Winemaker Notes
Straw color (still in barrel), the nose has lovely aromatic notes of tropical fruit, such as lychee, mango, and pineapple, followed by aromas of quince, toasted almonds and acacia flowers. The palate is round and smooth with a good balance between freshness and fullness. This wine distinguishes itself by a good density and remarkable finesse. The finish is long, with its vivacity and its power. Overall, this vintage is marked by its elegance.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This is superb with great botrytis character from white pepper to dried mushrooms. Dried fruits such as apple and lemons. Full body, very sweet yet tight and racy. Needs three or four years to open.
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Wine Spectator
Unctuous and ripe, showing mouthfilling flavors of almond cream, ginger, heather honey and apricot, this will need time to unwind fully, but when it does, expect more pineapple, maple and singed orange notes, as this has some depth and power in reserve, as well as more than enough cut for balance. A beauty in the making. Best from 2018 through 2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Coutet has one of the most complex aromatics you will find this year - a smorgasbord of citrus fruit, lime zest, orange blossom and white peach that is beautifully interwoven with compelling mineralite. The palate is extremely well-balanced, very intense and linear right from the start, with wonderful tension toward the finish that exhibits just a hint of spice. In other words, this is everything you expect from a great Coutet.
Range: 93-95 -
Wine Enthusiast
Complex and ripe, this has an opulent, full character that is balanced by fresh acidity. It's a very fine wine, on the tight edge between crispness and richness.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A stunning effort, the stately 2013 Château Coutet starts out lush in its aromas and finishes long and lavishly. The wine's complex mix of ripe tropical fruits, hazelnuts, and oak are almost irresistible at this stage. Its elegant finish pairs it well with blue-veined cheeses. (Tasted: January 30, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
Characterized by dried tropical fruit, candied apricot, citrus and honey, the sweet wines of Barsac are always balanced by a bright beam of acidity. While technically also part of the Sauternes region, Barsac’s sandy and limestone soils produce a lighter version in comparison. Its main grapes are the same: Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle.