David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

Dessert last night was a layered, guava, mango, raspberry, passion fruit cheesecake. I did a dual pair with 14 Kobalt Sauvignon Blanc and this 83 Rieussec Sauternes. The 83 won hands down.

Look at that color! 👀 The older they are, the darker they get. I’ve seen one nearly black, a 1928 D'yquem a number of years back. A good producer/vintage of Sauternes will out live almost anyone’s life span properly stored. This 35 year old 375ml was no exception to that rule.

The nose reveals; brown sugar, molasses, dried; pineapple, apricots, peaches, nectarines, orange citrus, touch of light colored citrus’s, marmalade, mixed nuts with skin, toffee, caramel, tea notes, soft limestone minerals, gravel with pebbles and dark withering flowers/lilies.

The body is full, rich and gorgeous. The palate is nicely integrated and complex. The fruits are a combination of candies and dried. Brown sugar, raw sugar cane, molasses, dried; pineapple, apricots, peaches, nectarines, mango, prunes & dates. Candied, lemon, lime & grapefruit. Orange citrus, marmalade, honeycomb, mixed nuts with skin, toffee, caramel, Lipton tea notes, soft limestone minerals, gravel with pebbles and dark withering flowers, yellow & orange lilies. The acidity is like a rain shower and the elegant, rich, well balanced and polished finish lingers on your palate and dances mentally in your brain. There is also granulated sugar on the palate. Huge RS!

Producer notes...Rieussec is aged in an average of 50% new, French oak barrels for 18 to 24 months, depending on the character of the vintage. Chateau Rieussec is owned by the Lafite side of the Rothschild family and all their used oak barrels come from Chateau Lafite.

Photos of; Chateau Rieussec, grapes awaiting the onset of botrytis, their roughly 25-30 year Estate vines and their barrel room. — 16 days ago

Ron R

9.7

Sheer brilliance!
Loved this SB... First time tasting this. Worth every cent. Son-in-law in the foreground. — 17 days ago

with Mo, Anne-marie and 3 others

Severn Goodwin

9.1

WGBY Public Television, Wine Lovers Dinner; 16 March 2019 at Tower Square Hotel (Marriott); Springfield, MA — 3 days ago

Kurt Schuster

8.9

Extremely funny part about this one is that most people have never had or do not like sweet wines. It seems to me though they don’t know how to drink them very well. At this party we had a mixture of hard and soft cheeses, bread, and sausage. Showing people that a small sip of this wine combined with some of those flavors produced something much more interesting and tolerable feels like a big coup on my part. My guests went from not wanting to wanting another bottle of this wine. Honeyed apricots and dried peach flavors. Kind of dusty in a raw honey kind of way. Excellent second label of Chateau Sigalas-Rabaud. — 2 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.6

Great way to finish! Drinking much younger than its age with a golden yellow color. — 11 days ago

Carlo Fernandez

8.9

Nice balance.and luscious. This is not as sweet as the other type of dessert wines but enough to hold up to profiteroles. Honey and apricot. — 2 days ago

Byron Hewett

9.6

Stone fruits. Almond, butter pastry, toasted coconut. Unctuous. Viscous. Long. Fantastic! — 2 days ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.5

Lemony green. Rich and floral nose coated in honeysuckle, lilacs, sweet peaches, honey and citrus. Medium acidity (6/10) and well rounded with a medium minus body. A bit sweet on the palate with tons of citrus fruits, stone fruits, white flowers and lemon grass. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2028. — 17 days ago

with India and Mo

LM Segal

9.6

Really old honeycomb, fresh lemon zest. Pineapple ghosts. Haunting. Buy this. — 11 days ago

Cathy Corison

Owner/Winemaker Corison Winery

9.0

Half bottle. Honey, earth. — 21 hours ago

with William