From Sauterne to Glenmorangie

No, we haven't changed our profile, it's still about wood. It's about that wood that can bind two famous and special drinks, Sauterne wine and Glenmorangie whisky. I mean, the barrel.

Sauterne, the sweet wine of the Bordeaux region

Sauterne is a sweet wine from the Bordeaux region of France. It is not very clear when exactly it came into being but it became famous thanks to the third American president, Thomas Jefferson. He, before becoming president, was ambassador to France, during which time he was heavily involved in the wine business.

To be recognised by specialists as Sauterne, the wine must meet 3 requirements: the grapes must be from the Sauterne sub-region of the Bordeaux region, have a minimum of 13% alcohol and be sweet. The high sugar concentration is due to a noble mould present in the grapes. The area favours the growth of this mould in autumn, when the hills are shrouded in mist and the air is very humid. The mould decreases the water content of the grapes and increases the sugar content.

Industrial is difficult to reproduce the natural process. To increase the sugar concentration, grape juice is extracted by a process called Cryoextraction. The grapes are first frozen and then pressed, resulting in a highly concentrated sweet juice.

The wine is matured in oak barrels between 18 and 36 months. French and American oak is most commonly used, but Russian and Hungarian oak barrels can also be found. Sometimes the barrels are burned inside to add butter and vanilla flavours. During maturation the wine interacts with the barrel resulting in a mature, sweet wine with fruity aromas of apricots, peaches, nuts and honey. In turn the barrel is imbued with the sweetness of the wine as well as its aromas.

Sweet-flavoured casks ennoble Scotch whisky

After maturing in barrels, the wine is moved to bottles where it stays until it reaches the wine lovers' table. The barrels used for Sauterne are of very good quality. The owners of the vineyards in the area invest a lot of money to make a great and expensive wine and cannot afford to use bad barrels. They are highly prized by whisky producers in Scotland, where they are sent at the end of the maturing period.

The whisky sits in these casks for 3 to 40 years, sometimes even longer, acquiring a "Sauterne Finish" as the producers say. The best known brands matured in this way are Glenmorangie, Arran and Octomore.

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