost and said that a second budding in its vineyards did little to alleviate the situation.

In the end, the estate conducted a ‘grape hunt’ during harvest, but still only managed to garner 2.5 hectolitres per hectare – roughly one barrel per hectare and a record low.

‘This doesn’t give us enough ‘materia prima’ to make a honourable Climens, [and] we have thus naturally decided not to make any first wine in 2017,’ said Bérénice Lurton, proprietor of Château Climens, which is farmed biodynamically.

‘This will be the first time since 1993 [that we have not made a first wine],’ the estate said.

‘We can say that we have had the joy to be able to make very good to tremendous Climens for 23 years in a row.’

Château de Fieuzal in Pessac-Léognan announced in December 2017 that it would not be making any wine from the 2017 vintage, also due to frost.

See also: Bordeaux sees worst frost since 1991 – What now? 

This year’s Auction Napa Valley event raised US$15.7m for local charities, with one ‘super lot’ from Colgin Cellars fetching $2.1m on its own.

The fundraising total from the annual auction, organised by Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) and chaired this year by the Coppola family of Inglenook winery, was well up on last year’s total of $14.3m, although slightly short of the $15.8m raised in 2015.

A series of events over the weekend was headlined by the Live Auction Celebration at Meadowood Napa Valley, but also included the Napa Valley Barrel Auction at Inglenook, winery dinners and parties, and a farewell brunch.

The top single lot of the live auction included a six-litre bottle of Dalla Valle Vineyards’ Maya red blend, plus a week-long excursion with Naoko Dalle Valle and the family to Naoko’s native Japan, raising $720,000.

But that figure was overshadowed by a super-lot donated by Colgin Cellars: the combination of a horizontal collection of large-format bottles from 2007 with trips to Napa Valley and Champagne fetched $2.1m.

Meanwhile, the Antica Napa Valley joint lot, from Antinori Family Wine Estate and Staglin Family Vineyard, included 10 large-format bottles and a trip to Tuscany, raising $1.5m.

‘Napa Valley is our family’s home and we’re grateful for the generosity of our bidders, fellow vintners, partners and donors, local chefs, volunteers and every member of the community that comes together to make Auction Napa Valley a success year after year,’ said Roman Coppola, joint event chair with his parents Francis and Eleanor, sister Sofia and niece Gia.

‘The funds we raised this weekend will help strengthen families and make the seemingly impossible possible for tens of thousands of our neighbours.’

Now in its 37th year, Auction Napa Valley benefits community health and children’s education projects, with 27 projects and more than 100,000 people impacted last year.

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The best of the best...

Bordeaux 2016 proved even more of a waiting game in Sauternes than usual and an initial taste of barrel samples suggests that it will be a mixed vintage, arguably favouring those with the capacity to invest extra resources in grape selection.

Sauternes 2016 summary

This is a very good year for many estates, with good purity of fruit thanks to a lack of grey rot, and long ageing potential. But, buyers will need to pick carefully in a mixed year and some wines struggle to stand out from the crowd.

Full story

Barsac saw an earlier arrival of noble rot than its neighbour, and Sauternes had to wait until October for the real onset of the botrytis.

This meant there was a natural richness in the berries before the onset of noble rot.

‘You can feel the gap in Sauternes really showing itself between those who can invest and be extremely selective and those that can’t’

The first 13 days of September were the hottest since 1950, reaching a record 37 degrees Celsius in Sauternes on the 12th of the month – although there was more rain in Sauternes during September than in the rest of Bordeaux. Sauternes saw around 70mm.

It’s a vintage partly distinguished by a lack of undesirable grey rot during harvest. ‘Where usually we have two buckets, one for good rot and one for bad, we only needed one,’ said Xavier Planty, co-owner of Guiraud.

My first impression is that you can feel the gap in Sauternes really showing itself between those who can invest and be extremely selective and those that can’t.

Sauternes sales in general have had difficulties for several years, so investments must inevitably be difficult for some estates. And in this vintage, it looks as though names will count.

There are some exceptional wines but also some fairly unexciting ones, where the body of the wine is just a little heavier than ideal. This is true for the dry whites also, whereas with the reds there are successes on both banks and at all price levels.

