Sauv.Blanc & Sémillon

This exquisite wine has been carefully vinified for us by one of the finest châteaux in Sauternes, Ch. Climens. The fruit comes from different parcels within the vineyard, producing a wine with classic honey and orange blossom notes on the nose. The palate is intensely sweet yet beautifully balanced by fresh, lively acidity. It will pair brilliantly with a tarte tatin or with blue and goats’ cheeses.
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

A 50/50 blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, this classic example of white Graves is bottled for us by Famille JM Cazes. Gorgeous aromas of citrus oil and white peaches fill the nose, while the palate strikes the perfect balance of caressing soft fruit with a vibrant lick of acidity on the finish. Perfect as a light apéritif but also delicious with asparagus, seafood or goats' cheese tart.
Max Lalondrelle, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd

A fabulous wine for the vintage with plenty of botrytis on the nose and  intensely sweet, seductive, fruit flavours. This has a wonderful balance between elegance and power. Very fine indeed.

Suduiraut is undoubtedly one of the top Sauternes estates and the quality has reached even headier heights since AXA bought it in 1992. The 1998 is very feminine: elegant with creamy honeysuckle notes and soft pear and pineapple fruit. It is however somewhat unladylike with its forward style! Drink now 2018.

This Sauternes from the Rothschild stable is often under-rated. The Muscadelle adds a light, honeyed white-blossom bouquet to the richer, botrytis notes – with classic aromas of marmalade, apricot, pineapple and peaches. There is still a zing of citrus to the palate, balancing the wine’s intense sweetness. This will open up before the 2015.

Masses of class with striking botrytic aromas, lovely noble apricot-like flavours and a rich intense fruit.

Olivier Bernard has crafted a succession of stunning wines over the past few years and this may well be his best yet.

A 100% Sauvignon Blanc! ‘It was the first time we ever dared to do it,’ said Denis Dubourdieu. Elegant if reticent nose of lemon jelly, melon and saffron. Extremely rich and concentrated on the palate with a viscous mouthfeel and pure, fresh citrus and sweet spice flavours. Three barriques only were made, with roughly 204g/l residual sugar and 9g/l total acidity. Excellent and racy but lacks the weight provided by Semillon.
Drink: 2020-2040
Ian D’Agata - decanter.com

This is a marvellously intense white wine. There is terrific depth and length on offer here. Lovely touches of butter and floral aromas dominate the nose. The palate is really flavoursome, but there is some quite obvious poise and elegance. It is multi-layered and very appealing indeed, earthy notes are evident, followed by a long, clean finish. This is rich, lovely, and classic white Bordeaux.

In great Sauternes vintages we offer our “Liquid Gold” selection. We pick our favourites from the vintage in terms of both quality and value, and this is a fantastic way to enjoy a selection of the vintage’s best sweet wines. The wines are packed in their own wooden cases, and are offered in halves (six halves of each wine) or bottles (three bottles of each wine).

Our picks this year are Châteaux Doisy-Védrines, Doisy-Daëne, Guiraud and Suduiraut. 2011 is a great vintage for Sauternes.

Whilst the 2001 vintage may never be surpassed, 2011 is easily at or above the level of the brilliant 2007 vintage, and may well match 2001 in some cases. The wines have flesh, weight, energy with fresh acidity to boot. This is an exceptional case for the cellar. 2011 Ch. Doisy-Védrines, Barsac
One of the stars of the sweet wines this year and seemingly indicative of a strong showing for the commune of Barsac. The bouquet is truly a thing of beauty, with pure, vivid aromas of citrus peel, apricot and honey. The palate is again wonderfully pure and clean, and the length, albeit with lowish acidity, impressive. The sweetness is very clean and not at all cloying.

“The most extensive of the Doisy estates has made a stunning wine in 2011: fine, elegant and beautifully restrained with peachy concentration balanced by flavours of citrus peel and pink grapefruit. Powerful and dense, this is rich yet refreshing on the palate, promising up to a decade of bottle development. 8+ years. 95 points.” Tim Atkin MW

2011 Ch. Doisy-Daëne, Barsac
“Nothing better than a fresh glass of Sauternes!! Every time I have one I just think “why do I not have this more often!!”. Following from great 2001-2005-2009-2010 the 2011 is yet again a very strong Sauternes vintage and Doisy Daene is one of the best when it comes to the combination of both elegance and freshness. Although sweet it is one of these wines that drinks effortlessly. Lovely perfumed sweet nose, pineapples and peach. A touch sweeter than usual for this wine but extremely well balanced and lovely fresh elegant long finish.”
(Max Lalondrelle, Berrys’ Fine Wine Buying Director)

