Sauternes

page 2So back to my coworker’s question – “Why is Sauternes soexpensive?” One reason is that if everything goes just right, the yield ofthe vineyard drops to one sixth or even lower of the yield the vineyardwould give to “normal” grapes grown for dry white wine production.Not to mention that picking grapes for Sauternes is more laborintensive (if not to say “yucky”) and requires more knowledge and skillthan picking grapes for dry white, so the cost of harvesting is muchhigher. Add to that, Sauternes is something of a crapshoot; you neverreally know until it does whether Botrytis is going to do its thing orwhether the grapes will be ruined by gray rot or mildew or birds or …you get the idea. In some years, you don’t even get a crop. In thewinery, making Sauternes is more babysitting than winemaking as thewinemaker is always worried about a stuck fermentation andeverything is sticky from all that sugar. Walking through a Sauterneswinery during harvest is like walking through an old time movietheater with floors sticky from spilled Cokes and popcorn butter.Given what the vigneron (grape growers) and winemakers must do tomake Sauternes, it is no wonder that Sauternes can be expensive. Thereal wonder is that it can be sold as reasonably as it is.At some point, every wine lover ponders the question “Who firstthought to make wine from rotten grapes?” The answer is the same asthat of the other imponderable food question - Who first thought toeat an oyster? In both cases the answer is “No one knows.” But there isa myth about the origins of botrytis-affected wines.Depending on who is telling the story, the myth may be set inGermany’s Rheingau, in Hungary’s Tokaji, or in France’ Sauternes. Inall cases, the legendary estate’s owner or director is travelling as harvestapproaches and leaves orders for the staff to not pick until he givespermission. He is delayed in his travels and by the time he returns togive permission, the grapes have become rotten. In his anger over hisstaff’s lack of initiative, he orders that the disgustingly rotten grapesbe picked and processed into wine. Everyone assumes the wine will beawful but tasting reveals nectar and all are vindicated.As with any good myth there may be some element of truth thattranscends the veracity of the story. As we say in Texas, “Why let thetruth get in the way of a good story? And why let the facts get in theway of a good Truth?”Pairing Sauternes with FoodAs you may now have gathered, I love drinking Sauternes and I love itwith foods both traditional and, well, novel.The classics include pairing Sauternes with any sort of dish including foiegras or Roquefort (and by extension other bleu) cheeses. Traditional foiegras dishes include terrine de foie gras and a seared slice of fresh foie gras.A favorite non-traditional foie gras (which I have served with Sauternes) isFoie Gras Pot Stickers. While Sauternes is great with Roquefort and otherbleu cheeses in their natural forms, it can also accompany them in theform of a bleu cheese soup (whether based on Roquefort or Stilton orother) or a bleu cheese cheese cake. I have even had Sauternes as a uniqueingredient in a bleu cheese milk shake (which was as truly strange as it wasdelicious). Much to my surprise, Sauternes can work wonders with Shrimpand Grits, especially if the dish is on the spicier side. Sauternes and grilledoysters? Yum (it’s the acidity that makes it work). Sauternes and crabcakes? It can work, especially if you slip a little bacon into your crab cakerecipe. On the dessert front, a great really sweet Sauternes can accompanya pecan or walnut pie. And Sauternes can be perfect with a perfect crèmebrulée. Or combine Roquefort and ripe fruits in the same dish (thinktrifle, or maybe a terrine?) and serve with Sauternes. Caramel can work(also dulce de leche). Chocolate does not.Perhaps the most unique pairing I’ve ever had with Sauternes was spicyCajun fried chicken. If you’ve ever had chicken and waffles, you’llunderstand the appeal. If not, don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it. Since I canno longer eat chicken (I have since found out that I’m allergic to chicken),I’m now looking forward to trying Sauternes with chicken fried rabbit –which I hope will give me the same effect.And try Sauternes with “pig candy.” (If you don’t know what it is, Googleit. You may be disgusted… but you’ll want some.) And then there is foiegras ice cream and even a foie gras and Sauternes milkshake and …Please consider this your Sauternes wake up call. You’ve been remindedand maybe even a bit educated (but not so much taught). Now get outthere and enjoy some Sauternes.Pure Pleasure: Enjoying SauternesAs noted in my VinExpo reminder before, Sauternes can berefreshing and reviving. It can inspire and provoke conversation andeven controversy. For both its admirers and producers, Sauternes canbe (should be, often is …) a passion. Even more than Champagne,Sauternes is the wine appropriate both before and after the meal.Sauternes can be the wine of conversation. It can both start theconversation and be the subject of the conversation. It can even takethe place of conversation as friends quietly sip and appreciatesomething great in the glow after a fabulous meal.Because of its high acidity and ultimately clean, refreshing finish,Sauternes can serve as an aperitif at the start of a meal or accompanya rich hors d’oeuvre or first course. It is classic with foie gras at thestart of the meal and classic with Roquefort at the end. WhileSauternes is called a dessert wine, it is not often at its best withdessert. It can accompany great cheese and is often may best beserved either in lieu of or after dessert.Why, you might ask, does this sweet nectar not go with dessert?Well, actually it can. It’s just that most desserts are too sweet. Thegeneral rule is that the wine should be sweeter than the dessert.Sauternes can go beautifully with an apple or peach or apricot tartwhere the sweetness comes only from the very ripe fruit and notfrom lots of added sugar. An over sweet dessert will dominate andultimately dry out the impression of an otherwise lovely sweet wine.If you want to pair Sauternes with dessert, proceed with caution.Do proceed, but with caution.