Rain fell in showers on 13 September and 30 September, allowing noble rot to develop on already-ripe grapes. Picking lasted in many places until early November. D’Yquem picked over two months from early September for Y d’Yquem, and the heart of its picking for Yquem came in mid-October.

‘Any two-month harvest window has potential for problems,’ said d’Yquem director Pierre Lurton. ‘But we were extremely lucky with the weather conditions.’

Quantity of the wines made at several estates reached a record high. Most were in the 20-something hectolitres per hectare, which is very unusual. Yquem’s average is 9hl/h and it hit 2Ohl/h in 2016. Guiraud has produced 20% more first wine than last year, with a 23hl/h yield.

It’s clear that this is not a homogenous vintage. Some have beautiful salinity and freshness, while some are heavy in character, with a tannic side to the mid-palate that comes from the drought.

The best wines are extremely pure, thanks to the lack of grey rot.

Some wines ‘have very rich showing candied fruit overtones, a style that emphasises power rather than bright aromatics or freshness,’ said Axel Marchal at ISVV, the Insitute of Wine & Vin which the late professor Denis Dubourdieu helped to set up.

If people waited too long for noble rot to develop, ‘then the aromatics are not as complex and the acidity is not high enough’, said Xavier Planty. ‘The best time for [noble rot] to set in is just after maturation of the berries, when you get an explosion of aromatics,’ he said.

Edited by Chris Mercer

Stay tuned on Decanter.com for more of Jane Anson’s first impressions during en primeur week. And see Anson’s full Bordeaux 2016 scores on Decanter.com later this month. 

More Bordeaux 2016 stories:

Anson: Bordeaux 2016 harvest report – how the vintage looks

Jane Anson on how Bordeaux 2016 is shaping up...

Anson: What to look for in Bordeaux 2016

The key wine trends ahead of en primeur...

Château Guiraud fires starting gun with 2016 release

Sauternes estate gets the jump on rivals...

Bordeaux 2016: What merchants and traders are saying about price

Expert commentary from Liv-ex, Wine Lister & BI...

Bordeaux 2016 en primeur: Rush to taste despite global uncertainty

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Château Guiraud has already released its Bordeaux 2016 Sauternes wine price, putting itself out in-front of the usual en primeur campaign season.

Château Guiraud has taken the unusual step of releasing its Bordeaux 2016 Sauternes and dry white wine ahead of en primeur tasting week, starting 3 April.

Guiraud released at 30 euros ex-Bordeaux on Monday 27 March, keeping its release price level with last year.

It is extremely rare for anyone to release this early and Guiraud co-owner Xavier Planty was keen to stress that he still looks forward to welcoming critics and journalists next week.

Planty also said that he valued a ‘sincere’ relationship with consumers and that this played into the estate’s thinking.

Some merchants were already offering the in-barrel wine for sale. In the UK, Millesima was offering a case of 12 half-bottles for £184 in bond on 27 March.

Others said that they would hold back. ‘We have not tasted the wine and therefore will not yet promote it,’ said Max Lalondrelle, fine wine buying director at Berry Bros & Rudd.

But, he said that the move was a good one overall for Guiraud.

‘It will give a chance for the wine to be promoted on its own, away from the madness of the releases,’ he told Decanter.com. Berry Bros does plan to sell the wine as soon as its team has tasted a sample.

Sauternes and Barsac wines command lower prices in general than the equivalent, top red wine estates Bordeaux’s Left and Right Banks. As a result, Bordeaux’s premier sweet wines have often struggled for recognition during the annual en primeur campaign.

Jane Anson is tasting hundreds of Bordeaux 2016 en primeur wines for Decanter this year. Look out for her full notes and scores online next month. 

More stories:

Anson: Bordeaux 2016 harvest report – how the vintage looks

Jane Anson on how Bordeaux 2016 is shaping up...

Anson: What now for Bordeaux and UK merchants in 2017?

Jane Anson analyses the numbers...

Jane Anson to be Decanter’s sole Bordeaux en primeur taster

Jane Anson is Decanter's lead reviewer of Bordeaux...

