Sauternes

The geographical area of the Sauternes appellation includes five communes: Sauternes, Fargues, Bommes, Preignac and Barsac. The latter also benefits from the communal appellation "Barsac".

This is the region that produces the precious nectar known throughout the world as "Vin de Sauternes", considered by many wine lovers as the first white wine in the world, and whose flagship is Chateau d'Yquem which, in 1855, was the only one, among the Medoc and Sauternes wines, to receive the title of "Premier Cru Supérieur". This wine region is included in the southern part of the Graves region.

It is located about forty kilometers southeast of Bordeaux, between the Garonne River to the northeast and the forest known as the "Girondine moors" which surrounds it to the west and south. It offers a rugged landscape, where the valleys are adorned with fresh and pleasant meadows.

To the west it is separated from the Graves region by the green and pleasant valley of the Ciron, which constitutes the limit of the communes of Sauternes, Bommes and Preignac, while to the north it separates the latter from Barsac.

The variety of the soil and subsoil gives a particular character to the wine produced. This allows us to understand the "nuances" that exist between the wines of the various crus. Indeed, the grape varieties: Sauvignon, Semillon and Muscadelle, are the same everywhere, the cultural care, the harvest, the wine making and the conservation are identical.

In particular, the harvest is carried out in several successive "selections", as the grapes are invaded by the famous "noble rot". This "rot" is due to a fungus, Botrytis cinerea, which, under the influence of the soil and the microclimate, causes, in the Sauternes and Barsac region, an enrichment of the grapes in sugar and glycerin, while its acidity decreases: this is called over-ripening.

In addition to the judicious choice of grape varieties, it is the meticulous care given to the harvest and vinification, and above all the nature and climate of this privileged region, which have always given its products this limpid and marvelous color, this particular perfume, this mellowness and this special sap, unique, incomparable, which make Sauternes wine more than wine, a liqueur, an essence, a nectar, which cannot be compared to anything else, except to other Sauternes wines.

An inspired taster and wine lover gave this happy definition: "A ray of sunshine concentrated in a glass".

Biarnez expresses a similar idea when he writes, around 1850, in his collection of verses, Les Grands Vins de Bordeaux:

"Sauternes! at this name alone the inflamed gourmet

Already feels his palate with embalmed perfume.

There, in a humble vine, the powerful nature

Hides the purest essence of her spirits,

Distils it in the rays of a glorious sun

And, by a thousand detours, divine, mysterious,

Leads into our cellars this blessed source

From which man will draw strength and genius.

...

This unctuous flesh, this repairing tone,

This alcoholic sugar that the white wine conceals!

It is a perfume sweeter than the new rose,

A reflection more brilliant than a sunbeam...

O wine of our hillsides, you have no equal."

The soil of this region is characterized by its diversity. It is gravelly, clayey, siliceous, calcareous, or simultaneously includes these four elements in variable proportions. The subsoil is sometimes calcareous or gravelly, but more often it is clayey and requires careful drainage to become favorable to the vine. In Fargues and Sauternes, it is sometimes made up of alios. The hilltops on which the best crus are located are almost always gravelly and most often rest on a very clayey subsoil.

This great variety of soil and subsoil gives the wine of each commune and even the wine of each cru its particular character.