“A wine that has "more of everything, but is still in balance" according to Fabrice Dubourdieu, this is a super concentrated sweet wine with a massive 175g/l of sugar, a touch of smoky reduction and exotic characters of pineapple, barley sugar and citrus fruit. Delicious now, but will age for a decade or more. 10+ years. .”
95 points -Tim Atkin MW 2011 Ch. Guiraud, Sauternes
“Since being sold a few years ago to a consortium of quality-minded Bordeaux producers and the Peugeot family this famous old Sauternes property has made steady progress. This year it has excelled itself with a wine of unusual elegance, in slight contrast to the slightly richer style it is more known for. The bouquet displays an abundance of stone-fruit aromas with hints of coconut and citrus peel. The palate has wonderful purity and finesse with a long finish of piercing precision.”
Alun Griffiths MW, Berrys' Wine Buying Director

“As it did in 2009, this bio-dynamic estate has made one of the sweet wines of the vintage, with a marked percentage of Sauvignon Blanc adding verve and freshness to the blend. There's a tangy, citrus peel note underlying the 139g/l of sugar here, giving some backbone to the sweet, exotic fruit flavours. 8+ years. .”
95 pointsTim Atkin MW

2011 Ch. Suduiraut, Sauternes
“Tasted twice, and both times impressing with its finesse. A wonderful bouquet of honeyed orange zest and acacia, followed by great elegance on the palate with a laser-sharp sense of natural sweetness. Purity again the hallmark, as seems to be the case this year with the Sauternes.”

“Stylishly oaked with viscous, peach and honeycomb fruit, this is subtle and well balanced with luscious stone fruit flavours, a hint of lemon tartness, good freshness and enough acidity to balance the 150g/l of sweetness. This should develop more gravitas in barrel over the next year as the wine fattens out. 8+ years. .”
94 pointsTim Atkin MW

There is a marvellously intense expression of typical Sauvignon Blanc fruit here, despite the blend being dominated by Semillon. An abundance of grass shows through on the perfume, with hints of grapefruit and some stone fruit too. An excellent backbone of acidity follows before emerging into a finish of zesty fruit and some peach.

A pale hay-coloured wine, this is delicate and precise. The nose is very attractive with notes of lemon, lime fruit, lemongrass and spice. Once sipped, it is mouth coating and yet there is a laser-like flow and acidity, finishing quite rich with a long, mineral finish. 

Blend: Sauvignon Blanc 62.7%, Sémillon 37.3%

We only release our "Liquid Gold Assortment Case" in vintages where we can find 3 or 4 sticky beauties that really excite us and in 2009 we had a wealth of options. We appreciate that sometimes it is quite hard to work your way through a whole case of the same Sauternes, and this Liquid Gold case gives you the ability to dip in and out of 4 different wines of differing styles. This is always one of our staff's favourite cases to buy, and after a recent re-tasting of the wines, we are delighted with our selection this year.

Each Berry Bros. & Rudd branded case contains 3 bottles of the following 2009 delights:

Ch. Suduiraut Ch. La Tour Blanche Ch. Guiraud Ch. Doisy Vedrines

The 2001 vintage resulted in truly exceptional, hedonistic sweet wines in Sauternes, and the Cru Classé estate Ch. Guiraud produced a very fine and rich example. A perfumed bouquet of honey, beeswax and honeysuckle entices – and the palate doesn’t disappoint, with good acidity supported by a glorious freshness. The finish is long, persistent and intense. This is a classy wine from a classy estate.

The wine is usually really classy and 2015 is certainly no exception. It's really refreshing, but wears its acidity so well: lemon, pear, apple and all the zestiness you can hope for, alongside tasty baked fruit and hints of the exotic.

The wine is ever so persistent, there is volume here and really pretty aromatics. It is so floral. Enticing and rewarding, it has such a glorious mouth-watering acidity on the finish.

Blend: 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 33% Semillon, 17% Muscadelle

With vineyards bordering those of the fabled Ch. d’Yquem, this 16th century property has produced increasingly impressive and refined wines since AXA Millésimes took over in 1992, particularly so under the talented Christian Seely.

This has a very elegant, enticing nose, but on the palate the flavours explode with exuberance. The power is never allowed to become clumsy here, with multiple layers of citrus fruit, marmalade and plump, ripe peaches ascending to an extremely long finish supported by zesty acidity. This wonderful Sauternes has a great future ahead of it.

One of the stealth wines of the vintage, where the acidity – here zingy lime zest – builds slowly over the course of the palate, along with good tension and savoury herbs. Grasps on to the available freshness in the grapes and run with it. A lovely wine that will develop.
Drink: 2017-2027
Jane Anson - decanter.com - April 2016 

Fresh, zippy and extremely quaffable, it has a slightly honeysuckled nose with lashings of tropical fruit. On the palate the freshness continues with citrus flavours, hints of tangerine and lychee. Good acidity and a superb finish. Something to enjoy as soon as it arrives on our shores.

Displaying white flower notes, honeyed citrus and fig, this is textbook white Bordeaux. There is a purity and full body which carries the high acidity. The acidity is very welcome indeed and mouth-wateringly fresh. Expressive on the palate, the white peach, passion fruit and cream combine to create a wonderful flavour. The finish is long, engaging, satisfying and impressively crisp.

Blend: 67% Sémillon, 33% Sauvignon Blanc