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U. K. B. G. GUIDE TO DRINKS
The vineyards of the Graves area have never officially
been classified like those of the Medoc. The most outstand
ing of them are probably Chateaux Haut-Brion and Pape
Clement. It must be remembered that some vineyards
produce both red and white wines, Chateau Haut-Brion
is one of these.
Whilst the area produces dry wines, a smaller area called
Corons at the southern tip of the Graves area near the
Sauternes produces a sweet tasting wine.
SAUTERNES
This is the name given to a small village in the Garonne
valley, and is also given to the wine produced there and
in the neighbouring parishes of Bommes,Barsac, Preignac,
Fargues and St. Pierre de Mons. This wine is both sweet
and full and of high alcoholic strength (about 16-17 degrees
of alcohol upon occasions) and has a characteristic
bouquet.
The soil of the area is chiefly mixed clay and gravel,
or clay and limestone. The vines are chiefly the Sauvignon
Blanc,the Semillon and the Muscadelle. All these varieties
are white and the grapes are allowed to stay on the vine
much longer than is usual elsewhere. When the grapes are
fully ripened, the leaves of the plant are stripped from the
plant, thus allowing the sun to have full access to the
berries. This encourages an over-ripeness and the berries
shrivel up and lose a lot of their moisture and develop a
mould known as Botrytis Cinerea (called locally Pourriture
Noble or Noble Rot). This is a mould which is encouraged
and produces the fine wines, although funnily enough it
does not impart a mouldy taste to the wines. Special
pickings of the grapes are made at intervals and it is the
first pressings of these grapes that give the finest wines.
Unless the wine has a high alcoholic content thus killing
the yeasts, the wine is always liable to undergo a secondary
fermentation due to the sugar content of the wine upon
which the yeasts still thrive. Sulphuring of casks is usually
employed to prevent further fermentation and also to
preserve the beautiful colour of the wine.
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