Chateau de Grand Carretey Sauternes 2008

Dr Desert Flower has a proclivity for sweet, dessert-y white wines, and from time to time she purchases a bottle of Sauternes.  Sauternes is a southern Bordeaux wine, adjacent to the Grave region (see the map below) next to the city of Langon, on the Southern bank of the Garonne river.  Many a fine restaurant will offer one or more Sauternes on their wine list for a dessert option.

If you've ever splurged and tried a Sauternes, you know it has a rich floral bouquet, and it is quite sweet, with a long buttery, smooth finish on the pallet.  When I say "splurge", you know I am cheap, and I resist buying any wine over $10 a bottle, and get heart burn when it is more than $20 a bottle (in a store, retail, $10 to $20 translates to a $40 to $80 bottle in a nice restaurant, typically).  The 375 ml 1/2 bottle shown to the left cost nearly $35 from Total Wine - but DDF Really wanted to get it, and we've never had a bad Sauternes yet, so I agreed to the splurge.

We enjoyed the bottle over a nice dessert after a dinner at home earlier this month - without screaming kids, barking dogs, or the need for a designated driver.  It was delicious.  If you're looking for a delicious, sweet dessert wine to enjoy, you could do far worse than to try a Sauternes (pronounced SAW-turn, drop the "s").