WTN: Two Old Sauternes...(short/boring)

At Laura's Beef&Leaf Holiday Dinner, we cracked:
1. Ch.Rieussec 1er Grand Cru Classe AC: Sauterne (13%; MeBaC; WarrenStraussSlctns/Denver) Fargues 1979: Deep golden color; some butterscotch/caramel/oak strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty classsid aged Sauternes very complex beautiful nose; slightly sweet very honeyed/butterscotch/caramel fairly toasty/oak classic mature Sauternes very complex beautiful flavor; very long/lingering classic mature Sauternes finish; shows a bit of drying out but a beautiful example of a fully mature Sauternes; should go another 10 yrs w/ a certain loss of intensity.
______________________________
2. Ch.d'Yquem AC: Sauternes (13%; MeBaC; Pape International/LaGrange/IL) 1970: Deep golden/bit browning color; very strong botrytis/ripe peach/apricotty slightly volatile/fumey very strong toasty/Fr.oak bit dusty/earthy/OV very complex nose; strong apricotty/peachy/some botrytis strong woody/toasty/oak fairly dried-out slight oxidative complex flavor; very long fairly strong botrytis slight oxidative complex finish; showing some signs of its age; lost a lot of its rich lushness and some dried-out and not all that intense; showing a bit ragged around the edges from its age; lost some of its intensity & showing signs of its age and on a downhill trajectory; Quite a good old Sauternes but I was expecting more. $11.65/hlf (JL)
____________________________________________________
More mooglekrick from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. The '70 d'Yquem was a legend in it's time. A towering expression of d'Yquem. Around '78, a sizeable stash appeared at Johnnie's Liquor in Colorado Springs at this great price. Several cases of hlf btls of this wine made it to LosAlamos. Back then, it was a terrific expression of d'Yquem. But time/age has not been kind to this wine and it's not going to get any better...just losing more intensity and richness. Shows that d'Yquem is not immortal.
Tom

I love older Sauternes but have drunk mine up - I don't go past the early 80s now. I also love Rieussec and the 86 and 88 I still have are singing still! I have fond memories of the 75 Rieussec and also the 72, which often slid under the radar as it was a crappy weather vintage but that particular wine always showed well for me.

I have some '88 and '90 d'Yquem. My first tasting of d'Yquem was a true Lili Von Shtupp moment: "It's twoo! It's twoo what they say!". There's great Sauternes (Rieussec is one of them) but then there's d'Yquem.

Sauternes went through a bad patch at the end of the 1970s--several years with little or no noble rot. I was at a tasting in 1983 conducted by then owner of Rieussec Albert Vuillier. I believe it was the '79 that he was pouring. I remember thinking then that the angels in Heaven drink Rieussec. It's good to hear it is still going strong, especially as '79 was not one of the premier vintages for Sauternes.

BTW, what does MeBaC mean?

-Paul W.

BTW, what does MeBaC mean?

-Paul W.

Mis en Botielle au Chateau