A very busy day as were up early this morning for a road trip out to Sauternes and Barsac. Sweet wine anyone? We pull up to the hallowed confines of what many people consider the greatest sweet wine in the world, Chateau d’Yquem, and are pleasantly surprised to find the man himself, managing director for d’Yquem (and Cheval Blanc) Pierre Lurton, in the house and ready to roll! He’s in fine spirits, a very charming man, and we get the cameras rolling. If you ever get the chance, this is one of the most beautiful and historical wine estates in the world, and putting Pierre in the middle of it, talking about the history of d’Yquem, is strictly magic. It’s hard conducting the interview when you become a spectator yourself. The 2008 looks to be textbook d’Yquem, with the signature balance and layers of complexity that define its greatness. While not the vintage of the century (leave that to the perfect 2001 and the upcoming 2007’s) it promises to be a heck of an “eekum”.
Next, off to Climens, the finest estate in Barsac, Sauternes’ neighbor to the northeast. The distinctive red soils here provide a level of elegance that makes for a different style of wine than one might see with the more powerful, obviously sweet Sauternes wines. Much of the Climens estate is essentially a Clos, or walled vineyard. In this case, it is hemmed in on one side by an ancient Roman road that you could still drive on, provided you’ve had enough liquid courage and were willing to face the wrath of the gendarme. Proprietor Berenice Lurton had her “A” game going and we got lots of great footage, including a particularly groovy discussion of botrytis, the process of harvesting “beautifully rotten” fruit.
A good friend of ours once told us, “you’ve never had lunch until you’ve lunched in Sauternes.” He may have been right. Following a barrel tasting of three different harvest dates for the potentially outstanding 2008 we proceeded to the parlor for some pass-arounds and a vertical of Climens, in this case 2004-2007. The 2007 was the pick of this litter, with a level of complexity that we haven’t seen from this vineyard since the ethereal 2001. For lunch, pas de frois! We were treated to a five course menu that included Thai-style shrimp, pork and some wicked cheeses, all paired with “the 9’s”, namely 1969, 79 and 99 Climens, with the 2002 and 2003 thrown in for good measure.
The lunch was a testament to the durability of Sauternes, even in tougher vintages. What we sometimes forget to remember is that it takes very special conditions to create these wines, the botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, requiring a specific combination of dampness of the rot to engage and then dry,sunny conditions for it not to turn to the dreaded grey rot and begin its alchemic conversion of clean, healthy grapes into the dessicated, darkly colored, berries that eventually produce this amazing dessert wine. In essence, there are no “bad” vintages of Sauternes, just good to great ones, as Climens’ rather tasty effort from the “horrible” 69 vintage would attest.
