Winemaker Notes
Lovely greenish color with a grey silver tint. Intense nose of blackcurrant buds and white peaches. Fresh in the mouth with a palate of soft grapefruit flavors intertwined with flint notes and an exquisite acidulous finish.
This delicious dry white wine is great for just sipping as a cocktail or paired with seafood, white meat dishes (chicken, veal, pork) and pasta.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Le Sec de Rayne-Vigneau has plenty of white flowers on the nose, almost occluding the fruit profile. The palate is fresh on the entry, tensile and poised, with fine acidity and nectarine and white peach toward the finish. Lovely.
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Wine Enthusiast
This dry wine comes from the vineyard of Sauternes chateau Rayne Vigneau. Pure Sauvignon, it has good depth and ripe white fruits that have an herbal hint plus a touch of honey.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Sweet and unctuous but delightfully charming, the finest Sauternes typically express flavors of exotic dried tropical fruit, candied apricot, dried citrus peel, honey or ginger and a zesty beam of acidity.
Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle are the grapes of Sauternes. But Sémillon's susceptibility to the requisite noble rot makes it the main variety and contributor to what makes Sauternes so unique. As a result, most Sauternes estates are planted to about 80% Sémillon. Sauvignon is prized for its balancing acidity and Muscadelle adds aromatic complexity to the blend with Sémillon.
Botrytis cinerea or “noble rot” is a fungus that grows on grapes only in specific conditions and its onset is crucial to the development of the most stunning of sweet wines.
In the fall, evening mists develop along the Garonne River, and settle into the small Sauternes district, creeping into the vineyards and sitting low until late morning. The next day, the sun has a chance to burn the moisture away, drying the grapes and concentrating their sugars and phenolic qualities. What distinguishes a fine Sauternes from a normal one is the producer’s willingness to wait and tend to the delicate botrytis-infected grapes through the end of the season.