Sauternes 1997 Vintage with Tasting notes

1997 Sauternes

A Good Vintage

As a Sauternes proprietor, even more so than any other agriculturalist, you have to learn to be philosophical. For a start you are doing something which, on the face of it, sounds mad: you are deliberately not picking your fruit when it is ripe and healthy, you are leaving it to rot on the vine. You wait and hope for the right sort of weather. This only occurs about once every three years. It will cost you three times as much to pick your fruit as those who collect their red grapes, for you have to pick through your lines of vines not once but three, four, five or even more times. And, moreover this crucially important job is delegated to a casual worker, even a student. At the end of the day you have one third the harvest of your neighbour with his red wine vineyard. But you can't sell it for three times as much.

So, should the Sauternes proprietor hang over his desk that well-known office notice "you don't have to be mad to work here; but it helps"? One current proprietor had the choice, some years ago, between acquiring Château Cantemerle, the well-known fifth growth, or the premier cru Sauternes he eventually bought. Should he have been certified? Should we question the decisions by AXA and the Rothschilds of Lafite to acquire respectively Suduiraut and Rieussec? Or should we just welcome their altruism?

1997

Happily, after five years of meagre harvests, with some (1992 and 1993) so poor that many châteaux declassified, the weather has once again changed in the Sauternais' favour. Nineteen ninety-six was at least good, if variable. The best wines (in alphabetical order Caillou, Climens, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Rieussec, Sigalas-Rabaud, Suduiraut and La Tour-Blanche) have no lack of botrytis, nor concentration, nor finesse. The 1998s are also good; the 1999s are even better (see The Vine No 185, June 2000). But the most successful vintage of the late 1990s is 1997.

The Weather

After a very unsettled summer and a humid August which ended in a thunderstorm, September was really rather dry in the Bordeaux area. One or two tris were attempted by most of the Sauternes châteaux, but what was collected did not result in very good wines. Most of this was rejected. The Sauternes harvest began properly in October, after a couple of showers on the 5^th which began to encourage the development of noble rot. The harvest carried through until the end of November. The fruit was nicely rotten and splendidly concentrated, with good balancing acidities. All looked very promising.

The Wines

My first sight of the vintage was in April 1998, with the exception of Château Climens, which does not send out samples that early but where I tasted several different batches in situ, I sampled the rest of the crus classés at a blind tasting at Château Myrat.

Despite the fact that these were very much rough approximations of the blend of the grand vin that was to come it was obvious from the word go that we had a vintage with a richness and a power not seen since 1990. There was an impressive level of botrytis, very good grip and a lot of concentration. Here, at least, for it was a sad vintage for red wines, we have success, I wrote at the time.

The 1997s Today

I liked the 1997s when I first tasted approximations of the final wine – Sauternes doesn’t normally get blended until just before bottling – in the Spring of 1998. I was slightly less happy, but still pleased enough, when I first sampled the wines in bottle in 2001. There was a rogue bottle of Doisy-Védrines. I commented than the vintage seemed less good in Barsac than elsewhere.

Today while there are nevertheless no shortage of good wines, I am less satisfied. Too many wines, and top wines at that, seem to have evolved too fast, and in a negative sense. These wines have lost their grip, their fruit and their finesse. Nineteen ninety-seven is outclassed by 2001.

Prices

The 1997s do not seem to have the market appeal of the 2001s. Yes, Yquem is £1550 per dozen, but this is an exception. The most expensive of the rest fetch barely £300; the second growths hardly £180. The vintage may be variable. But it is not that bad.

The Tasting

1997 Sauternes

Haut-Bergeron Now-2020 13.0

Bronze gold colour. Quite evolved but good botrytis on the nose. Fullish, plump, fresh and sweet. Clean and balanced and stylish. Very good finish. Long. Very good indeed. Just about ready.

Filhot Now-2010 14.0

Light, green-gold colour. Sweet nose. Slightly heavy. Lacks zip and elegance. No botrytis. No oak. Medium body. Gently sweet. Reasonably clean and fresh, but one-dimensional. Dull.

Lamothe (Despujols) Now-2014 14.5

Light gold colour. Just a little botrytis. Full and slightly four-square on the nose. Not very clean. Indeed it may be slightly corked. Underneath a medium to medium-full bodied, reasonably balanced example with a decent finish. Quite good plus.

Lamothe-Guignard Now-2020 15.5

Mid-gold colour. Rich nose. Ample. Good botrytis nose. Good grip. Quite a full bodied wine. Good fruit. Fresh, vigorous, balanced and stylish. Good plus. Just about ready.

D’Arche Now-2010 13.5

Mid-gold colour. Slightly burnt and sulphury on the nose. Medium-full weight. Not a lot of elegance or botrytis. This got worse in the glass. Slight vegetal, dried-out elements here. Sweet but bland on the palate. Lacks finesse.

Caillou 2007-2025 16.0

Mid-gold colour. Fresh, quite stylish, balanced fruit on the nose. Some botrytis. Medium-full body. Honeyed. Vigorous. This has good depth and a long positive follow-through. Very good.

Doisy-Daëne 2007-2030+ 18.0

Mid-gold colour. A clean, discreet, complex nose. Lovely fruit. Good botrytis. Medium-full body. Still youthful. Plump and ripe and stylish and harmonious. Complex and delicious. Fine plus.

Doisy-Védrines - -

Bronzed gold colour. Old, dry, attenuated and vegetal nose. This is not the first time I have had a bad bottle of this wine. Medium-full body on the palate, with a little sweetness rapidly being overwhelmed by this off-flavour.

Nairac Now-2015 15.5

Orange, bronzed gold colour. Oaky, old - bottled too late I suspect - nose, but not off, like the Doisy-Védrines. Full, sweet, somewhat dominated by the oak on the palate. But a lot fresher than the nose would suggest. Good grip. Plenty of noble rot. Ready. Good plus.

Coutet 2007-2025 13.5

Light gold colour. Fresh, sweet vanilla-scented nose. No enormous noble rot though. Medium-full body. Fresh. Quite stylish. Some botrytis. Quite complex. Long. Vigorous. Fine.

Climens See Note -

Mid-gold colour. Dry, somewhat vegetal nose. This is not what it should be. Medium weight. Far too old and dried out. A bad bottle.

Clos Haut-Peyraguey Now-2015 14.5

Mid-gold colour. Some botrytis but quite evolved on the nose. It lacks a little freshness. Medium body. Not that sweet. Vanillary. A little one-dimensional. Not special.

La Tour Blanche Now-2025 17.0

Mid-gold colour. Honey and flowers and good botrytis on the nose. Fully ready, it would seem. Medium to medium-full weight. Very good fruit. Balanced and fresh and stylish. Long on the palate. Very good indeed.

Rayne-Vigneau Now-2020 16.0

Mid-gold colour. Good fresh, honeyed nose. Stylish and harmonious. Medium to medium-full weight. On the palate there is good fruit if not the bite or style or complexity of La Tour Blanche. Very good.

Suduiraut Now-2030 17.5

Mid-gold colour. Fresh, flowery nose. Good botrytis. Good elegance. Medium to medium-full weight. Fresh. Plenty of dimension. Good fruit. Lots of depth. Finishes long. Fine. Just about ready.

Sigalas-Rabaud Now-2012 15.5

Mid-gold colour. The nose is not very expressive. Fullish and sweet on the palate. Quite evolved. There isn’t much elegance here. Nor is it really very concentrated. And the finish lacks zip. Good plus at best.

Lafaurie-Peyraguey 2007-2030+ 18.0

Mid-gold colour. Fullish, honeyed, still closed-in on the nose. On the palate this is full bodied. It has very good grip and depth, and it will still improve. Rich, honeyed and quite powerful. Good attack and a very long finish. Fine plus.

Rieussec Now-2018 16.0

Fullish gold colour. Fullish but rather dry and tired-oaky on the nose. Sweet but quite evolved on the palate. No great botrytis. Nor grip. Lacks style and depth and zip. Slightly heavy at the end. I’ve had better bottles. Disappointing. Very good at best.