O'Briens Wine Blog

Having just joined O’Briens as Head Of Wine Buying I wanted to share current wine calendar events in the news section of our new blog. My recent trip to Bordeaux feels like the perfect place to begin as the 2009 vintage in Bordeaux has captured the attention of many properties who are comparing it to the 2005’s. This trip which was sponsored by the properties as a scholarship visited the communes of Sauternes, Pauillac, Barsac, Pomerol, Saint Emilion, Saint Estephe, Saint Julien and Margaux where we had the opportunity to see for ourselves and for our customers how the wines are progressing and if the vintage is turning out to be as good everyone had been hoping for.

Château Suduiraut

Our first stop was the Premier Cru Classé property Château Suduiraut in Sauternes where we were looked after by Pierre Montègut the properties Technical Director. Pierre explained that the weather had been perfect this year to make Sauternes : mist in the mornings, clear sunny days and a good wind to keep the grapes dry, this allowed for the growth of the fungus Botrytis Cinerea (Nobel Rot) that shrivels the grapes and concentrates the sugars allowing the wine makers to create the world famous dessert wine.The Château Suduiraut vineyards consist of gravel, sand and clay and the property grows mainly Semillon with a small parcel of Sauvignon Blanc.

Pierre pointed out that once Botrytis has begun it takes around one week for the rot to fully develop on the grapes. After which a consistent noble rot spread across the vineyard is desired to ensure that as much wine as possible can be made, yields however are typically tiny at between fifteen and twenty hectolitres per hectare.
In the early stages of botrytis when the grapes are going from ripeness to botrytis affected the sugar content actually drops and the shrivelling that follows concentrates the sweetness in the berries. The grapes may not look very appetizing but when tasted directly from the vine these mouldy shrivelled grapes are sweet and rich.
Once shrivelled, individual grapes are hand picked from bunches and any not fully affected by Botrytis Cinerea are discarded either in the vineyard or at sorting tables in the winery. If too many non botrytis grapes are included in the pressing the wines will not reach the levels of sweetness required for Sauternes nor have the characteristic Botrytis aromas and flavours in the final wine.

According to Pierre the actual wines don’t start to show their true personality until they are ten years in bottle. That said the 2009s we tasted had big personalities with floral aromas and a honeyed tangerine character on the palate and whilst sweet they all had fresh balancing acidity. With age Sauternes takes turn deep golden in colour with nutty marmalade aromas and defining saffron character. Château d’Yquem is the most famous and one of the most expensive wines in the world but Château Rieussec 2004 which is currently available on our website was scored a very respectable 92 – 94 by Wine Spectator.

Classic food and wine matches for Sauternes would include Roquefort Cheese and Foie Gras – but after our morning in the vineyards and the cellar our lunch was a revelation and well worth trying. Szechuan cookery with Sauternes – a really unique way to enjoy these incredible wines, the rich spice based sauces were perfectly balanced by the sweetness and the acidity of the wines.

Over the next few weeks I’ll post some updates from the rest of our trip and would welcome any feedback and questions you might have.