wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Sauterne

Name used in France for the sweet wines in the French wine-growing region of Sauternes; see there.

The appellation named after the commune of the same name with around 1,700 hectares of vineyards forms an island in the large Graves area in southern Bordeaux. It consists of the five communes of Bommes, Fargues-de-Langon, Preignac and Sauternes, as well as the right to its own appellation Barsac with 600 hectares. All Barsac wines may also use the name Sauternes or Sauternes-Barsac, but this does not apply vice versa. For centuries, mainly sweet white wines have been produced here from botrytised grapes. The later US President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), who was envoy to Paris from 1785 to 1789 and visited many French wine-growing regions during this time, described Sauternes as the best white wine in the country after Champagne and Hermitage. His ranking was also used as one of the criteria for the 1855 Sauternes classification (see below).

Bordeaux - Karte

Sauternes appellation

The highly calcareous soil provides excellent conditions for white wines; red wines are less important. The appellation only applies to noble sweet white wines. Dry white wines may only use the AOC Bordeaux, red wines only the AOC Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur. The appellation regulations for sweet white wines require an alcohol content of at least 13% by volume and proof of the required degree of sweetness through a sensory taste test. The yield limit is 25 hectolitres per hectare. The most common and most important white wine variety is Sémillon, which occupies around 80% of the total...

Voices of our members

Markus J. Eser

Using the encyclopaedia is not only time-saving, but also extremely convenient. What's more, the information is always up to date.

Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,379 Keywords · 46,983 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,713 Pronunciations · 202,093 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS