Chateau Petit Vedrines Sauternes 2015

Reviewed on February 14, 2020

It's Valentine's Day, so let's go crazy and pick something on the sweeter side. Chateau Petit Vedrines Sauternes is a blend of two white grapes – Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

It comes from one of top wine regions in the world - Bordeaux. Tucked into the southwest quadrant of Bordeaux lies the region of Graves. Within Graves, there are two neighboring sub-regions called Barsac and Sauternes. They are two of the very few communes in the world devoted to sweet wines. They do make some dry whites but it’s the sweet wines that truly rule. Sauternes is the more famous of the two. It is 4 times larger than Barsac.

The secret ingredient is a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea or Noble Rot. It may not sound pretty but what it does to the grapes is like magic! A few factors need to happen in order for this good fungus or Noble Rot to grow. First, in the fall, there must be the right amount of humidity and warmth. The Sauternes appellation sits on the west bank of the Garonne River which creates ideal misty conditions for the Noble Rot to grow on the ripened grapes. The Noble Rot makes the grapes shrivel up like ugly raisins. It also helps to concentrate the sugars in the juice while retaining plenty of acidity, creating wines that are rich without being cloying.

It has exotic aromas and flavours of peaches, honey, orange marmalade and candied ginger that will dance in your mouth! It comes in a half bottle (375 mL) making it the perfect “liquid" dessert. Sweet wines often are forgotten when people pop into their local wine shop. I find this so sad because magic can happen when you pair this luscious Bordeaux with a cheese plate. It's really good with mango cheesecake or pineapple upside down cake.

Region - Bordeaux, France