Why you should take a look at the sweeties

Sauternes battles the fate of all truly fine sweet wines. Our age, unlike those that went before, does not prize sweetness in wine. We have full, cheap access to sugar. And then there is the association of sweet wines with unsophisticated palates. Yet ‘Sweet’ is an entirely inadequate term for the scintillating, lush tension of the best examples. Sugar, acidity, extract and the mysterious sour, perfumed freshness of botrytis create wines of captivating textures, aromas and longevity. Sweetness ceases to be the point. Yet these wines remain tethered to the dessert trolley.

I adore sweet wines and drink them with anything. They are just so improbable. I love these expressions of human ingenuity intersecting with nature. This applies not just to botrytised wines, of which Sauternes is the most famous but far from only example. The Recioto wines of Italy and Ice Wines of Germany are similarly weird but brilliant. Rotten grapes. Shrivelled grapes. Frozen grapes. You couldn’t make this up. And you wouldn’t. Making great sweet wine is risky, unpredictable, time-consuming and costly. In the case of Sauternes, producers must wait for the oft capricious arrival of noble rot in the warm, humid Autumn. In the waiting comes the increased risk of ignoble rot, too. 2011 is the third successive year to receive conditions favourable to noble rot, but we shouldn't get too complacent.

A defining characteristic of 2011 Sauternes is their crackling acidity, a consequence of the cool summer. The blast of September sun means that residual sugars are high (up to 160g/l in some Grands Crus). This is quite an opulent vintage. And yet the overall character is elegant, thanks to that high acidity, and aromatic purity of fruit. Their elegant, lively richness also reflects the trend towards making fresher, more versatile styles (a quest also reflected in the inclusion by many producers of non-botrytised berries to moderate sugar and maintain freshness.)

Another characteristic of 2011 Sauternes is their strikingly reasonable prices. While the 'rest' of Bordeaux is (yet again) engaged in a drawn out campaign in which buyers complain about prices, Sauternes 2011 over delivers in the "rapport prix qualite".

Meanwhile, the Sauternais are engaged in an outreach program to broaden the market and contexts for their lovely wines. In Bordeaux last year, I was treated to an exquisite Chinese banquet, each of the 6 courses matched with a Cru Classe Sauternes. It was a triumph, and a hint of the potential saviour for Sauternes: the new wine lovers of China, in particular, are discovering the delights of these great wines, and not just with dessert.

We would do well to follow their example.

Our recommended 2011 sweet wines from Bordeaux:

Sauternes

d’Arche, £182 in bond per 12
Second Growth
This has a great nose. Full of complex aromas of apricot, pineapple and fresh ginger. Succulent and invigorating in equal measure. Focused, with dried apricots lingering on the long finish. Should be great value, too. More>         

                                                                       

Filhot, £166 in bond per 12   
Second Growth
Reminiscent of a vin de paille. Loads of botrytis and dried honey character. Plenty of extract and dried fruits. Candied pineapple and dried apple. Firm and grippy. Really serious. A little beefier and less feminine than most. More>          

Guiraud, £314 in bond per 12
First Growth
Heavenly fruit blossom scent. Mango, apricot and Poire William. Complex and richly powerful. This is impressive. Long honeyed and engaging. Such precision and detail. Amazingly complex for such a youthful wine. Very long, indeed. More>
                                                                             

Clos Haut-Peyraguey, £305 in bond per 12
First Growth
Allspice, nutmeg and dried apricots. Lovely botrytis notes. Excellent focus and definition. Pure strawberry and creme Anglaise. Utterly harmonious and effortless. Creamy textured and sensual. This glides across the palate. More> 

                                                                                   

Lamothe Guignard, £155 in bond per 12
Delicate and enticing, with fragrant botrytis notes. Fleshy and ripe fresh apricot and peach plus raspberry and blueberry patisserie. Elegant and feminine. Graceful and curvaceous. More>

                                                                                   

Malle
Second Growth
Purest ripe clementines on nose and palate. Terrifically juicy and vibrant. Full of joie de vivre. The racy citrus acidity is superb. Silky and sensual. It lingers with delicacy and subtlety. Gorgeous. More>

Rabaud-Promis
First Growth
Amazingly pure, ripe and intensely fresh Russet apples. powerful flavours of concentrated ripe Russet apples, cinnamon and demerara. An utterly fabulous combination of flavours. Profound and attention grabbing. Bravo! More>
                                                                        

Raymond-Lafon, £249 in bond per 12
Manuka honey. Rich caramel and botrytis laden peaches in syrup. Broad and imposing. More>      

                                                                       

Sigalas Rabaud, £321 in bond per 12
First Growth
Fresh Coxes apple and beeswax. Impressive core of fresh ripe, newly picked Coxes apples. Really concentrated and focussed. This packs a punch and delivers on the follow through as well. Gently tailing off with a long finish. Superb!  More>        

                                                           

Suduiraut, £470 in bond per 12
First Growth
Gorgeously aromatic honeyed lemon and marzipan. Delicately feminine and elegant. So refined and graceful.  The long focussed finish lasts for an eternity.  Lemon meringue. Light and airy yet with an intensity that belies its subtlety. More>      
                                                     

La Tour Blanche, £374 in bond per 12
First Growth
Delicate floral aromas and apricot frangipani. Confidently constructed and effortlessly balanced. Purest apricots in syrup. Defined and precise with power in reserve. Class and finesse. More>

                                                                       

Yquem
Superior First Growth
The 2011 Yquem has a profoundly powerful nose of apricots in syrup. As honeyed as royal jelly and incredibly delicate. It caresses the palate with complex flavours of orange marmalade, dried apricots and honey. Everything is lifted by refreshing citrus acidity. Seamlessly harmonious, this is a truly great Yquem in the making. The finish is already exceedingly complex and very very long. Could this challenge 2001? The purity is certainly on a par. It’s almost impossible to spit. Yquem’s class and pedigree shines through once again.  More>
                                                                               

Barsac                                                                                                            

Coutet, £470 in bond per 12
First Growth  
Plenty of botrytis notes on the nose. Succulent and sweet ripe grapefruit. Close knit and powerful. Peaches in syrup. Rich and concentrated. Very confident. More>
                                                                           

Doisy Daëne, £291 in bond per 12
Second Growth          
Intensely honey scented, with flavours of clementines and candied fruits. Great balance between delicacy and power. Such purity and succulence. Bursting with flavour. This is so effortless. Everything is in place and utterly harmonious. Fabulous. More>
                                                                               

Doisy-Védrines, £210 in bond per 12
Second Growth          
More restrained than the Daëne. Pink grapefruit aromas. Superbly concentrated flavours of pink grapefruit, passion fruit and much more. Zesty enervating acidity. Really impressive. A fantastic fruit salad of a wine. More>

                                                                                   

Liot, £136 in bond per 12
Highly floral aromatics. Richly honeyed botrytis. Very concentrated, ripe and extractful. Zesty and racy. This is fabulous. Really punches above its weight. Massively characterful and so long. More>
                                                                         

Nairac
Second Growth        
Raspberry Pavlova. Fun and lively. Delicate rosewater, building on the finish. Surprisingly long and focussed. More>




Blog post by Sarah Abbott MW
Tasting notes by Simon Quinn.