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BARTENDER'S
WINE EXPERT: JOSEPH DELISSIO |
SAUTERNES
by Joseph DeLissio |
What single word could best describe the mood of a grape grower who has carefully and faithfully tended his vines all year long only to find, just prior to harvest, that his grapes have been attacked by an unsightly mold? In a matter of days his once healthy-looking clusters of grapes have been transformed into moldy, shriveled-up raisins, hanging sadly on the vines. Chances are that if that grape grower in located in the Sauternes and Barsac regions of France that word would be elated.
In the southernmost section of Bordeaux is the world-famous wine district and appellation of Sauternes. Five communes including Sauternes, are permitted to use the Sauternes appellation. The commune of Barsac has its own appellation (Barsac AOC) and may use either.
The reason why this grape grower is happy is because nature has just given him the most important ingredient needed to produce some of the most sought-after, expensive, complex, and deliciously sweet wines in the world. That ingredient is a mold called Botrytis cinerea, affectionately called "the noble rot."
While almost all molds ruin wine grapes, the botrytis strain has the ability to greatly enhance them. When this particular mold forms on a grape, it punctures microscopic holes through the grape's skin in order to withdraw the nutrients it needs to survive. The grape's water content dissipates through these holes, causing shrinking and shriveling until the grape resembles a moldy raisin. What is left behind is a grape with an extremely high, concentrated level of sugar.
Mother Nature, however, can sometimes be a fickle lady: what she generously offers with one hand she can take back with the other. In this case, grapes that have been affected by the botrytis mold have an abundance of natural sugar but come with the price tag of minuscule yields. These tiny yields are the chief reason why the luscious wine made from these grapes is both rare and expensive. It can take the entire annual yield of six to eight grapevines to produce a single bottle, while under normal grape-growing conditions, one grapevine alone usually yields three to four bottles of wine.
The development of the botrytis mold in a vineyard is far from automatic. It can occur only in a select few of the world's wine regions and only when the climatic conditions needed for its development are ideal. These conditions include a cycle of cool, damp evenings, along with misty, mold-inducing mornings, followed by rain and then long, warm, dry afternoons. For the best possible results, the grapes must already be fully developed before botrytis sets in. Even when botrytis does develop, it does so indiscriminately, as some vines will have it while others will not. Sometimes the mold affects only a portion of a grape cluster, leaving the remaining grapes unaffected. Because of this inconsistency, these grapes must be hand-picked, and the process requires many passes through the vineyard. The botrytis mold is instrumental in the production of the great sweet wines of Sauternes in Bordeaux, the rare and delicious Essencia from Hungary, as well as the great, late-harvest wines of Germany. Canada, California, and even parts of New York State have also had some success with this type of wine.
Chateau D'Yquem is the Sauternes with the highest reputation, and price. A good vintage of D'Yquem starts out in the hundreds. Thankfully for us mere mortals there are excellent and less costly alternatives such as La Tour Blanche, Suduiraut, Rieussec, Coutet, Filhot, and Doisy-Daene.
Offering complex and exotic aromas of honey and apricots, complemented with a finish and viscosity that seem to last forever, wines produced from this noble nectar have the ability to age for many decades. To my mind they provide the taster with an experience that is always worth seeking out.
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