Sauternes

All the wines from Sauternes, Bordeaux

The Sauternes and Barsac wines are from 2 neighbouring designations (PDO) located on the left bank of the Garonne just 40 km south-east of Bordeaux. The 5 cities whose territory makes up these 2 designations are: Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignac and Sauternes. The Sauternes and Barsac PDOs covers approximately 1620 Ha for Sauternes wines and 625 Ha for Barsac wines (which may also mention the Sauternes PDO on the bottle). The designations are benefiting from a classification of their Crus, established in 1855 like the one of Medoc, including 26 classified Crus: 1 superior Premier Cru (the Chateau Yquem), 11 Premiers Crus (including 2 in Barsac), and 14 Seconds Crus (including 8 in Barsac) This classification notably distinguishes the most prestigious chateaux such as: Chateau d'Yquem, Climens, Coutet, Doisy Daene, Guiraud, Rieussec, Suduiraut, La Tour Blanche… The territory of Sauternes and Barsac is bounded to the north-east by the Garonne and to the south by the Landes forest, and is crossed on both sides by a small tributary of the Garonne called the Ciron river, whose importance is paramount as it cause the morning mists necessary for the development of the Botrytis Cinerea fungus - the key point of those unique and luscious wines. The soils composed of sand, clay and gravel are flat in Barsac area (10/15 m) and rise up to 80m in Sauternes. Sauternes and Barsac wines are blended wines made from the three emblematic grape varieties of sweet wines: Semillon (around 70% on this appellation), Sauvignon blanc (20%), and Muscadelle (5%)...