Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 93
WA 99
Doesn't give much on the nose, with subtle lemon, honey, tangerine and apricot. Full-bodied and very sweet, with a long finish. Thick and compacted, with loads of mango and sweet candied fruit. Best after 2010. 150 cases made.
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 100
"Denis Dubourdieu considers this vintage to be the finest produced by him, his father and his grandfather! He is a great proponent of the preservation of fine fresh botrytis fruit flavour and usually eschews any excess sweetness that he considers may smother it.
This year, however, he has found a much sweeter balance, at 155 g/l residual, but this in no way compromises the freshness of the spring flower aromas and white peach fruitiness (there is little of the usual dried apricots this year) and it is all balanced by a quite high acidity (4.5 g/l). The result is an unusually sweet but very complete and complex wine that will certainly age for ever.
Denis has also managed to produce 7 barrels of 'Extravagant', a 50-50 Sauvignon - Semillon blend this year, with 12? of alcohol and 320 g/l residual. It is a very fat style of wine, more on its power than the slightly more fruit-driven '07." --Bill Blatch, bordeauxgold.com
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
WA 93
The Doisy-Vedrines has a refined bouquet of lemon curd, dried honey and just a touch of quince, perhaps not quite as rich as recent vintages, but very well-defined. The palate is well-balanced, with a touch of lime cordial and passion fruit on the entry, and zesty acidity and impressive precision towards the taut, slightly spicy rich finish. Returning after an hour, this sample has enhanced clarity and volume, and subsequent encounters confirm a very promising Doisy-Vedrines.The Doisy-Vedrines has a refined bouquet of lemon curd, dried honey and just a touch of quince, perhaps not quite as rich as recent vintages, but very well-defined. The palate is well-balanced, with a touch of lime cordial and passion fruit on the entry, and zesty acidity and impressive precision towards the taut, slightly spicy rich finish. Returning after an hour, this sample has enhanced clarity and volume, and subsequent encounters confirm a very promising Doisy-Vedrines. -- Neal Martin
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
"Gabriel de Vaucelles claims to have produced a very similar wine to his famed '90. Certainly the analysis is the same: (13?8 alcohol, 140 g/l residual and 4.0 g/l total acidity). However, whereas the '90 had a certain roasted quality to the fruit, the '09 is fresher, and has a very pronounced mineral flavour that keeps it tighter amidst all the very strong concentration." --Bill Blatch, bordeauxgold.com
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 97
WE 95
WA 94
"As always, this is dominated by a freshness of flavour, this time kiwi-like fruit as well as the traditional mandarin orange peel - Xavier Planty calls it ?rhubarb?. The 35% Sauvignon, still apart in several lots in the cellar, is mainly responsible for this, but the S?millons are very aromatic too. The base is however powerful, although, at 135 g/l residual, they resisted the temptation of going for broke on sweetness, no mean feat for such a large estate con-fronted by such a sudden onrush of botrytis.
The overall effect is of evenness and of a reserved kind of tightness, surrounded by but not dominated by all that freshness of pure fruit."Bill Blatch
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 92
WA 91
This "First Growth" Sauternes is owned by our friend Xavier Planty who has been at Guiraud nearly 30 years and just recently became owner after being winemaker and Director. This 2010 is another great Guiraud, fat and rich and quite sweet. Has the classic spiciness of Guiraud. Despite the high level of sweetness, it's fairly light on its feet.
-- CW Wine Staff (April 2011)
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 92
WE 96
"The balance here is identical to Raymond Lafon: 13?8 alcohol, 140 g/l residual and 3.9 g/l total acidity, but what a difference in style. There is a menthol kind of freshness pervading the wine, giving it an almost New World, or even Alsatian touch. This higher tone of fresh fruit will presumably get penetrated by the more roasted S?millon lots during the ?levage. For the second time (07 and 09 - no '08 was made), the sweetness is less absolute, La Tour Blanche having held the record for residual in '03 and '05, and has settled down into a finer balance as a result."
Bill Blatch
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 94
"This is a positive, strong-flavoured wine, with loads of chunky fatness coming out of the S?millon and with the botrytis strongly apparent in the form of quite heavy glycerine. At 138 g/l residual, it is on a par with many others, but it has not been fermented out beyond 13?8, procuring a very fine honeyed texture and avoiding excess of power, so the result is gentle for such a flavourful wine. In addition, there is a good acid balance that stitches it all up nicely.
As at Fargues, this will be kept in barrel longer than others, so will certainly soften a little more during its ?levage. Quite clearly this ch'teau kept right on top of the botrytis."Bill Blatch
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 95
Tasted single blind against its peers. The Rayne-Vigneau has blossomed gloriously in bottle and performed outrageously well under blind conditions. It has a rich, decadent bouquet with wild heather honey, orange peel and a touch of lime. The palate is very well-balanced with immense purity and brilliant tension. The acidity is pitch perfect here, with wonderful poise towards the finish and hints of elderflower on the aftertaste. This has class from start to finish and should age with panache. Tasted January 2011.
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 95
WA 96
"Unlike many, the assemblage was made back in January, so the wine is maybe more relaxed at this stage than those samples made up from the different lots, still apart in the cellar. This is also the first year of the new estate manager Vincent Laberg?re, taking the place of Patrick Eymery who retires in June, and he seemed keen to make a statement with this his first vintage. Rayne Vigneau has tended towards a lighter style recently, and this 2009 is a resolute return to something richer, with a more concentrated mouth-feel and 160 g/l of residual. But it is also bursting with fresh fruit aromas, from the higher than usual proportion of Sauvignon (28%) and from the absolute purity of the early October botrytis. The result is a densely sweet but highly 'tensile? and absolutely pure Rayne Vigneau."
Bill Blatch
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 92
WE 96
WA 95
You get both apricots and honeyed botrytis aromas that are followed through by a dry core, very full-bodied with richness, the sweetness of the yellow jam fruits, apricots and mangoes gliding over the palate. Delicious, and certainly ageworthy. Read More
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 93
Tasted single blind against its peers. The Rieussec 2007 has a subtle nose of dried honey, pear, a touch of quince and crushed stone on the nose, the oak better integrated than last year. The palate is well-balanced with stem ginger and honeycomb on the entry. It is linear compared to its peers, there is no flourish on the finish as yet, but it has fine definition and hints of tangy marmalade and lemongrass that should become more accentuated with time. Tasted January 2011.
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 92
WE 96
WA 95
"Rieussec flourishes in highly concentrated vintages, and 2009 is no exception. With 150 pickers working two 8-hour shifts, they managed to keep up to date with the year's rapid botrytis, and so maintained a total purity, elegance and complexity of flavour, and at 4,0 g/l, a high tone of acidity. At the same time, at 160 g/l residual, the wine is as usual unashamedly rich.
The result is that honeyed sort of purity in the concentration that we saw something of in the historic '89 and '01, possibly superior to the former and almost up to the latter. The balance seems so natural and gives the impression of being able to age for a century or more."
Bill Blatch