A Steal from Nearby

If you asked a bunch of wine experts and we're not talking about casual experts here, we're talking about world renowned experts, what is the best dessert wine in the world, while there would be no unanimity, I expect that the answer that would come up the most, or at least nearly the most would be Chateau d'Yquem, the legendary wine from Sauternes. Further, if you asked the same group for a wine region from which to get the best dessert wine, I expect that three answers would dot the upper echelon: Sauternes, Tokaji, and Douro (the home of port wine from Portugal).

For the moment, let's stick with Sauternes. Located about 45 minutes to the south and slightly east of the village of Bordeaux, the sweet wines here made almost always from a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc can be truly life altering for a lover of dessert wines. That is, they taste that good and if you try to purchase the best of them, you might be in debt for that long.

But, about 15 minutes to the north and slightly further east from Sauternes, you'll find Barsac. Barsac is another place where you will find sweet dessert wines made of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Now, I'm going to tell you that I have never had a Barsac that I would characterize as life altering, but the good ones are extremely good. And, they tend to be much less expensive than the wines from Sauternes.

So, the question often comes down to this. Can you tell the difference? Well, if you are reading this, you fall into a group of people many of whom I know who they are, but I don't know specifically who you are. So, I don't know if you can tell the difference. But, if I had to bet, I would bet that you couldn't. Yet, you will likely pay have as much or less.

Here is a possible buying technique if you teally think you can tell the difference. Find out what the best vintages were in Sauternes and Barsac.Heck, the only ones that haven't been very good in the last 20 years or so were 2012, 2008 (the weather was abysmal), 2004, and 2002. 2011, on the other hand was exceptional. 

And, often times, the best Barsac wines from a vintage would often rival almost all, if not all of the best Sauternes from the same vintage. So, find a great vintage and buy the less expensive neighvor from the same broad region. If you get luckt, the wine experience might still be life altering (the last 2011 Barsac I had was pretty darn inexpensive and that good), but you won't be burdened with that life altering debt.


Comments

Post a Comment

I'd like your feedback and questions.

Popular posts from this blog

Effects of Temperature Increases on Wine Production

Let's get to the controversy first. This is not a debate about long-term shifts in climate on earth and what is or is not causing them. If that is the debate that you do want, there are plenty of places online that you can do that. Frankly, as someone who doesn't study climate science, my thoughts on the matter should no more influence yours than should any other random person's. Here is a fact. The last 10 years or so have been warmer across essentially our entire planet than they have been over any other 10 year period since people started using thermometers and recording temperatures for posterity. Roughly 50 years ago back in the 1970s, we had a multi-year period during which temperatures were much colder than norms over the same periods of manually or electronically recorded temperatures. Each has an effect on wine. Let's consider what this does to wine and to some extent why. And, before you think I've misled you, this is not about wine that might have been ma...
Read more

For the "Big Game" -- Super Bowl Wine

I know; you drink beer on Super Bowl Sunday. But maybe you're not really a beer drinker. Perhaps you like wine better. But it's so hard to figure out what to drink with your Super Bowl food. Why is that? There is so much variety. If you're eating at the Super Bowl the way lots of other gluttonous Americans who plan to take Monday off from work do, you've got a huge variety of foods at your disposal. Let's go through them and see some of the problems: Chips and salsa -- salty and acidic Chips and veggie dip -- salty and green Barbecue of one type or another -- salty, a little spicy or a lot spicy, and likely somewhat fatty Wings -- spicy or lemony or garlicky or fried and maybe with blue or some combination Veggie platter -- somewhat bland, but the dips will change that Charcuterie platter -- fatty, sometimes spicy meats and cheeses that do or do not go with the meats All kinds of sandwiches usually with meats that fit into some of the catgories above Pizza More frie...
Read more

10 Tips for New and Not so New Wine Drinkers

 I took 3 years off from this blog. Why? I write off the top of my head and the top of my head just wasn't coming up with new ideas. So, I stopped for quite a while and focused on some other things.  What, you ask? Work, life, family, volunteering, debate reviews. One of those has somewhat fallen off the radar, so the top of my head had an idea. Suppose you were a person just getting into wine or even if you've been drinking it for a while had never really explored. What might I tell you to do? Do not drink Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon for a year.  That's right. I'm telling you to stay away from two of the most popular grapes in the world. Why would I do that? Well, among white wines, Chardonnay is about as full-bodied as it gets (yes, I could name some obscure grapes that might dispel that, but that's not the point) and among red wines, Cabernet is about as full-bodied as it gets. So, when people start their wine adventures with those fuller-bodied wines, they ...
Read more