Anson: What to look for in Bordeaux 2016

The key wine trends ahead of en primeur...

Our Bordeaux 2016 is better than 2010, says Château owner

Château Lascombes technical director lays down early marker...

Premier Cru Classé Sauternes producer Château Suduiraut has released an 'entry level' dry white wine, Le Blanc Sec, demonstrating the trend for Sauternes producers to also produce more dry styles.

Château Suduiraut Le Blanc Sec released

Le Blanc Sec de Suduiraut will retail at around £13, around half the price of the château’s existing dry white, ‘vin de garde’ S de Suduiraut.

‘It is dry, fresh, fruity [and ready] to drink immediately,’ said Corinne Michot-Ilic, spokesperson Château Suduiraut.

‘It is more of an entry level dry white wine,’ she told Decanter.com. But the château said that it had chosen plots carefully for Le Blanc Sec, which was also ‘a wine of character’ designed to meet consumers demand for white wines with more personality.

An increasing number of Sauternes producers have turned to dry white wines amid a sluggish market for their signature sweet wines in recent years.

Suduiraut’s Le Blanc Sec is a blend of 67% Sémillon and 33% Sauvignon Blanc.

Six hundred cases were produced this year, but the Sauternes estate plans to double the volume next year. Suduiraut makes fewer than 500 cases of S de Suduiraut per year.

• Sauternes producers to open wine co-operative

Wider trend

Greater numbers of Sauternes and Barsac producers turned to making dry white wines when the yields of the 2012 vintage were particularly low.

Olivier Bernard, co-owner of Château Guiraud, previously told Decanter.com that the estate planned on doubling the amount of Clos des Lunes dry white wines produced over the next few years.

Some producers have said that they hope to change labelling rules, so that dry whites made in Sauternes can be labelled AOC Graves, as opposed to AOC Bordeaux as it currently is.

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Many Sauternes and Barsac estates have produced 'outstanding' sweet wines from the Bordeaux 2015 vintage, although greater richness may mean the final wines are less food friendly than 2014 or 2011, says Ian D'Agata after his en primeur tasting.

There is a ‘remarkable’ freshness and acidity to what is essentially a very rich 2015 Sauternes vintage, said Ian D’Agata after tasting the wines ahead of Bordeaux 2015 en primeur week.

‘It’s an outstanding vintage, with many fleshy, rich wines but with good acidity levels so as to avoid coming off as heavy or cloying,’ he said.

• Coming soon: Ian D’Agata’s full 2015 ratings for Sauternes and Barsac

Producers told Decanter.com this week that a spate of August rain and subsequent cool nights ‘saved the vintage’ and brought balance to the crop, following several weeks of drought in the early summer.

Harvest in Sauternes was notably early at several estates, including Climens, which started picking on the 8 September and was all done by 5 October.

‘I normally don’t like to say too much as this stage, but I think 2015 will be one of the great Sauternes and Barsac vintages,’ said Berenice Lurton, of Climens.

• More exclusive comments on the Bordeaux 2015 vintage

Noble rot

‘It’s a good year for noble rot,’ said D’Agata, who said the vintage reminded him of 2009 ‘but with less opulence’.

He added, ‘For sure, there was much less bortytus than in 2001 and 2007, but there was some noble rot presence in all the wines I tasted and its presence probably contributed in no small measure to the surprising acidity of the wines thanks to noble rot’s addition of gluconic acid to the grapes.

‘Clearly though, the 2015 Sauternes are dominated by a sweet viscous mouthfeel and rich, ripe aromas like those of 1976 and 1990, rather than the botrytis pure aromas of 2001 or 2014.’

Terroir

D’Agata said it was a year when there were ‘textbook differences’ between Sauternes and Barsac; ‘Barsacs generally lighter and more refined, Sauternes much bigger and fleshy and creamy.’

When it came to soil type, ‘areas with a little clay down deep did better thanks to their water retentive capacity’.

Sauternes 2015 with food

It’s a vintage that is ‘easy to love’ with a ‘fleshy, rich charm’, but the wines may not suit the dinner table, according to D’Agata.

‘This year, I have a harder time seeing them as matches with many types of food, unlike the 2014s, for example, that could easily have been matched with many different types of dishes.’

