Château Rieussec 2015 750 ml, Sauternes, Bordeaux, France

Château Rieussec was acquired by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) in 1984. The estate then consisted of 110 hectares, 68 hectares of which were vines. To enhance Château Rieussec’s potential, rigorous measures were implemented, including meticulous sorting of the grapes and fermenting in barrels, which provides a much finer selection for the blending of the Grand Vin. A new cellar was built in 1989 to extend the ageing period in barrels. The quantities of the Grand Vin that were produced were much reduced in the 1990’s due to more meticulous selection, to the point that none at all was produced in 1993 (this was also the case in 1977 and again in 2012). In 2000, the renovation of the maturing cellar, the construction of a fermentation room, and the modernization of the reception and pressing areas also represented strides forward in a quality policy that was launched in 1985. The fermentations are carried out in barrels. Each sorting from a well-identified plot is isolated in a batch of barrels to assess its ability to enter or not into the great wine after the end of fermentation. Several tastings of each barrel are then carried out for a strict selection of the great wine. The cellars are located in the heart of the vineyards of Château Rieussec in Fargues. Each vintage is aged in oak barrels mainly from the Tonnellerie des Domaines and half renewed each year. The duration of aging in barrels varies according to the vintages of 16 to 26 months during which the wines are periodically racked. Bottling takes place at the Château.