Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 92
"Fragrant and herbal, without excess of sweetness, allowing the acidity to shine through with a nice refreshing greenish tinge to it, this wine has a run-through of very pure fruit flavours (white fruit: pears, golden apples) that will make it ideal for fairly early drinking." --Bill Blatch, bordeauxgold.com
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WA 91
"Denis Dubourdieu's other Barsac estate has produced a very similarly rich (153 g/l residual) blend to his Doisy Daene, similarly styled yet with a point more obvious acidity and a softer form of middle-fruit." --Bill Blatch, bordeauxgold.com
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Bordeaux - Pessac-Léognan
WS 89
""Rounded and inviting, with hints of pear and apple giving way to more citrus, floral and straw notes. This has good range, with a brisk edge waiting in the wings on the finish."
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
WS 96
ST 92
Loads of honey, maple syrup, dried apricot and spice. Full-bodied, medium-sweet, with a refined, spicy character. Pretty wine. Masses of botrytis. This is refined and long, a racy wine compared with the power and muscle of so many others. Beauty among the beasts. Best after 2012. 2,300 cases made.
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
WE 99
WA 98
Picked in just two tries, 90% picked in one trie, tasting through 13 separate lots, the core components of a great Climens appear to be in place. Paying particular attention to the lots that constitute a large percentage of the blend (usually around 15%) the common themes are ones of great purity, persistency and precision. The aromatics display pure honey, minerals, occasionally a faint scent of spearmint and white peach, most with spellbinding precision. On the palate, Berenice Lurton has some stupendous lots at her disposal, with ample botrytis, ethereal definition, one or two more powerful, quite spicy lots and others that are shorter and will undoubtedly lend the blend an acidic cut. It will be a joy to taste this after bottling. —Neal Martin, Read More
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
WS 93-96
WA 93-95
We really enjoyed this wine during our group tasting with Bill Blatch, even before he took us to Chateau Coutet later that day! Our meeting with Aline Baly, niece of owner Philippe Baly, only reconfirmed our wonderful feelings for this wine. Rich and lush with tropical fruit flavors galore, this is fantastic stuff!
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
Beautiful golden-yellow colour. Concentrated, very attractive bouquet of ripe fruit, stewed fruit, and vanilla biscuits. Round, very sweet, and well-balanced on the palate. Plenty of volume and a suave quality marvellously underpinned by acidity. The fruity, spicy, mentholated nuances are accompanied by a really beautiful smooth, elegant texture. While this vintage had low yields, the quality perfectly reflects the drastic selection made during picking and blending.
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes
WS 96
WA 98
Tasted single blind against its peers. Under blind conditions, the Yquem 2007 shines like a diamond. Nevertheless, it is initially rather taciturn on the nose, eventually opening up beautifully with touches of lemon curd, Mirabelle, and clear honey. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine definition and there seems to be a great deal of energy and vigor dispensed for your pleasure. There is such race and nervosity, and then that finish just purrs with harmony and focus. This Yquem feels just so alive and vivacious, yet there is an effortless quality here that is unmatched by its peers. Tasted January 2011. Read More
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
"Here is another very rich and strong wine. It checks in at 14?0 alcohol and 150 g/l residual, and is full of ripe, quite roasted flavours. Yet it has tremendous freshness, partly from the quite high acidity and also from the 'lift' that it's chalky Barsac subsoil certainly provides. So, in the mouth, as well as being very rich, it is also very fresh." --Bill Blatch, bordeauxgold.com
Varietal: Bordeaux Blend | Location: France - Sauternes - Barsac
WA 94
"The feature of this wine is clearly its menthol-fresh brightness and spring flowers aromas. Probably all this comes, rather like at La Tour Blanche, partly from the particularly fresh nature of the 15% Sauvignon, partly from the soil structure.
At 140 g/l, the wine is certainly very rich and this sweetness almost - but doesn't quite - smother these fine aromas. So the wine is a combination of extreme fragrance with quite extreme concentration: rich yet fresh, strong yet gentle." --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