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Chateau Roumieu 2002 - Sauternes
Chateau Roumieu 2002 - Sauternes
Bottle Price: £27.95
Case Price: £318.6
- Country: France
- Region: Bordeaux
- Grape Variety:
- Alcohol: 13.5%
- Bottle Size: 75cl
or
You can mix any 12 bottles of wine(or more) to get the ‘case price’ for each bottle.
Succulent flavours of honey, Seville orange marmalade and acacia flowers with a perfect combination of fruit to refreshing acidity.
The nose has aromas of flowers and fruit that melt together to create a bouquet of remarkable complexity and balance. The primary aromas include almond, quince, mango, pineapple, stewed peach, dried apricot and passion fruit.
There are also floral notes, with touches of linden, acacia, mimosa and honeysuckle. And as is typical with Sémillon, there are also notes of beeswax, almond and hazelnut.
In the mouth, Sauternes wines have a powerful style that is viscous but extremely elegant. Its strong sweetness is captivating.
Roumieu is situated on the clay limestone plateau of Haut Barsac- an area home to some of the oldest vintages. Roumieau neighbours 1855 Climens (1er cru classé) and Doisy Védrines (2ème cru classé).
One of the main factors contributing to Sauternes is the combination of the morning mists from the rivers Ciron and Garonne which, from September onwards, encourage the development of what is commenly known as pourriture noble or noble rot - a microscopic fungus which transforms each grape into a concentrated, unique flavour.
Roumieu has been in the same family since the eighteenth century and constituted on numerous occaisions, both in the 18th and 19th century,the dowry of the women of the family. Catherine Graveia Goyaud, after studing art history, took over the vineyards in 1983 after her father died and is hopeful her sons will follow in her footsteps.
To the west of France, Bordeaux, set around the Garonne and the Dordogne, has the microclimate created by cool sea breezes and warm land which makes it lush and fertile. Wines include Pomerol, St Emilion, Margaux, Pauillac, St Julien and St Estephe, Graves and Sauternes, but vintages can be unpredictable and expensive wines snapped up by investors. Recent changes however mean Bordeaux winemakers are reverting to traditional methods and the result is better value wines for everyone.
Forty kilometres south of Bordeaux, Sauternes is an AOC that includes together 5 communes, including Barsac.
For centuries, humans have been patiently learning to master this region's climate, soils and grape varieties. But Mother Nature did a good job laying the foundation. The Sauternes terroir is distinguished by a geological predisposition to gravel and pebbles that cover limestone streaked with veins of clay. In the communes of Fargues and Sauternes, a layer of hardpan (iron-oxide cemented sand) in which vines flourish can be found.
The vineyards at the highest elevations and farthest from the river have the best terroirs and produce the majority of the Crus Classés, including the monumental Château Yquem.
