Chateau Climens 2010 Sauternes First Tasting

Visiting Chateau Climens, one of the very top Barsac estates, I was honoured to be the first to taste the 2010 Sauternes from the barrel alongside owner Bérénice Lurton and Frédéric Nivelle, her technical manager.

 

It's early days and, as always, it's not easy to assess what the 2010 Climens will be like when tasting 19 different lots, from pickings covering well over a month of harvesting. 

 

However, in Bérénice’s own words, she feels that they have something ‘absolutely incredible’ in 2010 that she knows ‘in her heart is going to be tremendous’.  

 

The harvest was very on/off, on/off as they waited for the botrytis to reach the right stage, but eventually the miracle weather they needed arrived giving them a few days with nice afternoons, quite hot sun and wind.  Then everything fell into place and the resulting crop was "suberb" says Berenice.

 

Certainly we could see some wonderful freshness, acidity and citrus fruit flavours across the lots.  

 

The blending process for the 2010's will be getting underway at Chateau Climens - but not until Berenice has finished blending the 2009 Sauternes!

 

Watch more of Bill Blatch's wine videos and follow the 2010 Sauternes harvest new on Bill's Blog Bordeaux Gold.

 

 

 

2010 Sauternes News at Domaine de l'Alliance

 

The 2010 Sauternes harvest gave me good reason to visit Domaine de l’Alliance. 

 

I always have a great time visiting Daniel Alibrand at Domaine de l’Alliance and am amazed at the quality of wine he produces from his small ‘chais’ behind his humble house.  

 

He produces ’Garage’ Sauternes at its very best with no compromises on quality – serious quality!  But what was his 2010 Sauternes going to be like?

 

Daniel describes it as a "curious vintage" and like other Sauternes Chateau, had a long drawn out harvest starting in September and not finishing until the beginning of November.

 

Weather patterns meant the botrytis was on the grapes from early on, but didn't develop to the right stage until mid October and beyond. The result has been high acidity and a fantastic richness.

 

Fermentation happened very fast, in just a week to 10 days, so the next question is what will the 2010 de l'Alliance be like when it's blended?

 

Daniel Alibrand has no rules and works on taste alone, but it sounds like he has some great 'raw materials' to be creative with!

 

I'll be back at Domaine de l'Alliance in a month's time to do some tasting.  Watch this space.

 

To watch more wine videos from Bordeaux expert Bill Blatch, visit his Bordeaux Gold Blog . Plus you can follow the 2010 Sauternes harvest at other Sauternes Chateau here. 

 

 

 

 

Chateau Suduiraut 2010 Sauternes First Tasting

 

In the Cellars of Chateau Suduiraut I catch Pierre Montégut for a very first taste of the 2010 Sauternes vintage.  

 

It's extremely early days and the wine is still in fermentation stage - which you can tell from the sample in the video - because it's still cloudy, so not the easiest time to taste.

 

Still, what I'm looking for here is a very early indication of what this Suduiraut Sauternes might be like, and what kind of balance it might have.

 

Based on the Suduiraut harvest, Pierre is predicting his 2010 Sauternes to be another wonderful vintage and told me how lucky he feels to have had such a good harvest again this year after the excellent 2009.

 

I put Pierre on the spot (after giving him a few stage directions!) and asked him to compare this 2010 Sauternes sample with other Suduiraut vintages to find out what it tastes similar to at this stage.  

 

Watch the video below to find out the two vintages Pierre and I were reminded of when we tasted this still cloudy sample.  It will be interesting to see how it develops and I intend to be there at each stage of the development - so you'll see just how accurate we are! 

 

Watch more wine videos and keep up with the 2010 Sauternes vintage developments at Bill Blatch's Bordeaux Gold Blog

 

Clos Haut Peyraguey 2010 Sauternes First Tasting

I dropped in on Clos Haut Peyraguey to talk about the 2010 Sauternes harvest and get a first taste of some of the Sauternes lots with Martine Langlais-Pauly and Anthony Defives, owner and winemaker at Clos Haut-Peyraguey.  

 

What shows through for me is the extreme patience shown by Peyraguey from the first picking through to the last, which were seperated by over a month.  Both first and last pickings yielded just a single barrel of Sauternes!

 

It was a long harvest and Martine had to be extrememly reactive to get pickers in when the botrytis got to optimum stage.

 

Interestingly, the 2006 Sauternes was the last drawn out harvest, but for a very different reason. Then they had a lot of bad stuff that needed weeding out to allow the good to come through (it turned out to be a good vintage in the end). Whereas in 2010 each bunch arrived at roasted botrytis stage at different times so the harvest went on and on and on....  

 

Tasting from the barrel - with fermentation stage only just finished, Martine describes all the different Sauternes pickings as "very beautiful".  Watch the video below to find out what characteristic are already starting to show through in the 2010 Sauternes wine.

For more wine videos about the 2010 Sauternes Harvest from Bordeaux expert Bill blatch, visit his Bordeaux Gold Blog.