Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2021

About this wine

Sweet, fresh Sauternes from the 2021 second wine of Château Rieussec, a medium-bodied blend of 61 percent Sémillon and 39 percent Sauvignon Blanc. Lively acidity carries the sweetness through apricot, white flowers, and lemon to a clean citrus finish, at 13.5 percent ABV in a 375 ml half bottle.

Carmes de Rieussec 2021 is the second wine of Château Rieussec, a Sauternes Premier Grand Cru Classé estate acquired by the Rothschild family in 1984. The estate’s 93-hectare vineyard lies at the junction of Fargues and Sauternes on sandy-clay gravel soils. The difficult 2021 season included severe winter frost, heavy summer rainfall and mildew pressure, followed by conditions favorable to gradual noble-rot development; yields were very low and harvesting required up to four selections. The wine was fermented in barrels parcel by parcel, lees-stirred until mid-December, then aged in barrel for approximately 12 months.

Worth knowing

The 2021 introduced a redesigned bottle, and the glass is the interesting part — PcR, post-consumer recycled, recovered from domestic glass.

Blend

• Sémillon 61%
• Sauvignon Blanc 39%