A Sauternes Discovery: 5 Étoiles Sauternes 5+
It is always rewarding to see cooperation and mutual support within appellations and regions. The way vignerons come together to help out a colleague when they fall ill, or when a crop is lost to frost, for example. There is a spirit of fraternity within wine which does not always shine through in modern wine writing, so often based around reports bristling with ratings and scores, as if it was all some grand competition and nothing else mattered.
In one particular corner of Sauternes five well-known names in the region have come together to take the notion of fraternity to the next level. These five names are Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Château Rabaud-Promis, Château de Rayne-Vigneau, Château Sigalas-Rabaud and Château La Tour-Blanche, five premier grand cru classé names in Bommes, one of the more significant communes eligible for the Sauternes appellation. They have joined forces under the name 5 Étoiles (five stars), to make a blended cuvée which, by virtue of including a barrel from each property, represents the terroir of Bommes.
In this brief report I provide a little more background to how this unlikely project saw the light of day, along with my tasting notes on two vintages of the wine which resulted, the 5+ Sauternes.
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