Had my first glass ever tonight, and figured that would be dessert while out for dinner. So I take my first sip and think to myself this really is way too sweet for me. And then u take my second sip and think to myself this really is way too sweet for me. And the next sip I say the same thing. And again. And again. And now the glass is empty .
But just like there are different Zins, there are different Sauternes. Some is just sweet, some has more to offer. But whatever it is, it’s all sweet. That’s the point. Tonight I had an ice wine, which was way too sweet, and now I’m having a middling Tokaji-aszu. It’s better than a middling Sauternes, but I’ll drink either as I like sweet wines in general.
What was the wine you drank?
Also, the producer matters and so does the vintage. In general, and this is a broad generalization, a bad wine for red Bordeaux is OK for Sauternes. Less sun can be good. In hotter years, the grapes can become sweet because of the sun, rather than botrytis. What you want is a good botrytis year that keeps acidity in the grapes and shrivels them because of botrytis, not because of heat. And although they all deny doing it, they can add sugar or freeze the grapes to make Sauternes, so producer matters.
Finally, while Semillon is the main grape used, I like the wines with Sauv Blanc. It seems to be a nice addition, although it’s not nearly as highly prized.
What did you have? Sweet wines and sauternes in particular can be tricky… the lower end can be mediocre, and it only really shines at the high end with age. (High end doesn’t have to mean Yquem…)
A Sauterne has to be paired with a desert to be fully appreciated IMO. Many tines the sweetness of the dessert offsets the sweetness of the wine making it more enjoyable and allowing you to taste its other components besides the residual sugar.
I had the similar experience with my first Sauternes which was a half bottle of 2011 Château Rieussec shared with a friend. After the bottle, I decided that I can appreciate how well made and complex a well made Sauternes could be. but I just didn’t like it. On a side note, I also left that night really craving blue cheese for some reason…
I would disagree with this Dale. In fact, I can’t think of any dessert that I’d want with my wine. I think the wine itself should be the sweet factor and I almost always forego dessert entirely. If you’re pairing, sweet wine seems to be better with something savory - toasted & salted nuts, sharp salty cheese, some blue cheeses that aren’t too creamy, jamon Iberico or similar cured ham, and of course, foie gras.
Dessert, as in cakes and pastries, doesn’t go with wine. It goes with coffee.
Regardless of the quality of the chateau (even Yquem) I tend to find young Sauternes far too sweet in comparison with the acidity, and often one-dimensional. It often takes at least 30 years for them to come out of their shell and for the sugar levels to become more balanced. However, with some recent vintages (2005 Rieussec is a good example) I don’t think this balance is likely to ever be reached, due to the change in style of the wine-makers.
Basically, I don’t drink young Sauternes; at the moment I’d say nothing after 1989. As a result I almost never drink it at restaurants, unless I bring my own bottle. Fortunately Sauternes is still so undervalued that vintages from the 70s and 80s are very reasonable and widely accessible online!
I’d never drink Sauternes with sweet food; only to accompany cheese after a meal, with paé before it, or on its own as a nightcap.
Young Sauternes to me is just different from aged. I love the raciness of a fresh Sauternes from good vintage. I enjoy the explosion of tropical flavors.
Aged Sauternes is just a different experience. Not always a better one for my palate.
I have been finding over time that I think some Sauternes are a bit too flabby for me. In other words, lots of sweetness and richness, not enough acidity for me. A real example of this is Rieussec. More and more I lean towards Barsacs like Climens, because they are a bit more elegant. One Sauternes I find that bridges this gap is Lafaurie-Peyraguey, which for me has elements of Sauternes and of Barsac.
d’Yquem is an exception to everything above, of course.
So, really, the question is what wine did you have? Without knowing the winery and style of the wine it is really hard to tell whether you might like other wines more.
I agree with barsac. While I don’t have all the experience with Sauternes, my findings are the barsacs tend to have a bit higher acidity which I like. Pair them with a cheese tray for desert and I’m a happy man
How long are you aging your Clemens before opening HOWARD?
