Four Vintages Of Château Rieussec

HG invited to the last tasting group get together and announced beforehand that it was going to be sweet. And that it was! With hefty portions of goose and duck liver and three (!) different Rocquefort´s, my stomach was almost aching on my way home, but in a good way...:-)

What surprised us the most (when the bottles was revealed...) was the lack of botrytis. It was there, especially in the 2010 and 2009, but in very moderate levels. Remembering the 89 and 90`s in their youth, there were spades of rick botrytis oozing up from the glasses. I have tasted to little Sauternes over the years to analyse further, but these creatures are less rich and heavy than the 89 and 90´s at the same age. In a good way.

Of some strange reason I forgot to take pictures of the bottles, so the pictures in this post comes from the Rieussec webpage.
Tasted double blind.

2010 Château Riesussec
92% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Muscadelle. The nose is young, fresh and concentrated with notes of sweet William pears, pineapple, candied lemon peel, pickles ginger and some band aid. Rich and complex. Very, very fine.
The taste is young, intense and viscous with notes of spicy pine apple, white peaches, ginger and band aid. The finish is very long, very sweet and very young. Still an infant, this manage to make a lasting impression. This is going to be really great in 10+ years time.
92p   (tasted 2014/01)

2009 Château Riesussec
Granted, the year have not lasted that long yet, but this is the best wine tasted so far. Made out of 84% Semillon, 12% Sauvignon Blanc and 4% Muscadelle, this beauty has a deep, intoxicating, profound nose with notes of candied apricots, persimmon, pears, liquorice, a medicine locker and a beautiful perfumed note. Light as a ballerina. Very, very deep. Stunning!
The taste is enormous, tight and focused with notes of lemon suryp, peaches, apricots, liquorice, saffron and a medicinal note. The finish goes on for two minutes. At the end there is a taste of grapefruit peel. Very oily and intense, yet it makes a balanced and refined impression. In 8+ years, this should be a candidate for perfection.
97p   (tasted 2014/01)

2007 Château Riesussec
This should have been great - vintage 2007 and Rieussec - but it isn´t. There is something wrong with this bottle, not corked, not cooked, but there is like a membrane over both the nose and taste. Drinkable but not what it should be, I´m sure.
Not rated   (tasted 2014/01)

2005 Château Riesussec
The 05 vintage seemed more mature than one would expect - our guesses were that it was some 10 years older. But make no mistake about it - this is a fine wine. The nose is very deep, honeyed and ripe with notes of (over)mature peaches, matchbox, orange marmalade and vanilla ice cream. Complex and fine.
The taste is big, intense and sweet with notes of peach cobbler, spicy lemon cream, liquorice, dried summer flowers and matchbox. The finish is very long and oily. Evolves very nicely in the glass and becomes more "rigid" with air (in a positive way). This is fine but it is hard to make an assertion of the future, based on this bottle. Would love to try it again.
91p   (tasted 2014/01)

P.S. Have been suffering from a severe cold a whole week - I am ravenous for some good wine tonight! What will it be...? :-) D.S.