World's First Luxury Hotel Located Within A First-Growth Terroir

In the Sauternes region south of Bordeaux, the Lalique Hotel & Restaurant marrying crystal and wine has opened its doors at Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey — the world’s first luxury hotel located within a first-growth terroir

- Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle

It’s the color of liquid gold and made from Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes. Sauternes is the most challenging, costly and labor-intensive wine in all of Bordeaux to produce. As the grapes used for sweet white Bordeaux wine must be attacked by botrytis cinerea, better known as noble rot (the area’s micro-climate being conducive for the fungus to develop), the vines can take weeks to pick since the pickers sometimes need to pluck the berries one at a time. The yields of the Sauternes region are extremely low, making for its rarity, as the winemakers there have focused on wine quality, whilst others concentrated on volume. Although the Sauternes appellation is the smallest of Bordeaux, it boasts 12 first growths (Premiers Grands Crus Classés) — the greatest concentration of first growths — compared to just five among the Médoc’s red wines, according to the 1855 Bordeaux Classification ranking wines based on their commercial value and quality. Château LafauriePeyraguey was included in this list. Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, who visited Bordeaux in the 18th century, was a fan. King Alfonso XII of Spain, who had declared Lafaurie-Peyraguey to be his favorite wine, bought a barrel of the 1858 first growth for 6,000 gold francs. In the 19th century, Sauternes was incredibly popular and prestigious, but since then, it has fallen out of favor. The old-fashioned belief that this high-sugar, liquor-like wine is for senior citizens to enjoy with foie gras at Christmastime is one that Sauternes now wishes to dispel.