Sauternes

Vines are recorded here from the Middle Ages. From the late sixteenth century, and above all in the seventeenth, maritime trade grew and the provostship of Barsac, which covered today's five communes, made its name; texts include its "usages and privileges" of 1613 and a wine taxation by the jurats of Bordeaux and Dutch merchants in 1647. Most of today's estates developed then. In 1741 the Intendant of Guyenne wrote that the harvest took place only "when the grapes are almost rotten", in several passes, "to give them more sweetness". The practice spread to all estates in the nineteenth century. In 1855, 27 Sauternes and Barsac estates were classified, with Château d'Yquem placed alone above the rest. The decree of 30 September 1936 wrote noble rot and successive pickings into the rules. Two stories of an accidental "discovery", set in 1836 and 1847, are told as legends by the Bordeaux wine council.

The appellation lies about 40 km south-east of Bordeaux on the left bank of the Garonne, around Langon, and covers Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac and Sauternes. The valley of the Ciron separates it from the Graves and the Landes forest. This small river flows for more than a hundred kilometres under trees and arrives cool; where it meets the warmer Garonne, condensation brings abundant humidity. Mild, damp winters and moderately hot summers allow slow ripening, and gentle hills aligned east-south-east along the Garonne valley are well ventilated. Night humidity followed by fast daytime drying favours Botrytis cinerea, the "noble rot" that shrivels ripe berries and concentrates their sugar and aroma. Gravel-sand mounds rest on Tertiary limestone, nearest the surface at Barsac; gravel, clay, siliceous sand and limestone alternate over subsoils of clay, gravel, limestone or alios.

The specification attributes the wines' character mainly to botrytis, whose biochemical changes create specific aromas and flavours and concentrate the sugar in the berries. Young, the wines are golden, with flowers and fruit; with age they turn amber and develop a "roasted" bouquet of toast, candied fruit, citrus and honey, with great persistence. They are rich and unctuous and keep for several decades, though the rules say they are excellent from bottling. Sémillon, which the rules say may originate in the Sauternais, has thick skins that suit botrytis; Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle add aroma.

Sémillon is the main grape; the rules note that its resistance to mildew and oidium let it dominate when those diseases struck in the late nineteenth century. Pruning is severe, often in a short local fan system. Pickers pass through the vineyard several times, in tries, cutting only the berries or bunches that have shrivelled under botrytis, and harvesting is by hand only. Must needs at least 221 g of sugar per litre, and the very rich juice ferments slowly, often in barrel, until the alcohol stops the yeasts and leaves sugar in the wine.

The base yield is 25 hl/ha, against 53 to 57 hl/ha for red appellations such as Saint-Émilion or Pauillac. The 1855 classification of 27 growths, one Premier Cru Supérieur, 11 first and 15 second growths, is the only part of that list for white wine.