SteveCostigan has long had a passion for Sauternes. He held his swan-song tasting for his life in LosAlamos w/ a final tableau of Sauternes:
1. Ch.Rieussec AC: Sauternes 2001: Deep gold color; some toasty/oak omewhat volatile/EA/fumey some botrytis/Sauternes fairly complex nose; some botrytis/Sauternes/caramel rather fumey/volatile bit drying out some tart flavor; a bit disappointing for a Sauternes that should have been quite good.
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2. Ch.Climens (14%) 2001: Med.dark gold color; strong butterscotchy/botrytis/Sauternes some Semillon/figgy/ripe/creme brulee fairly toasty/oak nose; some tart lightly sweet/lithe strong butterscotchy/creme brulee/Sauternes some figgy/Semillon rather toasty/oak some complex flavor; a very attractive Sauternes but not the richness/honeyed character I would expect.
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3. Ch.Rieussec (14.5%) 1990: Deep golden color; strong cedary/butterscotchy/caramel very ripe/figgy/Sauternes very slight volatile/fumey some cedary/honeyed very complex beautiful Sauternes nose; fairly sweet strong cedary/butterscotchy/caramel strong figgy/Sauternes lightly tart quite complex flavor; very long/lingering quite complex mature Sauternes finish that goes on&on; a beautiful fully mature complex old Sauternes that should go out at least another 10 yrs; shows no signs of drying out; easily my favorite of these Sauternes.
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4. Ch.Gilette AC: Sauternes (14.5% 1983: Deep golden color w/ bit of browning; rather cedary/pencilly light botrytis/butterscotchy/caramel light figgy/Semillon somewhat subdued/shy nose; slightly off-dry some figgy/ripe/Sauternes somewhat cedary/pencilly fully mature fairly complex bit tart/lean somewhat subdued/subtle flavor; fairly classic expression of Gilette w/o the rich/lush texture of most other mature Sauternes.
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More sotterbichle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. A pretty classic collection of Sauternes & a wonderful send-off for Steve. Except for the Rieussec '01, they all delivered classic mature quite complex Sauternes character. The Rieussec '90 was my easy favorite and as good as it gets in mature Sauternes.
Steve & Steve provided some apps that went wonderfully with these Sauternes....foie gras pate/chicken liver pate/duck confit w/ crispy skin/smoked salmon. My carrot cake dessert was a bit dried out & didn't deliver the goods except for the cream cheese frosting.
Steve will be moving to WashState on the Strait at end of July. We will miss him at our tastings and especially sharing his passion for Sauternes and other dessert wines.
Tom
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