Bordeaux 2004 at Two Years: Sauternes & Barsac
This vintage is not one that had the vignerons of Sauternes and Barsac in a bullish mood. The warm, damp months of summer, combined with the heavy, compact bunches, encouraged rot other than the noble variety, and the sorting out of good fruit from the diseased was a feature of the early tries. Nevertheless there was botrytis to be found, and a lengthy first pass brought in some good quality fruit. Good conditions ensued, and the immediately subsequent tries were also of good quality. Then followed the rains of October, which gradually became heavier; once these had passed, it was November before any further tries through the vineyards were effected. There was more botrytis, but less concentration, and as is often the case the harvest at this point was certainly of lesser quality.
Tasting the wines, nevertheless, shows the results to be good, although certainly it lacks the intensity and character of the 2003 vintage. Nevertheless there are one or two stars, most notably Climens, which sits comfortably apart from its peers in this line up. I was also quite taken by Suduiraut, but it certainly didn’t have the panache of the 2003. (10/11/06)
