Not sure there are better 13 whites than Raveneau. Lafon also comes to mind. It’s an early drinking vintage (by Raveneau standards) while you wait for 12 and 14. Also, no Chapelot this year so it’s blended in here. A multi hour advance decant has it rocking, stunningly aromatic, soaring with layers of créme fraîche, baking spice, crushed stones and a whisper of botrytis influenced saffron. The palate shows immense power, concentration and depth of waxy yellow fruit chiseled with Chablisen minerality. Brilliant tension and racy lemony acids provide a seamless balance to its power and richness. MDT always hits 🫰🏻 — an hour ago
Medium lemon yellow , persistent fine perlage . At first quite shy , needs a bit of time to get going . Then buttered pastry , confit lemon and roast nuts , quite bold and rich , just a hint of chalky minerality . On the palate the richer , deeper theme continues , those pastry and buttery notes , confit lemon and a creamy mouthfeel . Long balanced finish , the chalky acidity really helping to cut through richer , mouth filling profile . Coming back to this at the end of the meal , having sat 6 hours in the glass , this still shows remarkable freshness and life. This seems young to me still , certainly has everything for a long life ahead , better in 5 years perhaps and will show well a further 10-15 perhaps . — 7 days ago
Bright fruit. Almost tropical with hints of mango and bright bold flavors. Minerality and purity with great poise. Delicious — 10 days ago
Second Sauternes pairing with my homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
In 2014 I attended the Bordeaux En Premiere. One of the six days, we toured 8 Chateau’s tasting multiple vintages at each in Sauternes & Barsac. Then, went back to Chateau Guiraud for dinner. Before the dinner, Bill Blatch then arranged for a Sauternes tasting s after tasting at 8 Chateau’s in Saternes & Barsac. We tasted 50 Sauternes in basically in 60 minutes. After that, my hand was like Winne the Poo in the honey jar. After, my wish wasn’t for the forthcoming dinner. But rather wished to go to a Dentist for a teeth cleaning I had so much RS in my mouth, but the dinner was fantastic and started with warm Foie Gras & gravy. Perfect as is w/ the Pineapple Upside Down Cake tonight.
This 05 is everything that you taste in the Sauternes. Perfect paring.
Dry; stone fruits, pineapple, orange citrus, pineapple. Marmalade, caramel, saline, limestone, honeycomb, beeswax, coconut, vanilla, saline, round acidity with yellow florals, toasted nuts with round acidity for days. Elegance, balance, structure and round, rich polish that goes in and on.
Bill Batch (who worked for Cristy’s & owned his own negotiate company) has somewhere around 5,000 bottles of Sauternes. He does a Sauternes & Sausage party bi-annually. Good luck getting a well sought after invitation. — 10 hours ago
This wine has barely any color at all, just a very faint yellow-green tint. The nose is nice. There is a slight trace of petrol, which I always love to find in a Riesling. More dominant is a lanolin note which joins a light floral aroma. The palate straddles the fence between dry and sweet, offering up some tasty stone fruit and a savory side marked by gentle spices and a workable acidity. I would like a drier wine better, but I drank this quaff gladly and poured another. — 12 days ago
Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of two days. Significantly better on Day 2 as the wine completely opened up. The 2021 Amador County pours a pale yellow color with medium+ viscosity and no signs of particles or gas. On the nose, the wine is clean; developing with notes of golden apples, quince, lemon verbena, white tree flower, lanolin, and wet stone. On the palate, the wine is dry with super sneaky, high acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ with a woolly texture. Lovely stuff. Drink now with patience and a lot of air otherwise better after 2026 and should be great through 2035. — 20 days ago
John Van Trijp
Very classic BDX style. The Owner and the winemaker of La Conseillante were convinced drinking Bordeaux left bank — 8 days ago