Average/mediocre Sauterenes/Barsac are much more drinkable and tasty than the same level in red Bordeaux. If one is just exploring and learning the region, I would not get overly hung up on vintages/estates, they will generally all still taste good. The ones getting imported into the US are already being heavily screened for quality. Perhaps after developing Ashish’s palate, one can be more discriminating.
It has been a good flurry of vintages. Nearly all the odd numbered vintages going back 15+ years are good/great in their own ways.
There is no bid for these, so aged ones can be acquired for not much more (or even less) than current releases. In the last week I’ve seen offers that were for less than what I paid on futures for some 2001 estates. If cellar space is scarce, or you care about the time value of money, this may not be the category to cellar yourself. Happily the wines are not fragile, and are safer to buy later on than dry reds.
They keep well after being opened, so one can open one and keep it in the fridge for a few days, with less/no oxidative tastes than if it was a dry red. Some people decant them, but I don’t.
I like them plain or with desserts. Fruity desserts pair well with them, as does cheese and nuts. Personally I like them served chilled, which seems to highlight their zippiness.
Everyone has favorite estates, but the ones I cellar/consume most are Coutet, Rieussec, and La Tour Blanche. LtB has probably nosed out Lafaurie Peyraguey in recent years for my tastes. They all offer great quality, and are fairly priced. If anything, Rieussec might be cheap, perhaps because I think its tied to Lafite allocations, so sometimes it gets quietly dumped. Climens is better than the above, but is a special occasion dessert wine when I have any; Y’quem flies above my purchasing altitude.
Hospitality industry seems to serve these in small dessert wine glasses, but I think they show best in brandy snifters. Most of them have lots of bouquet after they develop - cardamon, glaceed apricots, candied pineapple, cinnamon, etc.
Very good sauternes like Doisy Vedrines or Doisy Daene are ~$20/half bottle and wonderful. Every no-name sauternes I’ve ever tried from grocery stores or non-classified growth or second labels are not that much cheaper, maybe $15 per half, and not even close to as good. You can get excellent, well known sauternes for very cheap.
As hardy as sauternes are, they can in their own way be sensitive to temperature and being abused. The color may provide a tip-off, as they are often darker than they should be compared to other bottles from the same vintage. (Some vintages are just darker than others, like 1989 darker than 1988, but if your 1988 Rieussec is darker than other bottles of the 1988 Rieussec, then be concerned.) It doesn’t mean the bottle will be spoiled necessarily, but it will be advanced. For this reason, I unfortunately do dedicate a large amount of cellar space by percentage to cellaring my sauternes. I realize I’m a special case and this may not make sense for other people.
I agree that they keep well after opened, especially when young. Sauternes <10 years often even NEED 5-7 days, especially wines like the 2005 Rieussec. I use this to my advantage and almost always have a half or a full bottle open to sip on after dinner. =)
I don’t serve them chilled, but I do serve them at cold cellar temp. If you pick an off-vintage (even year) and want to pair with seafood, that may be more amenable to chilling it more. I do agree with pairing with cheese (but not bleu cheese, which will overwhelm the sauternes though balance the cheese), something slightly salty like nuts, or by itself. I almost never pair with desserts, but I often pair with chicken, fish, pasta, regular meals. Lobster/crab/duck are all good choices. Oysters work as well with young and minerally vintages.
My favorites and the staples in my cellar are Rieussec, Coutet, Doisy Vedrines, Doisy Daene, Chateau de Fargues (though recently they have gotten too expensive post-2011). I try to drink Yquem at least twice a year, and it’s worth it for me. I enjoy Suduiraut and Guiraud but think their hype is greater than their actual quality. La Tour Blanche and Lafaurie Peyraguey are generally well priced and I’ll often try it when I can but don’t cellar in quantity. Climens can be excellent, but I don’t put it on a pedestal like some others do… I think Chateau de Fargues takes that near-Yquem spot for me instead.