Chateau Gravas Sauternes 2001

This Sauternes can be considered a young adult and gives you a sub-top quality wine for a very good price! Good balance between acids and sugars, subtle botrytis, but with less depth than the top of the class of this year. Easily accesible and certainly good for another 5-10 years!

April 2009

Holy schnikes! This is one of the most awesome values in Sauternes from this amazing vintage that we have ever come across - just trust us and and try a bottle. We swear no one will know that you didn't spend $100 on it. Straw blonde golden color, sweet honeyed aromatic nose, clean and unctuous mouth, long honeyed finish. The wine is sweet and rich but dances lightly on the palate. 100% Semillon. Truly great vintages in Sauternes occur fewer than three out of every ten years. As Monsieur Focke discovered, the ideal conditions for such a vintage are perfectly ripe grapes, dense fogs, ample humidity, read more...and proper development of noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). Only under these circumstances can one achieve a superb vin liquoreux or unctuous dessert wine. The finest of these wines can easily age 20 ­ 50 years depending upon residual sugar, concentration, acidity, and the results of barrel aging. 2001 has proven to be an ideal vintage for Chateau Gravas. This property has 12 hectares (30 acres) used for production of Sauternes. It is superbly sited in the Barsac commune between Chateau Coutet and the Doisy estates. Chateau Gravas has been owned by the Bernard family for five generations and is currently managed by Michel and Patrick Bernard. In a good year their Sauternes production is 100 barrels (2,500 cases). The wine is 100% Semillon, 100% botrytis infected, and aged in both French and American oak. 2001 Chateau Gravas represents an incredible value for Sauternes.    (hide)

Rating: 95/100 - As reviewed by Wine.com