I’m great at following recipes. I’m moderately good at modifying them. Actually creating recipes out of thin air that can compete with what I find in good cookbooks… Well, that’s usually another story. But – today – I think I may have stumbled upon a winner. An original winner that I can call my own and that hopefully you will love as much as I do.
We had a bottle of 1971 Château Rieussec Sauternes after dinner a few nights ago. This is a fantastic Sauternes which is still going strong after four decades. It’s rich, full-bodied and sweet, but not cloying, with delicious notes of citrus, apricot, and honeysuckle and a nose that will knock your socks off – better yet, don’t wear socks while drinking this. The color is gorgeous – a very rich, deep golden that bespeaks its age.
Sauternes is, as the name suggests, a sweet wine from Sauternes which is located just to the southeast of Bordeaux, France. What makes Sauternes a truly special wine region is that noble rot occurs with great frequency. For those not familiar with how Sauternes comes to be, the word rot undoubtedly strikes a bit of terror into the heart. Indeed, in centuries past, the wine makers kept the use of Botrytis (noble rot) a secret, lest the consumers discover that they were drinking wine made from rather unappetizing looking shriveled grapes infected with fungus. As it turns out, people eventually caught on to what was going on, but no doubt any hesitations and feigned disgust magically disappeared after the first sip.
Given my love of both fungi and wine, it should come as no surprise that I love the science behind how a fungus and wine grapes can get together and turn Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes into something radically different. Noble rot is the common name for the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea, which infects several plant species, but most notably wine grapes. Noble rot requires a sort of “perfect storm” of conditions to occur – moist conditions followed by dry conditions. If the moist conditions persist for too long, the Botrytis shows its uglier side and can destroy the entire crop. Even in an area like Sauternes, where the conditions are prime for noble rot to occur, there are still many years which result in a poor harvest, or none at all. When the ideal conditions occur, noble rot removes water from the grapes and leaves behind concentrated sugars and flavors. By the time the grapes are picked, the noble rot has reduced them to a small shriveled size which yields a much lower quantity of juice than an uninfected grape would. Since it can take an entire vine to produce a single glass of Sauternes, the cost for most bottles is substantially higher than for many other wines.
A maritime climate in Sauternes allows for cool mornings that bring the fog required to kickstart the noble rot, and sunny afternoons allow the grapes to dry, preventing the rot from spreading too quickly and turning into the destructive form of grey rot that can threaten the entire crop. The morning fog is produced when the cold water from the Cerons, a small stream with a swift current, meets the Garonne, a large warm river with a slow moving current.
Now, on to the recipe! I have seen only a few references to Sauternes sorbet before, including one made at Alinea using just liquid nitrogen whisked into Sauternes. No doubt this was delicious, but I wanted to create something a little more complex that made use of Sauternes without being made of only Sauternes. Since the Rieussec I used for this already had notes of citrus, I decided that using citrus as its companion for this sorbet was bound to turn out well. The final result is delicious – the Sauternes is readily evident but not overpowering and blends perfectly with the citrus, while the egg whites keep it very light and easy to scoop even after a full day in the freezer. Depending upon the Sauternes you choose to make this recipe with, you may want to alter the amount of sugar used to reflect the existing sugar content of the wine.
Sauternes Sorbet
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup chilled Sauternes
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
Juice of two oranges
Juice of one lemon
2 egg whites
Squeeze the juice from two ripe oranges and one lemon, straining out any pulp and seeds. In a saucepan, dissolve the 1/2 cup of sugar into 1 1/4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes and then allow the syrup to cool completely. Pour the chilled Sauternes and chilled sugar syrup into a bowl and mix in the strained citrus juices. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff (but not dry). Fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture of Sauternes, syrup, and citrus juice. Add the completed mixture to your ice cream maker and prepare to enjoy an exotic desert that will delight and impress.
