"Big things come in small packages", "One
man's trash is another man's treasure", "Good things come to those
who wait", "Wine makes my clothes fall off." All of these
phrases could be associated with my latest sampling of dessert wine, the 2010
vintage of Chateau Roumieu-Lacoste Sauternes. Another great wine under the
large umbrella of Kermit Lynch.
A few weeks ago I wrote about having an outstanding
California Cabernet with a wonderful steak. What I didn't tell you about was
what transpired after the bottle of cab had gone the way of the dodo bird. As
my friend Henri and I sat and solved all the world's problems, his lovely wife
Linda went for the gold medal in entertaining and brought out (drum roll)
bananas foster for our dessert. I still had a little space left so I happily
partook of the wonderful dish. Since I always try to be prepared, I happened to
bring a little bottle of dessert wine, a split bottle (375 ml) of the Chateau
Roumieu-Lacoste Sauternes.
I gave a quick wine explanation after we were finished
eating since some people might think the process of making a Sauternes is kind
of gross. Hervé Dubourdieu is the winemaker at Roumieu-Lacoste in Haut Bersac.
(He also owns Graville-Lacoste and Chateau Ducasse.) Hervé has the task of
making this Sauternes for Roumieu-Lacoste entirely of Sémillon grapes, but not
just plain old Sémillon grapes. They're botrytized or noble rot Sémillon
grapes. Botritis is a fruit fungus that you've seen if you leave strawberries
in the fridge too long. For grapes, sometimes it's a good thing to have happen.
There is a process of wetting the grapes to make the right conditions for the
fungus to grow and do its magic. The fungus breaks the skin of the grape and
sucks out a lot of the water. This leaves very concentrated leftovers like
sugar, fruit acids and minerals. The grapes are pressed and the juice is
fermented leaving a sweet wine.
This sweet wine had the typical aroma of honeysuckle with an
added hint of spiciness. The amazing flavors were a rich honeyed apricot with a
dash of the spice I smelled earlier. I honestly can't say that this wine would
go with every dessert out there, but that's perfectly okay. All wines aren't
supposed to go with everything. It would certainly pair well with simple
flavors of sorbet or sherbet, fruit tarts or chocolate mousse. One thing I know
for sure, though, it pairs extremely well with bananas foster. Love it, love
it, love it.
See Kermit Lynch's line of wines at:
www.kermitlynch.com/our-wines
See what else is going on at www.talkingsimian.com
No comments:
Post a Comment