2007 Château Rieussec, Sauternes, Bordeaux

2007 Château Rieussec, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Product: 20078013961
Prices start from £365.00 per case Buying options
2007 Château Rieussec, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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24 x 37.5cl half bottle
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Description

This rightly popular wine from the owners of First Growth Lafite-Rothschild is as engaging and sumptuous as ever in 2007. The soft, dense, rich texture is classic Rieussec while the level of sweetness is more balanced than in some previous vintages. A rich, precise, apricot tart nose is followed by an incredibly concentrated, succulent, creamy palate with apple, caramel and overripe peach, relatively low acidity and a long, intense finish. This hedonistic Rieussec may be a smidgen behind their 2005 and 2001 in quality but it is nevertheless an immensely impressive effort.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate92/100
The 2007 Rieussec is a blend of 87% Semillon, 4.5% Muscadelle and 8.5% Sauvignon Blanc picked between 13 September and 31 October. It has an almost Barsac-like bouquet with barley sugar joining the ginger and honeyed notes, quite powerful although I feel this is just going through a sullen patch at the moment. The palate is very pure and balanced with a wonderful seam of acidity that slices through the viscous botrytis fruit, quite spicy on the finish, although it does not possess the persistence of the 2005 or 2009, just cutting away swiftly. Tasted April 2016.
Neal Martin - 31/01/2017 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW19/20
Sweet, vaguely sticky nose. Certainly impressive for the sugar level! And there's an attractive savoury undertow that stops it being sickly. Lots there. Reverberates. Long. Very long. It has that thing that a good Condrieu has: a subtext.
(Jancis Robinson - jancisrobinson.com - 10-Apr-2008) Read more
Decanter19/20
For several years Rieussec has been consistently among the top three or four wines in the district and this is no exception. The 2007 shows terrific power, combined with freshness and length. This has to be a great bottle. Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Rieussec

Chateau Rieussec

Château Rieussec is one of the richest and most exotic of all Sauternes, producing particularly good wines in the late 1980s and the mid 1990s. Rieussec has been owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild since 1985 and is located at one of the highest points of Sauternes in the village of Fargues where its vineyards border those of Château d`Yquem.

Rieussec's 75 hectares of vineyards are planted with 89% Sémillon, 8% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Muscadelle. Yields are low and the grapes are fermented in stainless steel tanks and oak casks before being matured in oak barriques (70% new) for 18-24 months.

Rieussec produces a classic full-bodied Sauternes that is deep golden-yellow in colour and packed with lusciously sweet, honeyed fruits. Classsfied as a 1er Cru Classé, its best vintages rival those from d`Yquem.

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Sauternes

Sauternes

Sauternes is where arguably the world's finest sweet white wines are produced. The Sauternes appellation actually consists of five communes: Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, Fargues and Sauternes itself. Barsac is also an appellation in its own right.

Sauternes literally has an atmosphere different from any of the other major communes. At the southern tip of the Graves,close to the Garonne, not only is the land hillier and decidedly more bucolic but it also enjoys a specific mesoclimate of evening autumn mists which linger until well into the following day, unless burnt off by warm sunshine.

The mists are caused by the cool, spring-fed waters of the Ciron River meeting the warmer tidal Garonne, and the result is an ideal environment for the growth of the mould botrytis cinerea. When its arrival is felicitous, it feeds on the water in the ripe grapes, dehydrating them and leaving sweet, shriveled fruit.

Other regions in Bordeaux (ie Cadillac, Loupiac) produce wines in a similar style from the same method, but none achieve the profundity and complexity of Sauternes.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. D'Yquem, Ch. Climens (Barsac), Ch. Suduiraut, Ch. Rieussec,  Sigalas- Rabaud, Ch. Coutet (Barsac), Ch. de Fargues, Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Ch. Doisy-Védrines (Barsac), Chateau Partarrieu, La Tour Blanche

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Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

The blend used for White Graves and Sauternes and rarely encountered outside France. In the great dry whites of Graves, Sauvignon Blanc tends to predominate in the blend, although properties such as Smith Haut Lafite use 100% Sauvignon Blanc while others such as Laville Haut Brion have as much as 60% Sémillon in their final blends. Sauvignon Blanc wines can lose their freshness and fruit after a couple of years in bottle - if blended with Sémillon, then the latter bolsters the wine when the initial fruit from the Sauvignon fades. Ultimately Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its aroma and raciness while Sémillon gives it backbone and longevity.

In Sauternes, Sémillon is dominant, with Sauvignon Blanc playing a supporting role - it is generally harvested about 10 days before Sémillon and the botrytis concentrates its sweetness and dampens Sauvignon Blanc`s naturally pungent aroma. It contributes acidity, zip and freshness to Sauternes and is an important component of the blend.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.