Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Sampling Sauternes - Grand Vin De Bordeaux Reserve Dulong

I was browsing the wines at a branch of Santis and found among the sale items bottles of Sauternes. Sauternes are sweet wines and are commonly used for dessert (dessert wines) together with cheeses, chocolates or fruits. The term Sauternes comes from the region in France where the grapes are grown, harvested and transformed into wine. Similar dessert wines may be found elsewhere and in the New World our favourite is the Botrytis Semillon from Australia (try De Bortoli Noble One). Sauternes are quite expensive in the Philippines and you will usually find them inside wine display cabinets along with other more expensive bottles of wine. The key to taking a chance with a bottle like this was to have a basic knowledge of wine labels and what they tell you. That I learned from my Japanese professors when I was a student in Japan. One professor was married to a connoisseur and the other just loved wines and preferred them to hard drinks like brandy and whiskey.

The 50 cl bottle of the 2010 Dulong Sauternes packs 13% alcohol
The label along tells us that this is a good, legit wine being a Grand Vin de Bordeaux
More information at the back describes the taste or flavors to be found in the wine.

The wine was perfect with cheeses or with chicken or seafood. It is a dessert wine so it should be perfect with fruits or chocolates (or both!). I forget how much a bottle cost us but from what I remember when I picked up the bottle, it was definitely a steal compared to the usually expensive Sauternes in the shop cabinet. I hope we find a bottle or two the next time we're at Santis. It is usually good to keep a bottle in reserve for when you're entertaining guests or to give as gifts to family and friends who enjoy wines.
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