Pitfalls: Look out for bitterness

‘The key fact is that poorly made Sauternes 2015 wines all exhibit an inherent bitterness, especially on the finish,’ said D’Agata. ‘This is most likely due to the thicker than usual skins that were not fully digested by the botrytis.’

See all Decanter.com’s Bordeaux 2015 en primeur coverage

A jeroboam of Château Climens 1921, regarded as one of the best Sauternes and Barsac vintages of the 20th century, has sold for double its estimated value at the Paris auction of Yves Saint Laurent co-founder Pierre Bergé.

Retired Decanter columnist Michael Broadbent described 1921 as ‘unquestionably the greatest Sauternes vintage of the 20th Century’ in his Pocket Vintage Wine Companion.

And bidders appeared to agree at a Paris auction of the private cellar of Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent co-founder.

Unexpectedly to some, a jeroboam of Barsac-based Château Climens 1921 sold for €9,390, after being valued at up to €4,000 prior to the auction.

It meant the Climens lot beat a bottle of Heidsieck Monopole Champagne 1907, rescued from a shipwreck and which sold for €6,010 – in-line with its pre-sale high estimate.

‘1921, 1928 and 1929 were three exceptional vintages for Climens, during an outstanding period for the estate,’ said Bernard Burtschy, French wine critic and judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

‘Thanks to its calcareous soils, Climens possesses a freshness and brightness in hot vintages, and the 1921 is absolutely splendid today,’ he told Decanter.com.

Other auction highlights

Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) commanded strong prices, as expected. Ten bottles of DRC Grands Echézeaux 1990 fetched €16,276 on a pre-sale high estimate of €12,000. And five bottles of DRC Grands Echézeaux 1979 sold for €6,260 versus a high estimate of €4,000.

Bordeaux was also well represented in Bergé’s cellar.

Twelve bottles of Haut-Brion 1959, expected to reach up to €12,000, sold for €20,032, and 12 bottles of La Mission Haut-Brion 1959, which were expected to reach €22,000, fetched €24,414.

However, Château Ausone 1937 and 1959, and a further double-magnum of Haut-Brion 1959, did not sell.

The auction of Pierre Bergé’s private cellar helped the Pierre Bergé Foundation to earn €624,346.

Extra reporting and editing by Chris Mercer

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Link: Find more WSET stories

- This article is written by a journalist on a journey of discovery - and on a mission to learn about wine.

By Yiyao Wu from Shanghai – the Chinese perspective

• Use the where to study map on the WSET website to see which courses are available near you.

Fortified wines and sweet wines are made with various methods and grape varieties, which are often indicated on wine labels. Last week when we tasted Hungarian Tokaji Aszu, a noble rot wine, the teacher reminded us to notice the “5 puttonyos”, the unit given to denote the level of sugar and sweetness in Hungarian sweet wine ranging from 3 puttonyos to 6 puttonyos. Symbols like this showing the sweetness and quality of sweet and fortified wines are usually explicitly stated on wine labels so consumers can know how sweet a wine is at a glance.

Sweet wines, grape varieties and labelling

Fortified sweet wines often use Muscat grapes, such as Muscat de Beaumes de Venise and Muscat de Rivesaltes, which have very pronounced fruity, perfume aromas.

Riesling, Semillon and Chenin Blanc are easily attacked by noble rot thus they are often used to make noble rot wines. Noble rot wine’s labels may state botrytis cinerea, or just botrytis. But sometimes wine labels do not state grape variety or botrytis; they just say Sauternes AC (famous for Semillon noble rot), or Vouvray AC (famous for Chenin Blanc noble rot), and Alsace AC (famous for Riesling noble rot).

Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are two terms often seen on quality Riesling noble rot from Germany and Austria. Lables reading Eiswein means this is icewine from Germany or Austria, while in Canada, icewine’s label often has a term VQA, showing that the wine is from a legally protected appellation under the Vintners Quality Alliance system.

Sherry

Labels of Dherry wines usually state the wine’s style, such as Amontillado, Oloroso, or PX. Amontillado is dry (or Seco on the label), made from Palomino grape. The amber-colored fortified wine has a nut-like taste. Sweetened Amontillado is labelled as “Medium”.

