Chateau Rieussec

Rieussec is Sauternes royalty from the hill next to Yquem: a first growth of 1855 whose vines in Fargues border the most famous sweet-wine estate on earth. Owned since 1984 by the Rothschilds of Lafite, the property applies Pauillac discipline to the most patient harvest in Bordeaux — successive passes through Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle as botrytis concentrates each berry. The result is Sauternes in its opulent register: saffron, apricot, and honeyed spice over enough acidity to carry decades, with the dry R de Rieussec and the second wine Carmes broadening the range. In an age that undervalues great sweet wine, Rieussec offers one of the classified world's most flagrant quality-to-price gaps.