With dessert on our Laura #50 BD luncheon celebration, we had:
- Ch. Caillou AC: Barsac (11-14%; MeBaC; Merchant du Vin/Seattle) 1961: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; intense ripe Semillon/LateHrvst bit earthy slight botrytis/apricotty bit cedary/butterscotchy some complex nose; slightly sweet bit dried out lightly tart very grapey/Semillon/very ripe/bit figgy/fig newton bit complex flavor; very long slightly sweet lightly tart strong LateHrvst/Semillon/very ripe/figgy bit complex finish; a classic old Sauternes that has probably lost some of its intensity; very little evidence of botrytis; very good condition for a 60 yr old Sauternes; pricey at $21.99 (HSL)
- Ch.Rieussec AC: Sauternes (13.5%; Monsieur Henri Slctn; MeBaC) 1971: Deep golden color; very strong botrytis/apricotty/peachy/Semillon/figgy slight earthy very complex nose; fairly sweet bit tart very strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty some Semillon/figgy/fig newton bit cedary/pencilly/oak/butterscotch very complex beautiful flavor; very long/lingering cedary/pencilly/butterscotchy/Fr.oak very strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty Semillon/figgy/fig newton slight earthy quite complex finish that goes on&on; a beautiful example of a fully mature Sauternes, though not in the league of a d’Yquem; grossly overpriced at $5.25 (TWS)
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- Again, the emphasis was on finding Laura’s birth year wine. I’m guessing that the '61 marks the year her Dad was about to make his move on her Mom.
The year 1961 was a legendary vintage in Bdx…for red wines. Lots of heat during harvest, lots of ripeness. But there was no rains during harvest and no chance for development of botrytis in Sauternes. Certainly this '61 reflects. The following yr, 1962, was much better in Sauternes because the botrytis was plentiful.
With the dessert, we had a fig & mascarpone cake that Laura brought that was a BD gift for her. We also had, from CortiBros, a Loisen Colomba al Brachetto d’Acqui, that was dynamite. Both were great matches for these two Sauternes.
Tom