Barsac

Vines are recorded in the Sauternais from the Middle Ages. From the thirteenth century Barsac was the seat of a royal provostship, and its port was one of the busiest on the left bank of the Garonne, sending barrels downstream to Bordeaux in gabares, the traditional river boats. Trade with the Dutch in the late sixteenth and above all the seventeenth century turned production towards sweet wines, and most of today's estates developed in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, set apart from wines made for distilling. Picking in successive tries spread to all estates in the nineteenth century. In 1855 ten Barsac estates, two first and eight second growths, were classified among the 27 of the Sauternes communes. The appellation was recognised by decree on 11 September 1936.

Barsac is one of the five communes of the Sauternes appellation and the only one north of the Ciron; the Saint-Cricq stream separates it from the Graves. The Ciron's cool water meets the warmer Garonne here, causing fogs that clear on sunny, breezy afternoons, the alternation that favours noble rot. The land is very flat, from about 20 m on the plateau down to 5 m near the river. On the plateau, called Haut-Barsac, a very fissured limestone full of fossil starfish lies under only 40–60 cm of red sandy soil from an old Garonne terrace, and vine roots reach more than 10 m into the fissures. The oldest and most numerous estates are here. Towards the Garonne, Pyrenean gravel over limestone gives warm, free-draining soils. Many small plots are walled, a legacy of quarrying the weather-resistant Barsac stone.

Barsac shares the botrytis character of Sauternes: golden when young, amber and "roasted" with age, with candied fruit, citrus and honey, rich and unctuous, and able to keep for decades. The specification adds that Barsac stands out for very fruity aromas and liveliness, which it attributes to the limestone, and that the limestone often also shows in a mineral texture with power and balance. It credits the water supply and the calcareous minerals of the soil with fairly nervy wines with persistent, very fruity aromas.

The rules for Barsac and Sauternes are almost the same: the same grapes, hand picking in successive tries, a base yield of 25 hl/ha, and a natural potential alcohol of at least 15 % on average. A Barsac grower may label the wine Barsac or Sauternes, following usage older than the decree. According to the specification, two-thirds of the 660 ha are sold as Barsac and one-third as Sauternes, and classified growths make 30 % of the production; the Bordeaux wine council gives about 400 ha and 30 growers.