Expert’s Choice: Sauternes 2015

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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