Oloroso is also dry and made from the Palomino grape but it is different from Amontillado as it is attacked by oxygen throughout ageing. The deep-brown coloured wine has pronounced aromas of roasted nuts and a nutty flavour. Sweetened Oloroso is labelled as “Cream”.

• READ: Sherry wine and chocolate pairings

Sherry wines with labels saying Pedro Ximenez means they are made from the dried grape Pedro Ximenez (or PX for short). This wine, with syrupy sweetness, is semi-fluid and many of my classmates say it looks, smells and tastes like loquat syrup, a kind of traditional herbal medicine in China used to treat coughing. I think PX tastes much better than the loquat syrup, and PX is more versatile. In a bar in Shanghai I saw more than 10 varieties of cocktail using PX in the blend.

Port

Port wines are becoming increasingly popular in China specifically among consumers who would like to try wines but demand high alcohol at the same time. Major grape varieties for Port wines include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Francesa and Tinta Roriz. The best Port is usually made from Touriga Nacional which has deep color and high tannin.

Labels reading Ruby Port mean they are an inexpensive, non-vintage wine that undergoes less than three years ageing before bottling. Such wines are sweet, simple, and fruity: a table wine that can go with easy dining. Labels reading Reserve Ruby Port means they undergo up to five years ageing before bottling, and taste more complex than Ruby Port with more intense fruity flavours and aromas.

Late Bottle vintage, or LBV for short, means the wine uses grapes from a single vintage and it is usually sweet. Unfiltered sometimes appears on label meaning that the wine is not filtered before bottling and is better served after being decanted to remove the sediment.

Vintage Ports use grapes that come from the only the very best vineyards and are only made in good years. Vintage is usually stated on the label.

• READ: Find out more about Port

Tawny Ports are a kind of inexpensive, simple, light-coloured ports that have toffee and caramel flavours. If the label reads Reserve Tawny Port, it means the wine is aged for at least six years in small oak vessels and has more complicated flavours of nuts and a trace of chocolate.

My classmates and I shared a bottle of Taylor’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port, a tawny port with indication of age, which could be labelled as 10 Year, 20 Year, 30 Year and 40 Year. Such wines are best consumed close to bottling date, which is usually found on the label. I was wondering what I was doing when the wine started ageing 20 years ago and what I was drinking at that time. Gatorade perhaps, after a soccer session in primary school.

Interested in studying for a WSET qualification like Yiyao? Learn more here.

Yiyao Wu Biography – WSET, China Based Journalist

Sweet wines – Methods of production – WSET Level 2

Credit: Decanter

France, Germany and Italy – Sweet Wines – WSET Level 2

Port and Vins doux Naturels – Sweet Wines Method of Production – WSET Level 2

Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Australia – Wine Label terms showing quality – WSET Level 2

France – Common Wine Labelling Terms – WSET Level 2

Inside the magazine this month: 50 star buys of 2015, Vintage Champagne 2000 & 2002 and Sauternes and Barsac panel tasting…

January 2016 contents:

• 50 star buys of 2015 We pick 50 of the highest scoring wines from the past year, all available in the UK – including 14 for under £20.
• Interview: Peter Gago Penfolds’ chief winemaker is also known for his stamina and tireless devotion to the job. Anthony Rose meets him.
• Champagne vintages: 2000 vs 2002 Richard Juhlin tastes these two vintages side by side and names his 26 top performers.
• To Kalon vineyard This 200ha Californian plot is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon. William Kelley charts its history and meets key owners and growers.
• Producer profile: Vik Michael Apstein visits an estate that blends Norwegian entrepreneurs, Chilean terroir, and Bordeaux know-how.
• Anniversary wines: 2016 Decanter guide Do you have a 21st party or 40th wedding anniversary to celebrate in 2016? Anthony Rose knows the wines to buy.
• Discover Madeira Richard Mayson reveals why this island is the ideal home for such complex fortifieds.
• The perils of a wine lover’s Christmas Charles Jennings and Paul Keers look at the potential pitfalls – from wine pairing to novelty gifts and the recycling.
• Gigondas panel tasting: 83 wines tasted, 2 Outstanding – Consistency, freshness, local character and accessibility – these wines impressed our panel.
• Champagne Brut Nature & Extra Brut panel tasting: 57 wines tasted, 0 Outstanding – This fashionable low- or zero-dosage style takes no prisoners, concluded our tasters.
• Sauternes and Barsac 2011 & 2013 panel tasting: 33 wines tasted, 3 Outstanding – Fantastic value, ageworthy and delicious – these two great vintages won over our team.
• Expert’s Choice: Chile’s Rhône reds As Syrah takes Chile by storm, Peter Richards MW turns his attention to the many exciting wines where other Rhône varieties are dominant.
• 34 festive buys under £28 Our tastings director picks her top wines on the UK shelves, perfect for drinking this Christmas.
• Travel: Alsace Sue Style takes you on a gourmet tour.

