Sweet Bordeaux Prices

[Jim_Brennan]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Honestly, if I want to drink a dessert wine, Sauternes is the last thing that comes to mind. I’d rather have one of those you mentioned (+sweet Chenin) over Sauternes, and it’s an easy call.

[AAgrawal]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

[Jorg_G]

Many folks buy them, but then never drink them; perhaps people are finally getting wise to the situation, and are pumping the brakes on purchases.

That’s exactly my personal experience.
And: after some time I had noticed that in general I prefer a German Riesling Auslese.

[Keith_Levenberg]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

Eiswein is cheaper on the secondary market than on release precisely because nobody drinks dessert wine

[Jayson_Cohen]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

Eiswein is cheaper on the secondary market than on release precisely because nobody drinks dessert wine

It depends which. Donnhoff and Prum Eisweins, for example, cost much more than all Sauternes but Yquem, maybe Doisy Madame, and rare examples of the others.

I open Eiswein and Sauternes about the same frequency. Not very often.

But Auslese is a category that is easy to pop fairly often and much more flexible at the table than most people give them credit for or than Eiswein or Sauternes.

[Craig_G]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

Eiswein is cheaper on the secondary market than on release precisely because nobody drinks dessert wine

LOL. “I made a statement I can’t defend, so I’ll answer a question you didn’t ask.”

[Keith_Levenberg]

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

Eiswein is cheaper on the secondary market than on release precisely because nobody drinks dessert wine

LOL. “I made a statement I can’t defend, so I’ll answer a question you didn’t ask.”

Or maybe I just made a statement you didn’t understand.

[A_Gillette]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

Genuine question: What kind of German Eiswein do you drink and recommend for less money than sauternes? Other than Yquem, most other top producers in Sauternes run about $30 per half, ~$60 per 750mL. When I see Eiswein from producers I recognize, prices seem to be multiples of that.

Eiswein is cheaper on the secondary market than on release precisely because nobody drinks dessert wine

Well, there’s also a school of thought that Eiswein generally has a tendency to fall apart and doesn’t age particularly well, so that likely has something to do with the post-release prices.

[Arv_R]

I think my Sauternes consumption rate is about a bottle a year. Sauternes has a double problem IMO. Not only are dessert wines of all kinds tough to find a place for these days, but frankly I’d rather be drinking Tokaji, a Kracher TBA, German eiswein, etc. etc., usually for less money too.

I agree that all those other dessert wines are excellent, and in some ways, very/more interesting than Sauternes…but I tend think of Sauternes as being less costly. Depending on how/where one shops for $25-$40 I can generally get a decent sticky from Bordeaux…much harder to find the same in other regions and I love all dessert wines.

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise is less $ than Sauternes, but tends to have a narrow selection here, and doesn’t age. Banyuls can be less, but again, selection is narrow.

Maybe a year ago a friend poured an SGN for us (can’t remember which/who) but it was crazy good. I had not realized how much more amazing they could be than VT level. If I had to choose between that and a sweet Bdx, blind, it would be a tough call …

[Andy_Sc]

I think the biggest problem of sweet wines is that people cook too much food. I’ll do dinners at my place all the time, usually we have a few amuse bouches, then usually 4-5 courses and finally various cheeses. When we started doing this dinners, most people were full after the main course and before the cheeses and hence before the sweet wines. Today, we know how to measure the different courses in order manage that our guests (and we) are still craving for that cheese platter (and hence the sweet wine). With that said, one glass is usually enough, only with large groups we need more than a halve bottle. As others mentioned, it would be more if you would incorporate it with other courses too (spicy dishes) - I’ll try to do that more in the future.

Re Suduiraut 2001: recently got an offer for cases of 750s bottles for 63 USD (shipping/taxes incl.) and ex-Chateau. Crazy.

[melvinyeo]

Re Suduiraut 2001: recently got an offer for cases of 750s bottles for 63 USD (shipping/taxes incl.) and ex-Chateau. Crazy.

Seems like a global release, I bit on this as well based on this thread!

[AAgrawal]

Re Suduiraut 2001: recently got an offer for cases of 750s bottles for 63 USD (shipping/taxes incl.) and ex-Chateau. Crazy.

Seems like a global release, I bit on this as well based on this thread!

Well, the '01 Suduiraut is selling at $75 in the US. I tried to buy a few bottles from JJ Buckley and they were already sold out.

[Douglas_Yee]

I’m also curious to see if the 2001 Suduiraut deal will hit the US – so far I’ve been unable to find anything reasonable.

[Ed_Steinway]

We opened a 2001 La Tour Blanche Sauternes on Friday, and have been enjoying it over the last 3 days. Still going strong on Day 3, with plenty of acidity to buttress the orange, honeysuckle, and apricot flavors. I think it is at, or close to, maturity right now.

Ed