Clos du Portail | Graves Supérieures, Bordeaux

2005

NEW

A very special parcel of a Sauternes/Barsac by any other name. Clos du Portail is made in the same way and to the same high standards as its neighbour, adjoining Château Coutet 1er Cru Barsac, one of the very greatest of Sauternes, but is just outside the appellation boundary (by literally a few feet) into the Graves and so is a fraction of the price. Stunning value for all pudding wine followers and in half bottles.

Recommend this wine to a friend

Our tasting notes

Honey colour with a rich aromas of summer berries and passion fruit. Viscous, thick and luscious and right up there with really good Sauternes and Barsac. Fabulous with Foie Gras or pudding. Gorgeous at an astonishingly low price.

Wine data

Grape variety: 50% Sauvignon Blanc 50% Semillon
Appellation: AOC Graves Supérieures
Alcohol: 13.0%

 

Botrytized Wines

Sweet wines from the Sauternes, Tokaji and many from Germany, the Alsace and other regions are made from white grapes affected by the benevolent form of botrytis bunch rot known as Noble Rot. This rot has the effect of dehydrating the grapes and increases the sugar concentration.

To produce naturally botrytized wines one needs a temperate climate with misty mornings and warm afternoons in the autumn. Sauternes, based as it is at the confluence of the rivers Ciron and Garonne, has the ideal mesoclimate for noble rot and not surprisingly produces the very best, and most expensive, sweet wines in the world—In 2006 a 135-year "vertical" of Chateau d’Yquem (containing every vintage from 1860 to 2003) was sold at auction in London for $1.5 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a single lot of wine.

Making naturally botrytised wine is both a very expensive and risky process. Firstly, the producer has to be prepared to sacrifice quantity for nothing more certain than possible quality, and secondly, the price of having all the grapes handpicked with considerable amounts of care means that the labour costs can often be prohibitive.

 

Prices are all-inclusive for deliveries to UK mainland and Northern Ireland. Minimum total order is 2 cases (24 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for the UK and 2 cases (24 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for Northern Ireland. We also offer a collection service for our French wines from just outside Calais, France (minimum of 5 cases and excluding mixed cases), at a per-bottle saving of £1.50 for wines and £2.00 for Champagne, and a per-case saving of £18 for wine, £24 per 12-case/£12 per 6-case for Champagne. For details, please read our Delivery/Collection Information and Terms & Conditions.