Unlike many other sweet wines, Sauternes stops fermenting on its own, reaching the 13.5-14% alc level at which the yeasts die off. This creates a wine with more brawn to stand up to food and also a bit less sweet - with 2/3 of the sugars converting into alc. The yields are beyond low - 8 hectoliters per hectare.

Intrestingly this is a rather young "professional" winegrowing area - developing after WWII, with mr Kracher as one of the pioneers bringing the region into the market. Welshriesling and Chardonay thrive here, while Riesling and Semillon for example - both great sweet wine grapes, do not fare well in the climate. the absence of '03s on the market is easily explained - the hot and dry year did not produce the right conditions for the development of botrytis and most of the wine had to be sold off as bulk. only one TBA was made. compare to 10 in '04 and 15 in the amazing '95. '02 is also one of the top years in the last decade. The mystery of the "Zwischen den Seen" and "Nouvelle Vague" is revealed - the former means "between the lakes" and corresponds to the wines fermented in stainless steel, the later is "new wave" and is aged in new oak.

the chance to speak one-on-one to Herr Mueller was the biggest treat. the topic was obvious - 2003. I am seemingly in the minority when i proclaim these to be capable of long aging. Well - Herr Mueller compared them to the '59. He said when '59s were young people said they wont age, and thats how they tasted...and he said when he opens a bttl now he still feels that way - that its young and wont age...then again - its been 50 years :)
His TBAs are rare..this '05 was a HUGE crop... HUUUUUGE....200 bttls released...(.375) ... HUGE! the price as some of you know is somewhere in the statosphere.. but if you can - do it! best flight and best wine of the day...not at all biased - actually expected the hungarian wines to floor me..but not after the '05 and to be fair they were way too young.

This is the new face of Tokaj it seems.. perhaps i am wrong but to me this is a different approach than what i had seen before and i am not complaining. these wines tasted more "modern" (its the wrong word i know) - gone is the oxidative, orange syrop/marmelade melange - this is clean, with razor-like acidity and amazing finish... but in its infant-hood - the oak is very prominant and truthfully surprisingly so. The 6 putt. is a wine i hope to buy and loose for 20+ years in the cellar. the Esszencia i know i wont be able to afford - but it is something otherworldly. how can something with 600RS have such balance? (3% alc)