Chateau Rieussec Sauternes (Futures Pre-Sale) 2011
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a fabulous Sauternes with dried peaches, pineapples and mango. Apricots and hints of spices. Even jam. Full-bodied, medium sweet with intense and powerful palate. This wine has 147 grams of residual sugar. So balanced and long. We will see what is better -- Rieussec or Yquem?
Barrel Sample: 96-97 Points -
Wine Enthusiast
This wine shows sheer opulence; it's beautifully rich and ripe, powered by complex flavors of orange zest and superripe mango. It's fresh, showing this vintage’s character.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 Points -
Wine Spectator
A very ripe, juicy, spicy style, with bold apricot, tangerine, toasted almond and papaya notes. Shows lots of power, with the length to match. A winner in the making.
Barrel Sample: 93-96 Points -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Château Rieussec is always among the top producers of Sauternes. The 2011 vintage is magnificent. TASTING NOTES: This wine is opulent from start to finish. Its aromas and flavors of pineapple, apricot, and oak should provide excellent tasting when it has aged slow and long in the cellar. (Tasted: March 12, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Rieussec has a lifted, at the moment quite oaky, bouquet with scents of honey, almond and pineapple. Hopefully it will develop more definition by the time of bottling. The palate is medium-bodied with tropical fruit and mandarin on the entry and a satisfying viscous core of honeyed fruit. It seems a little disjointed towards the finish, although I am sure it will become more cohesive by the time of bottling. For me, it just seems a little predictable. Drink 2015-2028+.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 Points
For several generations, Chateau Rieussec has been the leading name in Sauternes wines. As early as 1868, Charles Cocks remarked “Beyond any of the others, Rieussec produces wines very similar to Yquem wines”. Extensive pruning and the sparing use of natural fertilizer helps keep production low. The techniques remain traditional and specific to the Sauternes region. In terms of yields, the traditional reference is that a single vine should produce a bottle of wine. Here, though, a single vine produces about a glass of wine. Traditional fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats and can last as long as two months. The wine is aged for 16 to 26 months in oak barrels, produced mostly at Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) cooperage and half are renewed each year. Classified "Premier Grand Cru" in 1855, Rieussec has held its reputation and the quality of its wine, throughout the difficult years which Sauternes properties have been through. Albert Vuillier, who took over in 1971, has paid special attention to the development of the vineyard and pushed the standard of the wines produced to the highest level. This policy has paid dividends, since in recent years, Rieussec has received particular acclaim in numerous tastings of the "Premier Cru" of Sauternes. In 1985, wishing to consolidate Rieussec's position, Albert Vuillier entered into partnership with Les Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) to go even further in the elusive search for the perfect Sauternes.