iDealwine update: sweet success

Sauternes occupies a special place in the world of fine wine, being both highly sought-after and seldom consumed. iDealwine assesses the value of this superlative sweet wine at auction with a special focus on the legendary Château d’Yquem.

At a recent wine dinner with customers in Hong Kong, where guests traditionally bring along stunning bottles to share with tasty Chinese dishes, one brought a luscious Château d’Yquem 1990.

This prompted an interesting debate about Sauternes. Everyone agreed on the exceptional quality of the sweet wines of the region. Most guests owned several cases, but hardly seemed able to find an occasion to open a bottle. Back in Europe, intrigued by this conversation, we broached the topic with other wine lovers and customers who came to the same conclusion. This represents a real paradox for the appellation – that its wines are simultaneously highly appreciated and rarely consumed.

Sauternes is surely one of the most difficult and risk-orientated wines to produce – the grapes require more time than usual to reach full ripeness, then the right combination of humidity, sunshine and breeze to enable the noble rot to attack, shrivel and concentrate the berries.

Risky business
This extended time on the vine often means an increased risk of seeing the all crop spoiled by capricious nature during the turning season. In some years, poor conditions lead some producers not to vinify any wine.

At Yquem, this is what has happened with 10 vintages since 1900, the latest being 2012. Overall, in the 2,200ha of Sauternes and Barsac appellations, yields remain very low. They are regulated to a maximum of 25hl/ha and are generally even lower, usually below 15hl/ha in the vineyards of the 26 grands crus classés of 1855.

Despite such small volumes, the supply of Sauternes remains higher than its global demand. Its low popularity is driven by three main factors: first, the growing criticism of sugary products. With sugar levels between 120g-150g per litre – Sauternes isn’t the ideal match for the much-promoted low-carb, low-sugar lifestyle. Second, as with Champagne, Sauternes is too often associated with celebration, limiting the occasions to open bottles and intimidating the consumer.

Finally, Sauternes has been pigeonholed as a dessert wine. This is a shame considering its great versatility, far away from this simplistic and reductive association.

In the secondary market, prices of the grands crus classés remain very reasonable due to limited consumption, and large stocks of back vintages held by merchants, négociants and a number of private individuals who regularly resell their wines after realising they won’t drink it fast enough. Furthermore, relatively high en primeur prices for wines that need decades to open up have diverted buyers to readyto- drink vintages in the secondary market.

In each of our bi-monthly online auctions, where we propose on average 200-300 bottles of Sauternes per sale, bidders are finding great deals. In recent auctions, buyers could find a superb Suduiraut 2009 (98 Parker points) for €52 per bottle, a great 1983 Guiraud for €62, a Climens 1990 (95 points) for €114 or a Fargues 1975 for €138.

At auction, Yquem stands out dramatically from other top Sauternes. Its iconic status, developed over the centuries and certainly reinforced by its influential owner, Bernard Arnault, put it in a different category. An auction which closed on 12 October on iDealwine featured a great series of rare and mature wines from the domaine, presenting a great opportunity to showcase the potential of the finest Sauternes in the long term.

Bids arose from many parts of the world, mainly from France, the UK, the US and Mexico, with battles that led to record prices. A bottle of 1914 sold for €3,120 and the legendary 1945 reached €4,080, +57% compared with its estimate. The 1947, another fantastic vintage, sold in August for €2,640 to a private collector in the UAE and then fetched €2,340 in October after being sold to a Mexican buyer.

Must-have wines
Such old vintages are must-haves for serious wine collectors, top restaurants and wine merchants. But here again, stock rotation often remains limited, with bottles sitting for many years before being opened or resold. A few other top vintage Sauternes, such as Climens, Coutet and Fargues, regularly fetch elevated prices, if always far below Yquem. This is the case for this rare Suduiraut 1929 that sold for €1,920 in the first auction of October.

So the current problem of Sauternes does not lie in the quality of its wines or its price, but in its perception and low consumption rate. Except for the finest and rarest wines, potential price rise on Sauternes, especially for the most recent vintages, should be limited in the short and middle term.

However, rather than an investment, for consumers who are seeking a special treat at a reasonable price, Sauternes offers fantastic opportunities, especially for mature vintages that have reached the perfect balance. The Christmas season should be a perfect time to enjoy such wines at a sweet price.

Top Sauternes vintages: 1900, 1921, 1937, 1945, 1947, 1955, 1959, 1975, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2005