WTN: 1995 Chateau Rieussec

The first bottle that I opened was corked. This is the first corked Sauternes I've ever encountered.

The second bottle was sound. The wine has a very complex and intense aroma of flowers, citrus fruits, and spices, with just a touch of Botrytis shoe polish well integrated in the background. This is one of those wines where I could spend all day just inhaling the aroma. In the mouth the fruit, acidity, and sweetness are well balanced. The finish is long and pleasant. In summary, this is a fine, but not great, Rieussec. The flavors don't dance on the palate as they do in the great vintages, nor does the finish open into a peacock's tail. I suspect that acidity might be a tad low in this vintage. This is still an excellent Sauternes, but falls short of what Rieussec can be.

Curly double Larry.

-Paul W.

The first bottle that I opened was corked. This is the first corked Sauternes I've ever encountered.

The second bottle was sound. The wine has a very complex and intense aroma of flowers, citrus fruits, and spices, with just a touch of Botrytis shoe polish well integrated in the background. This is one of those wines where I could spend all day just inhaling the aroma. In the mouth the fruit, acidity, and sweetness are well balanced. The finish is long and pleasant. In summary, this is a fine, but not great, Rieussec. The flavors don't dance on the palate as they do in the great vintages, nor does the finish open into a peacock's tail. I suspect that acidity might be a tad low in this vintage. This is still an excellent Sauternes, but falls short of what Rieussec can be.
Curly double Larry.
-Paul W.

Jeez, Paul...this is the first mention of Stu I've heard in yrs. Any idea what he's up to since the failure of NeoCork??

Not sure why...but TCA issues in Sauternes seem to be sorta rare. I can't recall any that I've ever had.
Tom

[Jenise]

I might know more than Paul--Stu married Cynthia Wenslow who he met here on this board (and who you may have known or met as she lived and worked in Santa Fe), and they now live in the Chicago area where he's doing something in the sciences, though I would be unable to describe what.

I might know more than Paul--Stu married Cynthia Wenslow who he met here on this board (and who you may have known or met as she lived and worked in Santa Fe), and they now live in the Chicago area where he's doing something in the sciences, though I would be unable to describe what.

Thanks for the update on Stu, Jenise. I remember Cynthia very well. Sold her some wines at one time and remember her
from here on WLDG.
WLDG....the AshleyMadison of the wine world!!!
Tom

Jeez, Paul...this is the first mention of Stu I've heard in yrs.

I am a big fan of Stu's Three Stooges rating system. I think that the various numeric wine rating systems all imply an unwarranted level of accuracy and precision to the process. The Stooges system is basically a one-to-three star system, with the added benefit that each "star" gives some additional qualitative information. Plus it pokes the appropriate level of fun at the whole wine rating process. So in this case, I awarded the Curly for the wine's aroma, and the two Larrys because it is otherwise what one expects from Rieussec, but not exceptional.