Went to my favorite out-of-the-way wine store today looking for a bottle of Sauternes. Never had it and have been wanting to try. Anyways, I got two bottles of this stuff for $15 a piece - I thought it was Sauternes - it was in the same area as some others and it has the same color and same bottle as a Sauternes, yet it doesn't say that it is on the label.

Can anyone tell me what to expect with this wine?

Label reads:

Grand Vin De Bordeaux
1994
Chateau Huradin
Cerons
Appellation Cerons Controlee
SCEA Vignobles Ricaud Lafosse
Recoltant A Cerons (Gironde)

Thanks

Cerons
-A village/commune some 20 miles south of Bordeaux, near the town of Podensac and adjoining the Barsac area. It makes a rather sweet white Graves. The name is often seen on English wine merchants' lists.



.......hope it helps a little.

TVG
Well, it isn't a Sauternes but at $15 for the bottle it is worth the buy, just to try something new. Please post a TN.

Are Sauternes (and also here, read Bommes and Graves) worth the extra money? Well, I'm afraid that is all in the eye of the beholder ... it is (as Latour67 would say), just juice. However, if you want to experience the real McCoy, look for
Chat. Filhot, Rieussec, Coutet, which are pinnacle wines but may be cheaper than Y'Quem. Lesser priced again, but well worth drinking are Chat Nairac or Doisy Védrines, the latter often under-rated IMO.

I suggest you buy half bottles (which will be about $40 anyway), and pair them with a fresh fruit salad .... or, even better, with a fresh mango.

Good hunting.

PS, and don't freeze the bloody things to death!!! Serve at about 55 degrees.

Ahh, thanks for the advice. I am going to open one of them tonight and will post a TN. It says on the back that it is 100% Semillon - although I couldn't find anything online about this particular brand, I did find out some facts about this grape on cellarnotes.net

Semillon ripens earlier in the season than most grapes and is less likely to be damaged by rains or frost. It produces wines that are full flavored rich and aromatic. Semillon is most often blended with other varieties (especially Sauvignon Blanc) to take advantage of the strengths of each variety. Semillon is one of the three approved varieties (Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle) for making white wines in the Bordeaux region of France. Together with Sauvignon Blanc, it is the base for the great sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac where it is affected by Botrytis cinerea. Whether in the sweet wines or in dryer styles, Semillon has the ability to age for a very long time.

And this note on the Foster's Group website describing the tastes exhibited by this grape:

Semillon has been seen as somewhat dimensionless to most parts of the world and is usually blended. In Australia it is made as a varietal dry white table wine with fabulous success producing fine wines with ageing potential. The Hunter Valley, where it was incorrectly called riesling for many years, produces some of our country’s best semillons. These wines are rarely oaked and display the distinctive notes of toast and honey with age.

Lemon, limes and honey are common in dry styles. Semillon will display wood character of toast without being oaked and as they age this toasty character will grow. Some will show a mineral or steely character with tight acid structure. Botrytis-affected fruits will produce exotic luscious wines of ripe peach, apricot and honey. With barrel ageing vanilla, caramel, spicy bacon, coconut, cedar and spice.

Although I will have to look again to try my first Sauternes, I think this might be a nice experience and probably not too bad of a buy. I'll post tasting notes tonight.

The Swedish wine journalists call this type of wine "Fake Sauternes". They also generally recommend Fake Sauternes because of QPR.