For the seventh day of Christmas…

For the seventh day of Christmas, my sweet-toothed sweetheart (who is probably a bit sick of all this shopping by now) might quite happily receive a very contemporary mixed case from Sauternes and Barsac.

The wines: A very contemporary mixed case from Sauternes and Barsac. If Christmas isn’t Christmas without Champagne, it’s also not Christmas without Sauternes and Barsac, appellations that have suffered in recent years but which have ridden the storm that now afflicts so many in the region so well.

The concept: Again, a relatively simple idea. The key to the survival of Sauternes and Barsac in recent years has been diversification. Today these appellations are making not just the best sweet wines in the world but they are also at the forefront of a dry white revolution in the region. Here we have two of the absolute stars, both premiers grands crus classés in 1855 – Château Climens in Barsac and Château Suduiraut in Sauternes. For each property I have selected 3 wines, 2 blancs secs and, of course, the grand vin that make each property what it is today.

Yours for: What is remarkable about this mixed case of 6 bottles is the sheer quality of the wines it contains given the relatively modest price. Your true love should be able to put 6 bottles of Lions de Suduiraut 2024 under the tree for £65 in bond. The entire mixed case, despite containing two (97+ and 98 point-scoring) first growths, comes in at less than £200 in bond.

Tasting notes

Lions de Suduiraut 2024 (Bordeaux blanc; 56% Sémillon; 29% Sauvignon Blanc; 15% Sauvignon Gris; pH 3.15; 12.7% alcohol; tasted first at Pichon-Baron with its creator, Pierre Montégut, and then 6 months on in Paris). Lithe, limpid, fresh and bright with a delicate white floral and citrus aromatic profile and a rather greater and more direct impact on the palate. White nectarine and lime, the latter rendering this almost chewy in its freshness, like reacting to the tartness of the fresh juice in a Granny Smith apple. Crunchy with it. Impressive, as it so often is. 89+. Available in the UK from Abingdon Fine Wines for £65 in bond for a case of 6 bottles.

Chateau Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes 2024 (Bordeaux blanc; 56% Sémillon; 44% Sauvignon Blanc; pH 3.25; 13.1% alcohol; just 12% new oak; tasted first at Pichon-Baron with Pierre Montégut and then from a sample sent to Paris). Gooseberry, linden, lime, lime zest and white grapefruit. Elderflower, elderberry and a little jasmine too. Lemon sorbet. A little green tea. Great intensity, a narrow frame, sapid, lithe and juicy with great precision. Delicate too, aerial and lifted. A gorgeous sapid pinch formed by the touch of tannin releases a wave of juiciness that extends the length. So mineral. So calcaire. Fresher than the 2023 (though it’s also very good). 94. The 2023 is available in cases of 6 from Cru World Wine for £211 in bond.

Château Suduiraut 2017 (Sauternes; 94% Sémillon; 6% Sauvignon Blanc; a final yield of 15 hl/ha; 140 g/l of residual sugar; 14% alcohol). An unusual Suduiraut in a way, closest amongst more recent vintages to the excellent 2023 – and with precisely the same sense of an almost structural and very palpable tension between the bright citrus acidity and the richness and sucrosity that comes from the profound presence of botrytis. And, unlike the 2023, this has some age to it. It’s a very lively, energetic and dynamic Sauternes. Butterscotch. Burnt caramel. But crucially, also, clementine, quince and quince compote. Pear, pear Belle-Hélène, a little scorched pineapple and a grating of fresh ginger. This is wondrously bright and fresh at the heart of the palate just where it needs to be. Yet it’s also incredibly impactful, dense, concentrated and rich. But, above all, its aerial and seems to defy gravity in its vertical range. A wine of staggering purity despite the considerable density and sheer viscosity. I love the combination bitter almond and salt on the finish. 97+. Available in cases of 6 bottles from Farr Vintners for £195 in bond.

La Petite Lily de Château Climens 2023 (Bordeaux blanc; 100% Sémillon; 13% alcohol). Waxy. Plush. Ample. Less dense and in a way more vivid and salivatingly fresh than the richer, more serious, Lilium. Sapid and tender, tense and taut on the zesty finish. Wonderfully focussed and precise. 90. Available in the UK from Vinatis for £19.38, tax and duty paid.

Lilium de Château Climens 2023 (Bordeaux blanc; 100% Sémillon; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; 4.2 g/l of residual sugar; 12.5% alcohol; no oak, just the precision of the wine globe; Sémillon on limestone). Lovely, bright, crisp, with a leafy-fruited florality. So elegant and lifted. White currant leaf, passionflower, lily, mimosa, citron pressé and tarte au citron, linden and homemade lime cordial with a little zest. White grapefruit too. Gracious. The gentle touch of residual sugar lifts this and renders it Ygrec like. Wonderfully tense and zippy. Zesty and fresh. Lemon sorbet, lemon soufflé with that levity. Excitingly vibrant. So lithe and floaty, dynamic and energetic. A step up from the already excellent Asphodèle created by Berenice Lurton and very much in the same vein. Perhaps the most delicate and refined blanc sec of the vintage. So glassily textured yet with refreshing acidity from below welling up. So refreshing. A singularity. 94. The 2022 is available in the UK from Cork and Barrel Co. for £55 per bottle, duty and VAT paid.

Château Climens 2016 (Barsac; 100% Sémillon; 125 g/l of residual sugar; 14% alcohol; biodynamic viticulture). Golden with slight, almost crystalline, green highlights. Limpid and quite viscous. A little closed at first. But it is sublimely lifted and very vertical – like a firehose, charged with citrus fruit, pointed upwards in the mouth. And that verticality is so utterly and instantly representative of its terroir. There is a pronounced marine, saline, iodine minerality to this, almost like an Islay whisky. Great volume, puissance and a radiant sense of energy. Fresh and dried flowers – celandine perhaps. But also a touch of toasted brioche and frangipane. So lively, so intense and yet so elegant too. Citrus notes are predominant – both fresh and confit and the zestyness is accentuated by the salinity. So light and yet so powerful. Like a freeze-frame of a ballet dancer, this seems to defy gravity. A very special wine. 98. Available in the UK from both Corney & Barrow and Farr Vinters for £250 in bond for a case of 6 bottles.

 

Related news

ASC Fine Wines and Vinarchy strike exclusive distribution deal

Refined wines define Martínez Lacuesta's 130-year legacy

'Rare buying opportunities' as fine wine prices hit a five-year floor