WTN: Ch Suduiraut vertical

Or: Olle does an "Olle", again!

This time the weekly tasting at AuZone - the wine society had the theme Château Suduiraut, one of the more renowned names in Sauternes. Olle had collected the bottles and held the tasting and again, though a bit less expected this time, he made an "Olle", which is expected further down. Some short notes:

1989 Créme de Tête, from magnum. Dark, developed colour, brownish orange with a hint of green at the rim.
Marvellously deep and rich nose with loads of Botrytis, honey, smoke, punsch (the Swedish liquor, I suggest you ask Bob Ross, if you want to know more) and some yeasty notes of bread.
Sweet, oily taste. Slightly burned and developed. Not too much acidity, but instead lots of power and depth. Smokey from the Botrytis. Sweet, chewable and fiery aftertaste. Very long, maybe just a bit heavy. Great stuff. Votes: 5-0 (We each vote for the best and least good wine of the evening. 5-0 means five persons considered this wine was the wine of the evening while none liked it the least).

1988 Medium deep light yellow colour. Medium deep nose, a bit vegetal and lean. the alcohol is shining through. A whiff of bitter almonds. sweet and fat on the palate. Broad, sweet and a little spicy. Warm, sweet and fiery aftertaste. Good, but does not lift. 1-1

1997 Rather deep, straw yellow. Deep and full, slightly sharp nose. Botrytis, old honey, mushrooms and wood. A slightly disturbing tone of ethyl acetate.
Sweet, spicy, delicious taste. Good acidity. Very nice, growing taste. Long, sweet honeyish aftertaste. 2-0

1976 Deep orange colour. Amber. Clearly greenish rim. Full and creamy nose. Very developed with notes of mushrooms, saffron, nuts, dried figs and varnish. A bit tired and woody.
Aged and a bit sharp, fiery taste with a noticeable bitterness. Rather sweet and a slightly raw acidity (due to the age?). Woody and tired aftertaste. 2-2

1983, from the first of two half-bottles. Medium deep orange-yellow. Closed a bit aged and tired nose with a whiff of dill. Also some bread giving ann impression of aged champagne.
Sweet, round taste with a good acidity. Powerful, fiery and rather bitter. Long, slightly burned and fiery aftertaste. OK, but not more. 0-4

1983, from the second of two half-bottles. Medium deep yellow. Youthful and fresh nose with tasty okkiness. Grapey and a whiff of sulphur.
Medium sweet taste. Spicy, fiery, chewable but rather unyielding. Lean, and spicy aftertaste. Rather lacking charm. 0-4

1989 Créme de Tête, from magnum. Medium deep brownish orange with a pale rim. Very full, nice nose. Very nicely developed. Botrytis, honey, varnish and some slightly disturbing ethyl acetate.
Sweet, oily, thick taste. Heavy sweetness, almost cloying. Concentrated and thick. Some nice notes of classy oak. Sweet, heavy and thick aftertaste. A bit heavy but certainly amazing. 2-1

So, Olle had done it again - split a magnum into two decanters without letting us know. Since Olle has done this to us before, we should have suspected it, but only one of us actually suspected it, probably because not too many of us even would think of ever buying a magnum of a Sauternes, but Olle is not quite the average wine buyer, as we have learned now. In fact he still has five magnums of the 1989 Créme de Tête left from the lot he originally bought at Christie's. I have written my notes above as I wrote them originally (but translated, of course), as an example of how the impression of the same wine can vary depending on when in a flight of wines it appears. Also, probably, showing how imprecise the use of our senses is to assess e.g. wines. Anyway it was a very nice experience, and certainly very nice wines too!

Cheers, Anders

Anders
Indeed like at least one forumite here, I make no claims to consistency of my palate. Add to that the effect a little extra exposure to air can give, plus the intervening wines, then two subtly different notes (and voting preferences) are of no surprise and certainly no shame.

One thing we aim to do at our informal tastings, is to ensure we have a free for all at the end of the tasting, on the remnants (1/2 to 1/3 full bottles). This at least helps to even out some of the issues of comparisons between wines - i.e. taste a Barossa Shiraz after a Loire Cab Franc and it may taste big and clumsy. Do the reverse and the Loire wine tastes anaemic. Even within verticals from the same producer, more subtle influences can still come into play.

regards

Ian

Nice notes, Anders. It is obvious for me that it was a good thing for Suduiraut when AXA bought it in 1992, (Christian Seely still does a good job). 1983 and the wines produced 1988-90 (excluding the Crème de Tête) were not good enough, and certainly not on par with the wines from e g 1997, 2001 and 2003. Personally I would still recommend to keep your hands off these, however. They need time not to show their elevage!

Greetings / Fredrik L

Anders
two subtly different notes (and voting preferences) are of no surprise and certainly no shame.

True words, Ian. At least this time it did not happen during another tasting, that one of the tasters voted for one glass as the best of the evening and another one as the worst (least good), only to discover when Olle's magnum trick was revealed, that his two votes were in fact for the same wine. Even though he did not claim consistency in his tasting, that was a bit embarrassing...
Cheers, Anders

Nice notes, Anders. It is obvious for me that it was a good thing for Suduiraut when AXA bought it in 1992, (Christian Seely still does a good job). 1983 and the wines produced 1988-90 (excluding the Crème de Tête) were not good enough, and certainly not on par with the wines from e g 1997, 2001 and 2003.

Tack Fredrik!
While I wouldn't be able to draw any conclusions regarding Suduiraut before vs. after AXA's take-over from this tasting, with one vintage from the AXA regime, I think I'd agree that the château was not really up to capacity in before 1992. Particularly not in 1983, as was evident from our tasting. BTW, I met Christian Seely at a tasting in Stockholm several years ago, while he was still responsible for Quinta do Noval. A nice and dedicated guy. I can imagine he is doing a good job at Suduiraut.
Fridens, Anders