2011 Bordeaux: Sauternes

The wines of Sauternes and Barsac are spectacular in 2011.  In fact, they are by far the best Bordeaux wines of all in this vintage.  In 2011, these unique sweet wines are characterized by great freshness, upfront ripe fruit, and an easy-drinking quality that will give them immense early appeal.  But the best wines also have the acidity to age effortlessly. 

Also worthy of note is that overall quality is amazingly uniform in 2011:  offhand, I can't remember a Sauternes vintage with fewer disappointing wines.  There is also plenty of botrytis, though a touch less than in 2007 (the recent vintage 2011 most resembles), and therefore the best wines also possess considerable complexity.  In my view, since the beginning of the 21st century, only 2001 is clearly a better Sauternes vintage than 2011, although those wine lovers who like their Sauternes opulent may prefer 2009 to the 2011s as well.  But more than any of those other great vintages, the wines of 2011 are so fresh, crisp and balanced that they will not only be great to drink young but will also prove to be remarkably flexible with food--not just cheese, foie gras and desserts, but also everything from cold pumpkin soups to roast scallops with tropical fruit chutneys.

For exactly the same reasons that 2011 is a difficult vintage for Bordeaux's red wines (very early start; dry June and July; very wet, cool August; very dry and hot September and October), the growing season was nearly ideal for its sweet wines.  The weather conditions caused the earliest harvest on record at many properties and noble rot came quickly and swiftly, hitting what were very ripe grapes.