Intro to L’Ilot de Haut-Bergeron Sauternes – L’Ilot de Haut Bergon from Sauternes is a fresh, floral dessert wine with soft fruit flavours. Full tasting note and wine making – L’Ilot de Haut-Bergeron, Sauternes fruit is harvested much earlier than for most dessert wines. Therefore L’Ilot de Haut Bergeron offers a very fresh style with floral, lychee, citrus, and vanilla notes. It is a rather modern Sauternes to taste young, whilst it has some botrytis and soft rich fruit notes. ‘Ilot’ in French literally means ‘small island’. At the end of the 80’s the Lamothe Family purchased some new abandoned plots located on an island on the Ciron; the famous river in the Sauternes appellation. New vines were planted and these are now reaching the respectable average vine age of twenty five years. The site benefits from all the ideal climatic influences to encourage the development of noble rot. The fruit is hand-picked, followed by three or four selection processes to ensure only the best botrytised fruit is used in the wine. Fermentation is done is stainless steel tanks and afterwards the wine ages in wood for twelve months. The producer – Alongside its more famous neighbour, both then and today, Château Yquem, Chateau Haut-Bergeron was owned by the Marquis of Sur-Saluces and in 1847 he was invited by the Russian tsar on a hunting trip in Russia. During this time, he instructed his workers not to harvest in his absence. On his return, the vineyard had fallen to what we now call Noble Rot. The Marquis decided to harvest regardless and make a wine, a wine that developed the naturally sweet and distinct identity that is so characteristic of Sauternes. It is now owned and run by the Lamothe Family. Drink with – It is a very fresh luscious dessert wines and is a great accompaniment to many light fruity desserts and also with pates.
