A Half-Bottle of Liquid Gold
I’m a big fan of sweet wines. I know that many people decry this idea, but many of them also drink soda or put sugar in their coffee. Me, I drink my coffee with no sugar but in the right place, a sweet wine can be a beautiful thing. My experience has been that people who say they do not like sweet wine simply haven’t had good sweet wine-Sauternes, Barsac, Tokaji, TBA, SGN, etc. There was a lot of Blue Nun around a long time ago that ruined the reputation of what great sweet wine can be. This is not that; this is wine that is sweet but in beautiful balance.
Barsac sits within the greater Sauternes zone of Bordeaux, producing wines of extraordinary sweetness and freshness thanks to the morning mists of the Ciron River that encourage the growth of Botrytis cinerea, the famed “noble rot.” The fungus concentrates the grapes’ sugars and flavors while preserving acidity, creating wines that manage to be both opulent and vibrant. Château Simon has been quietly mastering this alchemy for generations, and 2022 may be one of their most beautifully balanced expressions yet.
The vintage itself was warm and sunny, allowing for perfectly ripe fruit, but cool nights preserved freshness and aromatics which are ideal conditions for crafting refined sweet wines with long aging potential. In the glass, the 2022 Simon offers waves of apricot preserve, honeycomb, candied citrus peel, pineapple, toasted almond, saffron, and vanilla bean, carried by a vibrant spine of acidity that keeps every sip fresh and precise. It’s lusciously textured without ever feeling heavy, a hallmark of great Barsac.
One of the real pleasures here is the format. The 375ml half-bottle is not just practical, it’s perfect. I think I am one of the few who will keep a full bottle of Sauternes in my refrigerator. This is a wine you open after dinner, when the table is quiet and the night slows down. It’s made for blue cheese, foie gras, lemon tart, almond cake, or simply a good conversation and a second glass. Also, don’t sleep on these wines with sweet shellfish in a rich sauce such as Lobster or Scallops. It’s a surprising pairing, rich with rich, that works because of the wine's acidity.
While Sauternes prices have soared, wines like Château Simon remain one of Bordeaux’s great remaining values delivering world-class craftsmanship, pedigree, and aging potential at a fraction of the cost of their more famous neighbors. And this 2022 is delicious now, with the structure to evolve beautifully for decades.
If you love wine that feels like an experience rather than just a beverage, this bottle belongs in your cellar. Sweet wines of this quality are becoming rarer, and opportunities like this don’t come around often — especially in such a perfect, intimate format.
Wine Enthusiast Notes
Although based in Barsac, this producer has vines in Sauternes, which form the backbone of this wine. Still young, it's ripe and lightly yeasty yet rich with honeyed botrytis. Full and dense, it brings in just the right amount of acidity at the end.