Chateau La Clotte-Cazalis Sauternes 2014 (375 ml)

Alcohol: 13.5%

Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon 

Localization: Bordeaux, France

Tasting Notes: It is in a crisp style, concentrating on baked-apple and bitter-orange flavors. Bright acidity shows strongly, dominating the honey and botrytis.

Food Pairing: Pairs well with blue cheeses

The Domain: Château La Clotte-Cazalis has belonged to the Lacoste family since 1779. For forty years prior to 2001 they leased their vineyard to another family who was responsible for farming it and had the rights to the harvest. In 2001 Marie-Pierre Lacoste and her mother, Bernadette, decided to take on the responsibility themselves and started producing a wine from their land. Their vineyard of 5 hectares is located in the commune of Barsac. It is planted with 95% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Blanc and the vines are all more than 50 years old. 

Harvesting is done from mid-September through mid-November. The collection of grapes is done entirely by hand and teams of harvesters go through the vineyard seven or eight times during the fall and pick only the bunches or even individual grapes that have been affected by botrytis. The yields are between 10 and 20 hectoliters per hectare. There is no chaptalisation and the grapes ferment with their indigenous yeast only. Fermentation is carried out partly in stainless steel tanks and partly in barrel. The wine is aged in barrels for one year.

Château La Clotte-Cazalis was sited in France’s leading wine journal La Revue du Vin de France as being «  one of the 100 Bordeaux Chateaux that will amaze you », and wrote that “ it is remarkable balance and freshness of fruit that bring merit to this wine of rare intensity”. Figaro magazine gave the 2002 vintage its highest award for Sauterne and described it as amazingly pure and composed of fruit that has exceptional finesse.