Bereserkers,
Je suis jaloux of people taking and/or on recent trips to Bordeaux, France who have been posting in these forums lately. All I can do is open up more Sauternes and fantasize of my future travels one day. Until then, I can only pop and pour. And so after opening a high-end 2009 La Tour Blanche I now lean the other way towards a more affordable but still quality Sauternes:
CHATEAU D’ARCHE 2005 SAUTERNES – This value priced Sauternes is light gold in the glass, much lighter in color than many other Sauternes of the same vintage from more prestigious houses. The nose is initially all vanilla and oak with little to no botrytis or fruit initially. After a while, the dried mango and pineapple aromas start appear. In the mouth, tastes of coconut, vanilla, dried mango and dried pineapple with a strong honey backbone and a decent amount of acidity.
The previous bottle I had of this was a 2003 which was a hot ripe year for most Sauternes and I posted a thread about my detecting some heavy banana flavor and aroma notes which I found highly unusual for Sauternes. This 2005 bottle was much more balanced in the aromas and flavors.
Now listen up all you “This Sauternes could use some more acidity” snobs – the acidity is definitely there but it’s in the background and not the foreground like a botrytised Riesling would have it. Sure, it may be fainter but I guarantee it’s there. You know how I know? I had this for dinner with olive oil poached Cajun catfish and shrimp and the spices magnified the acidity by ten times easily.
I wouldn’t have thought of Sauternes as a good match for spicy food previously but the proof is in the palate and irrefutable. RECOMMENDED due to its QPR. Bear in mind you aren’t getting Rieussec or Climens here and it should provide you with a decent amount of pleasure.
