99 Carbonnieux w., 95 Tour de Mons, 82 GPL, 01 Rabaud Promis

Hi,

Wife's away on vacation so I was all on my lonesome to prepare a meal for 4 people, which explains the spottiness of the notes:

99 Carbonnieux blanc: beautiful colour of a medium-old Sauternes. Curiously inexpressive nose (some wax, some lemon but not much), and also lacking personality on the palate.

95 Tour de Mons: a classic Médoc in the strict style. A little thin and ungracious, but a good backbone. The tannins will carry this through for some time, but the fruit is no match for further aging. OK with food.

82 Grand Puy Lacoste: I don't often buy case lots, but I did pick up a case of this wine and enjoyed it immensely, finishing the last bottle years ago. A friend of mine in London also bought a case. He opened a bottle when I went to visit at Christmas. This was declining, but still very good. He made me a present of another bottle which we shared last night. Although this was from the same case of wine, it was much more vigorous and considerably better. The nose was subtle and understated, with trademark Pauillac cedar and lead. The wine was delicate and beautifully resolved on the palate, with a long, smooth aftertaste. Medium-bodied, it tasted more like a fine Margaux than a Pauillac and, in any event, the antithesis of a dark, heavy Cabernet. Insofar as anyone can nail a wine's peak, this seemed right up there, 28 years after the fact. A fine performance.

01 Rabaud Promis (from a 50 cl. bottle, very useful for Sauternes) : Very good, fruity, botrytized nose, still somewhat primary at this stage. The wine is on the heavy and rather sweet on the palate with a decent aftertaste and a touch of bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness. Still, it is somewhat monolithic. What it offers in freshness, it unfotunately lacks in complexity.
I frequently champion Sauternes over Loire stickies,finding them much more interesting and complex, but this wine is the illustration of the sort of wine that one only really enjoys only a small amount of. It is very rich, but there's not enough of an acid backbone to provide balance.
Sure, it will continue to improve in bottle, but I believe that the intrinsic heaviness and, to some degree dullness, will remain

Best regards,
Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

Your note on the Rabaud Promis seems atypical for '01 Sauternes.

Alex,

Thanks for the notes. Especially the '82 GPL, as I still have at least a pair left. Guess I better find the right time to get one opened in the near future (I think the last one I opened last year told me I was not in great hurry to finish them off).

I don't recall having the Rabaud Promis from '01, but would lean towards David's comment on '01 Sauternes. Have some friends who purchased nice supply of several château and I see one at least every 3 months from their stashes... All I've luckily had were very primary, but superb examples of Sauternes. I'll hope your bottle was just one of those "mini-duds" kinda like how that previous '82 GPL showed.

I will also comment that I have a soft spot for great desert wines from the Loire... a tough decision for me to pick between say d'Yquem of a grand vintage and Huet Cuveé Constance or Baumard Quarts de Chaume from great vintage, although I might take the d'Yquem, sell it and buy 2 Huet or 3-4 Baumard!

Mike