Sauternes

[kire]

Hello all.

I am very interested in making a batch of Sauternes wine. Unfortunately I have been unable to find a kit in this domain, however after scouring my books I did find a recipe in "Winemaking" by Stanley Anderson.

Has anyone made this type of wine and if so, would you mind sharing your perception of the end result and what recipe you used?

 

[Wade E]

The real only place I know of to get grapes with this disease is http://www.brehmvineyards.com/index.html

 

[Polarhug]

Sorry to dredge a thread up, but I am ordering a Sauternes base and wondering if the original poster had any luck. My base is coming from homewinery.com.

I'm really anxious to see how this compares to Semillon (same grape), and how they were able to bottle the concentrate with the botrytis. Any Sauternes I've seen in the store is insanely priced and the concentrate is cheap?? I have NO idea how they are doing that. I'm not saying it's NOT sauternes... but I'm perplexed.

My curiosity stemmed from several tastings of mead in which I could really taste a "Semillon" flavor which I love, and was labeled as having a Sauternes profile. So now I have to make this elusive beauty.

Seeing as this is a typically sweet dessert wine - I anticipate it going dry during ferment though. Should I hold back a pint of the concentrate for extra flavor and body?

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Sauterne is made primarily from the Semillion and Sav Blanc grape that have been affected by noble rot and to some degree the muscadet grape. I believe WineXPert sells a kit blend of the two. I would ferment to dry and then back sweeten with apricot concentrate to get the hallmark apricot flavors that sauterne are known.

 

[TonyP]

I'm very skeptical on whether kit makers can produce a reasonable priced Sauterne kit. Given the combination of rarity (for a desirable Sauterne), difficulty in predicting the outcome, production cost, and licensing issues the cost of a real Sauterne kit would probably be astronomical, perhaps $1,000US (just a guess). It's likely to be much more difficult than finding a Champagne kit.

BTW, I understand Sauterne can be faked by adding apricot flavor in the form of apricot nectar to a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend must during primary fermentation

 

[Polarhug]

That what I was wondering Tony. I'm suspicious of this concentrate, but I will let you know how it turns out. I'll try the apricot addition.

When you see a wine that traditionally is paired with Foie Gras... you know it's gonna be all hoity-toity. LOL

 

[GaDawg]

I remember in Europe guys drinking Spanish Sauterne. It was like drinking karo syrup. Some guys added kool aid and called it shake and bake

 

[Polarhug]

I have my concentrate and plan to start the Sauternes as soon as a bucket frees up. Going to do a split batch, one at reg abv, and one a fortified white port.

 

[Julie]

Don't confuse Sauternes with Sauterne that homewinery is selling. Sauterne is a California based white table wine that came be dry to semi-sweet.

Sauternes is a French wine made from Semillion and Sav Blanc grape, that has the noble rot from the Sauternais region.

 

[jswordy]

Don't confuse Sauternes with Sauterne that homewinery is selling. Sauterne is a California based white table wine that came be dry to semi-sweet.

Sauternes is a French wine made from Semillion and Sav Blanc grape, that has the noble rot from the Sauternais region.

Best post of the lot! WOOOOT!