Stefan Dolhain

9.5

2010 vintage. Technically a Barsac, but sold as Sauternes ( Barsac being the only Sauternes commune allowed to do so). Much deeper, more evolved colour compared to the 2010 Guiraud (in half bottle!) tasted alongside. Intense perfume with wild apricot, roasted pineapple, and caramelised nuts. Richer than the Guiraud, this is a very impressive effort that is definitely of Cru Classé quality. Superb value too. — a month ago

Shay A

9.2

Alexander Vineyards has a great selection of wines, all at great values. This is their only dessert wine, and it has been delicious every time I’ve had it.

Last bottle of mine. This is from the Barsac region. Richly colored gold in the glass. Viscous, but not overly so. If comparing to a Climens, I’d say this doesn’t have as much of the orange-honey roasted cashew type note, but lots of orange marmalade, honeyed tropical fruits and honeysuckle. This showed a more powerful core than a 2009 LaTour Blanche I had a few weeks ago (which I enjoyed how bright it was). Paired with truffle salted popcorn at the end of the night, and it was great. — 2 years ago

Alexandre Pagliano

9.3

Oh, so good. Elegant, fresh, complex, more Barsac than Sauternes. Very exotic too with flowers and spices.
If you are into Sauternes or Barsac buy a case or two, it does not get much better than this. Fantastic now but no rush. — 3 years ago

with Adriana

Paul K

9.2

This is the third Sauternes I’ve ever had. The first two were crazy good d’Yquems. This was gifted open so I thought we could try tonight with dinner. Didn’t have high expectations but really pleasantly surprised!
Pairing really great with the salad I whipped up. Pretty proud of it actually; quinoa, tomato, cucumber, steamed broccoli, mixed greens, chicken, and poppyseed dressing. — 5 months ago

Shay A

9.4

My second set of wines to provide as part of a co-host event.

I picked these up during a visit to Morlet in the fall of ‘21. Sadly, these are the last of my initial stash. 58 semillon/36 SB/6 Muscat.

Poured blind for a group of 20 people at the end of a wine event, I was shocked that not one single person called this Cali. Many Sauternes, Barsac, and a few South African dessert wine guesses. It’s undeniably sporting botrytis flavors, but the richness has a wonderful spine of acidity. Honeyed mango, white peach and chock-full of orange blossom on the nose, there’s added candied spice and honeycomb on the palate. Didn’t pick up any nutty flavors (which I enjoy in Sauternes), but this was also fairly young. Extremely “fresh” for a dessert wine, if that makes sense. Best Cali dessert wine I’ve had, I think. — 10 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.3

One of the best aged sauternes I’ve had in a long time! Candied Orange marmalade, chanterelle, honeycomb. Delicious. — 3 years ago

Willie Carter

9.0

100% dry Semillon from Barsac. Coming from one of the great Sauternes houses, this has to be magnificent right? Of course it is. Pale lemon in the glass with a floral perfumed nose. Lemon zest, lychee, and green apple get the party started with pears and honeysuckle coming to play. The honey, the straw, the brioche bread, all so lovely and so deep. Such an exciting, ethereal nose.

Lovely is the word of the day here. This is a mood invoking wine. Soft but rich. Evocative yet subtle. The acidity is crisp and the mouthfeel silky. The palate displays nice orchard fruits and a touch of stone minerality. Very saline, very correct, and magnificently pure. Spring in a bottle. A very unique, fun wine and I cannot get enough. — 4 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Second Sauternes pairing with my homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Didn’t use the additional crushed pineapple this time. Both preparations are very good. I think I prefer it w/ less pineapple.

In 2014 I attended the Bordeaux En Premiere. One of the six days, we toured 8 Chateau’s tasting multiple vintages at each in Sauternes & Barsac. Then, went back to Chateau Guiraud for dinner. Before the dinner, Bill Blatch then arranged for a Sauternes tasting after tasting at 8 Chateau’s in Saternes & Barsac. We tasted 50 Sauternes in basically in 60 minutes. After that, my hand was like Winne the Poo in the honey jar from dumping. After, my wish wasn’t necessarily for the forthcoming dinner, but rather wished to go to a Dentist for a teeth cleaning I had so much RS in my mouth. None the less, dinner was fantastic and started with warm Foie Gras & gravy. Perfect as is w/ the Pineapple Upside Down Cake tonight.

This 05 is everything that you taste in the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Perfect paring. Newly a quarter century and no fading in its evolution.

Dry; stone fruits, pineapple, orange citrus, pineapple. Marmalade, caramel, saline, limestone, honeycomb, beeswax, coconut, vanilla, saline, round acidity with yellow florals, toasted nuts with round acidity for days. Elegance, balance, structure and round, rich polish that goes in and on. Coravined from 375ml.

Bill Batch (who worked for Cristy’s & owned his own negotiate company) has somewhere around 5,000 bottles of Sauternes. He does a Sauternes & Sausage party bi-annually. Good luck getting a well sought after invitation. There are more people in Bordeaux who want to attend then there are available invitations. — 7 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

8.9

Great entry level sauternes for younger drinking. — 3 years ago

Jay Kline

9.0

Served double-blind. The wine appears as a deep golden color. Medium+ viscosity. The nose is a fascinating combination of intense honey suckle, orange blossom, coriander, candied oranges, and candied nuts. The palate follows suit with more honey suckle, citrus blossom and a slight nutty characteristic. There is definitely some residual sugar here. There is really good acid keeping everything afloat. The finish is long and short of cloying. Really impressive texture. Based on the color and the somewhat oxidative notes, I figured this had at least 10-15 years of age on it. I vacillated between Sauternes and Riesling…ultimately calling Sauternes from Barsac (feeling as though this was more Semillon than Sauvignon Blanc). I chose, poorly. But the wine is good and it positively begs for spicy Asian food. — 4 years ago