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Once owned by Carmelite monks, this estate is situated very close to the champion of sweet wines, d’Yquem. The origins of the name are sketchy, though it could be a compound of Ruisseau, the name of a stream which runs between Rieussec and d’Yquem, and sec (‘dry), because the stream is known to dry up during the summer months.

During the Revolution the estate was seized as a national asset, and subsequently sold to a gentleman called Mareilhac, who in turn sold it onto Monsieur Maille in 1846.

Following Maille the property passed onto Charles Crepin, who then willed the property to his son-in-law Paul Defolie in 1892. Despite making significant investments in the property, his tenure was sadly short-lived. Rieussec then ran the gamut of a series of owners and, as is always the case in this situation, it suffered from under-investment and began to fall into a state of ill repair.

This sorry state of affairs persisted until 1957, during which the various proprietors had little to no positive impact on the estate, which had suffered immensely from the effects of phylloxera and oidium. This was compounded by the Great War and widespread economic depression. The fact that the rich, sweet wine of Sauternes had fallen out of fashion simply rubbed salt in the wounds.

It comes as no surprise, then, that when the supermarket mogul Albert Vuillier arrived in Bordeaux to buy a property in Sauternes he was positively spoilt for choice. He settled on Rieussec – one of the few estates with buildings that remained habitable. At first he operated as an absentee landlord, but this all changed in 1974 when Vuillier moved into the chateau and took the reigns.

He wanted to invest heavily and in particular wanted to replant some of the rundown vineyards, but soon found that such investment was not feasible. The situation worsened after a succession of lacklustre vintages, coupled with low overall demand for the vines. In short, Vuillier needed help. It came in 1984, in the form of the Rothschilds.

The Rothschilds in question are those of Lafite-Rothschild. They were at the time already running Duhart-Milon, and investment in Rieussec must have struck them as prudent, as soon they were the majority shareholder. For a time Vuillier stayed on, but in 1985 he was unceremoniously replaced as manager of the estate by Charles Chevalier.

Under the supervision of the Rothschild family there has been steady investment and Rieussec has slowly recovered from decades of neglect. Today it is easily one of the greatest producers of Sauternes, and some might say it is second only to the peerless d’Yquem.

The vineyards are the second highest in Sauternes after those of the adjacent d’Yquem. They span across 90 hectares, with the ground beneath comprising of gravel and lime. The vines average at 25 years of age and are planted at 90% Semillon, with the remaining 10 per cent consisting of 7% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Muscadelle.

Yields are relatively high for Sauternes at 22 hl/ha, though there is stringent selection. The winery is where the Rothschild investment comes to the fore. The installation of pneumatic presses helps careful handling of the fruit.

Vinification takes place in the barrel, with a small-batch approach so that each can be individually managed and assessed. There is strict selection and only the best vines make up the grand vin, Chateau Rieussec, which is then subjected to 26 months in oak barrels. If the quality is deemed insufficient, no grand vin is produced (as happened in 1993).

Rejected wine goes into the second wine, Carmes de Rieussec, named after the Carmes de Langon monks that once owned the estate. There are also offerings under the Clos Labere and Chateau de Cosse labels, as well as a dry white made from non-botrytised grapes, made up of equal proportions of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, called R de Rieussec. The estate produces 10,000 cases of wine on average.
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Sauternes is home to sweet wine producers such as Yquem, Raymond-Lafon and Rieussec – giving rise to arguably the very best dessert wines in the world. The diversity of the terroir and fiercely independent nature of estates means that each wine is very personal. The end result is usually a golden, sumptuous and intricate wine with individual characteristics depending on the producer.

Sauternes wines usually make use of ‘noble rot’ or botrytis cinerea. This special type of mould requires a unique terroir to flourish and Sauternes can provide this. The small tributary of Ciron is perhaps the biggest contributing factor – as it flows towards the warmer Garonne a moist mist develops that lingers over vines during dawn. This early-morning moisture encourages the development of the botrytis cinerea spores and, when it evaporates each day, it dries out the vines and their fruit. This ensures that the ‘noble rot’ will not become the destructive ‘grey rot’. The rot then dehydrates the grapes and concentrates their sugars without contributing any mouldy flavours. In comparison the grey rot, which thrives in consistent damp, simply degenerates the grapes into a foul-smelling (and foul-tasting) mush.

Sauternes is an illustrious region producing sweet whites of stratospheric quality and should not be overlooked by any budding wine connoisseur.

Soils: Gravels, clays and limestone
Size: 1,800 hectares
Output: 4,500,000 bottles
Type of wine produced: Powerful yet delicate sweet white wines
Grapes: Sauvignon, Semillon, Muscadelle

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Vintage Overview

Sauternes/Barsac 2009

The 2009 vintage has proved to be a resounding success for the estates of Sauternes and Barsac. Whilst growers usually bite their nails as they send pickers through vintages to pick individual grapes that have the optimum level of noble rot, this year has been positively relaxing by contrast. This stop-start pattern usually lasts into November, but the sunshine, warmth and timing of showers meant that botrytised grapes were often picked, not individually, but by the bunch.

In terms of acidity, these wines have enough bite to balance out the super-sweetness that is the hallmark of these wines. In the words of Michel Bettane: “It’s quite evident that Sauternes is a great vintage. They are big wines, with a lot of everything – fruit and alcohol, and the acidity is excellent—even better than in 1997 and 2001.” His praise extends across the board: “Even second-class properties made very complete wines. This is a vintage for lovers of Sauternes.”

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