Purchase the January issue of Decanter from Waitrose for your chance to win an indulgent stay for two at the breathtaking Hacienda Zorita Wine . Hotel & Spa, Salamanca, Spain *T&Cs apply

Following marathons held in the Médoc and Sauternes, St-Emilion is the latest Bordeaux appellation to host its own run.

Due to take place on March 13 2016 – a few weeks before the Bordeaux En Primeur tastings – the Fêtes les Vins Kms de St-Emilion will start and finish at Château Soutard, just five minutes from the the Romanesque church of St-Emilion.

Runners will be able to choose between two routes of 11km and 22km that will follow the same path until Château Angélus, when the shorter run will head back to Soutard via Château Canon, and the longer will continue round to Château La Dominique and the Corbin plateau.

Etienne Barre, courtier at Barre & Touton, is helping to organise the marathon through the Rotary Club of St-Emilion and Libourne, and all money raised will go to brain cancer charities.

‘Although this is not a full marathon, the hills of St-Emilion make it an excellent challenge,’ Barre told decanter.com.

‘The final route is not quite decided but we already know that some estates, including Grand Corbin Despagne, La Dominique and Montlabert, will be putting on wine tastings or other entertainments for the competitors’.

The Bordeaux region also holds the Médoc marathon every September and since April 2014 has an annual night-time marathon through the UNESCO centre of Bordeaux city.

• Médoc Marathon 2014: An oyster in one hand, wine glass in the other

Sauternes launched its own version in 2011, but it received only 400 runners in June 2015, and has been cancelled for 2016.

Winemakers in Sauternes are incensed that France's government has approved what they believe is a 'ludicrous' plan to build a high speed trainline near to vineyards south of Bordeaux.

The fight against the Sauternes high speed rail line that will help to link Bordeaux and Dax/Toulouse took a serious step back this week when the French government approved the plans.

Winemakers were particularly angry that government officials appeared to ignore a survey published in March 2015 that saw 96% of 14,000 respondents opposed to the cost and environmental impact of the trainline.

‘The economic benefits for the entire Atlantic arc of southwest France outweigh the concerns,’ said French transport minister Alain Vidalies.

• READ: Sauternes winemakers angry at ‘crazy’ trainline proposal

The president of the Aquitaine region, Alain Rousset, has long been in favour of the project, as is Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppé.

But local environmentalists and Sauternes wine producers vowed to fight on, and are set to contest the trainline plan in Bordeaux’s supreme court.

‘We have the backing of local politicians such as Gilles Savary, who will be taking the argument back to parliament,’ David Ornon of Château Guiraud told Decanter.com.

‘There is a contradiction perhaps because the vines themselves will not be affected by the train line, but their ecosystem will be devastated. The Cirons river will be cut through in three separate places, and that will have an irreversible effect on the noble rot that gives Sauternes wine its identity.’

• READ: Andrew Jefford examines the plan for a high speed rail line near to Sauternes

The Ciron valley is the subject of studies by INRA (the French National Institute for Agricultural Research) and has also been placed under priority conservation by INRA’s Commission for Forestry and Genetic Resources due to threats to its genetic pool from climate change.

‘The argument put forward by [French rail network] RFF that there will be no adverse effects on the environment is ludicrous,’ said campaigners.