Bordeaux 2007 at Ten Years: Sauternes & Barsac
It should come as no surprise to learn that in a vintage which laid waste to many of the red vineyards, the story down in Sauternes and Barsac was pretty much the opposite. This isn’t the first vintage in which the red wines have turned out to be lacklustre, while the sweet wines are superb, with 1997 being an archetypal example. Two other vintages that offered something similar were 2001 and 1983, although in both cases the red wines were actually pretty smart; it is more that they were too easy to overlook when compared to the preceding vintage. Such ‘overlooked’ vintages at least give the sweet wines a chance to shine, as well as providing astute buyers of the red wines some good-value options; I continue to enjoy drinking the red wines from the 2001 vintage (what few 1983s I had have pretty much gone now).
Concentrating now on 2007, the dry weather that arrived in September, and which saved the red vintage (one more round of rot like those seen after the rains on August 20th and 29th would have ended all hope), put a halt on the development of botrytis, which really needs higher levels of humidity. But it was only a temporary halt, as rain in early October kickstarted it once again. Warm and drier conditions through to mid-October then helped to concentrate the fruit, and it was the picking of this fruit that formed the backbone of the vintage. Picking continued into November though, small quantities of gently botrytised fruit continuing to arrive in the cellars.
The story of Sauternes in 2007 featured one of just-ripe grapes rich in acidity, which were concentrated slowly, with a protracted period of picking. This produces wines that are no less sweet than their counterparts from richer vintages, but they hold onto a sense of freshness, the acid levels admirable, the textures finessed and pure. Tasting wines like this at the primeurs, they often seem lean and a little uninteresting, but I have learnt through experience that such wines develop weight and botrytis complexity as they age, and indeed just four years after the vintage the wines of Sauternes and Barsac in 2007 were showing a completely different character.
