How to pour
a Sauternes
Place the bottle in the refrigerator for three hours and take it out fifteen minutes before serving. Sauternes should be served at 8 to 10 degrees; ice-cold, the aroma disappears and you mainly taste acidity, while too warm, the sweetness becomes syrupy. An older bottle can be served at the upper end of that range.
Cut around the capsule below the ridge of the neck and wipe the rim clean. Position the corkscrew spiral in the center of the cork and turn it straight down. A bottle that has been lying down for years will have a more fragile cork, so turn it slightly deeper and pull gently.
Pour 5 to 8 cl, about one-third of a small wine glass. Decanting is not necessary: the wine has no sediment you want to leave behind, and the aroma opens up naturally in the glass. Let the first glass stand for a few minutes so the apricot and honey come through more clearly.
Close the bottle again immediately and put it back in the refrigerator. Sauternes is not fortified, so the alcohol does not protect it as it does with port. An opened bottle is therefore best consumed within a few days, although its high sugar and acidity help it last a little longer than a dry white wine.
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The story
Sauternes lies where the cool Ciron flows into the broader, warmer Garonne. In autumn, that difference in temperature creates morning mist, which clears as the sun rises. This alternation of damp mornings and dry afternoons is exactly what the fungus Botrytis cinerea needs. It pierces the skin, lets moisture evaporate, and leaves behind concentrated juice with lots of sugar and acidity. Because it does not affect all the grapes at once, pickers go through the same row several times, taking out only the grapes that are ready each time.
The right glass
There is no dedicated sauternes glass in the range. What you need is a small stemmed wine glass of roughly 23 cl, in which a 5 to 8 cl pour remains well below the rim and the space above it holds the aroma. The small bowls are found among the white wine glasses and the port glasses. Choice 01 is a compact white wine glass; choice 02 is a tulip-shaped tasting glass. Both are closer to the right size than an ordinary large wine glass, in which so little wine would remain as a layer on the bottom.
RCR Brillante Wine Glass 23 cl (6 pieces)
Schott Zwiesel Siza Port Glass 23 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 104,95.
The right tools
For sauternes, besides the glass, you mainly need a corkscrew and, because a 37.5 cl bottle is emptied in two or three servings, a wine stopper. The bar tools below only come into play when the wine goes into an aperitif: a jigger to measure the small pour precisely and a bar spoon for stirring. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 55,85.
What do you pour alongside it?
A bottle of sauternes usually arrives at the table at the beginning or end of a dinner. These are the wines that stand alongside it in the hours in between, from a glass of champagne beforehand to a Burgundy with the main course. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works in, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Botrytis is not limited to one region. Sweet wines are also made in the neighbouring communes of Sauternes, such as Barsac, in the same way. Outside France, the same fungus is found in Hungary’s Tokaj and in Germany and Austria, where wines made from affected grapes are sold under their own designations. If you want to taste the dry counterpart to the sweet style: Bordeaux also produces dry white wine from the same grapes, sémillon and sauvignon blanc. Want to read more? Explore all drinks and brands.
Serving tip
The classic pairings do not appear after dessert but before it and alongside it: foie gras and blue cheese are mentioned more often than any dessert. The high acidity cuts through the fat and salt, while the sweetness offsets the cheese’s sharpness. If you still want a dessert, choose one that is less sweet than the wine, such as an apricot tarte or a piece of aged cheese with nuts.
Good to know
Which grapes are allowed
Sauternes is made from sémillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle. Sémillon is generally the main grape: its skin is thin, making it easy for botrytis to take hold, and it gives the wine its full, waxy character. Sauvignon blanc brings acidity and freshness that keep the sweetness balanced, while muscadelle is the smallest component of the three and adds aroma. The proportions vary by producer.
What the Ciron’s mist does
The Ciron is a small, cool river that flows into the broader, warmer Garonne. This temperature difference creates morning mist over the vineyards in late summer and autumn, which then clears as the sun rises. Humid mornings allow the fungus to grow, while dry afternoons let the moisture evaporate from the berries. Without this alternation, botrytis would simply become rot and there would be no harvest.
Why it is picked berry by berry
Botrytis does not strike evenly: in the same bunch, some berries are already completely shrivelled while others have not changed at all. Pickers therefore go through the same row several times, taking only what is ready each time. This requires far more manual work than harvesting once, and a vineyard also produces much less wine because there is barely any moisture left in the berries.
What Sauternes tastes like
Apricot and honey lead, followed by candied orange and often a spicy note described as saffron. With longer aging, nut, caramel, and dried fruit emerge, and the color deepens to gold. What makes the whole thing balanced is the acidity: without it, so much sugar would feel sticky, whereas now the wine stays fresh on the palate.
How long it can age
A good Sauternes can age for decades. The high sugar and acidity both act as preservatives, and over the years the wine shifts from fresh stone fruit to nut and caramel. A young bottle is not less good, only different: fruitier and more direct. Store it on its side, somewhere dark and cool, and let an old bottle stand upright for a while before uncorking it.
How much alcohol it contains
Sauternes usually contains roughly 13 to 14 percent alcohol. That is higher than you might expect from a sweet wine, and it is because the concentrated juice contains so much sugar that the yeast can convert quite a lot of it before stopping. The sugar left afterward makes the wine sweet. The exact percentage is stated on the label.
Frequently asked questions
Which grapes is Sauternes made from?
From Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle. Sémillon is generally the main grape because its thin skin allows botrytis to penetrate easily and gives the wine its full-bodied character. Sauvignon Blanc provides the acidity that keeps the sweetness balanced, while Muscadelle adds aroma. The proportions vary by producer.
Why is Sauternes expensive?
Because botrytis does not affect all the grapes at once, they are hand-picked in several rounds, berry by berry. That is a lot of manual labor. In addition, hardly any juice comes from shriveled grapes, so a vineyard yields much less wine than with a regular harvest. Hence the 37.5 cl bottles.
At what temperature and in which glass do you serve Sauternes?
Between 8 and 10 degrees, in a small stemmed wine glass of roughly 23 cl. Ice-cold, the aroma disappears and all you taste is acidity; too warm, and the sweetness becomes syrupy. Pour 5 to 8 cl, leaving space above the wine for notes of apricot, honey, and candied orange to gather.
What do you eat with Sauternes?
Foie gras and blue cheese are mentioned more often than the dessert itself. The high acidity cuts through fat and salt, while the sweetness softens the sharpness of the cheese. If you do choose a dessert, pick one that is less sweet than the wine, otherwise the wine will only taste sour.
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