Dinner at Tiny Pine Bistro (Carbondale, CO): This ranks up there with 2001 Yquem as one of the best dessert wines (still readily available on the market, I might add -- as there are plenty of small German bottlings that aren't) made in the last 40 years. This is basically what high-botrytis chenin should be. Textbook in every way, and just ridiculously stunning in its quality. Despite the maturity, this feels like it has decades still to go -- a result, obviously, of its being chock full of preserving acidity and residual sugar. A kaleidoscopic palate that never feels heavy for a second, though the concentration and complexity makes a little go a long way.
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Finally a great bottle of this, wafting if not rocketing from the glass with a complete, complex nose, filling the room with clover honey, acacia, mirabelle, almond, and cooked mushroom. What texture this shows in the mouth with acidity to match and aromas of youth balanced by those of maturity. Fabulous with cheese, and a fabulous example of why ever cellar should have some representation of the Loire.
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A Ledbury Dinner: Deep bronzed amber, almost a hint of copper. Marmalade and butterscotch nose. Similar on the palate, more rich than sweet and balanced by still significant acidity. Little change from a bottle twelve years ago. ***1/2
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Dark rusty red! to brown color. Complex and super clean aromas of dried yellow fruits, honey and raisins. Extremely sweet and concentrated (390 g/l sugar), compact and undeveloped in the mouth. This wine will last for decades, despite the color. My first note on this 10-11 years ago has turned out to be totally wrong. This is, I guess, as good as sweet Chenin Blanc can be.
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Just beyond incredible. Absurdly dark color, looks like oloroso sherry. Classic nose and palate. Rich, burnt sugar, soft apple, honey, burnt honey, pineapple upside-down cake, the tiniest bit of menthol, brown sugar, pear. Beautiful, delicious.
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Wines with porchetta (Chicago, IL): When I opened this, I thought I was safe from the TCA, but still felt that the bottle was somewhat flat. Well, a few hours later, the TCA was pretty obvious...
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A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Coat of arms label. Corked. Which was not easy to detect because of how much else was going on with this wine. The stripped palate made this a pretty obvious TCA call.
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Sadly, slightly corked - but the wine underneath is so obviously excellent, showing a melange of apricot, ripe pluot, cooked button mushroom, and clover honey. The 89 Cuvée Constance is texturally gorgeous too, supple, sweet but not cloying.
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Wedding Anniversary Celebration (Acquerello, San Francisco): Deep golden brown, yet so paradoxically fresh. Quince, honey, great acidity, and luxurious mouth coating feel with any oiliness or excess weight. Brilliant, ageless essence of dessert wine, not much more than that to say.
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It's hard to describe the brilliance of this wine which is mature and balanced but will clearly age for decades more. So fresh and lifted with incredible flavors of apricot/peach, chalky minerals, petrol and Moroccan spices. Layered and so smooth with great depth and power but also light on it's feet and supremely elegant on the long, ultra-complex and deeply satisfying finish. There's more to say about this wine but I can't find the words...
BM's famous brisket gathering (Bethesda, Maryland): Beautiful bright amber. Hedonistic nose displaying opulent yellow fruit, apricot, apricot marmalade, peach, a hint of dry fig, red currant, dry orange peel, tea, spicy spices, copper, saline and limestone. Exceptional concentration, unbelievably layers decadent pure yellow fruit, intense yet sensual and weightless, bright acidity, strong steely mineral, and a seamless long decadent yellow fruit driven finish with tea and coopery mineral at the end. The palate is simply perfect. For my palate, one of the greatest wines!
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Dark rum color; this was nice, but really mared by a hint of oxy and/or TCA mustiness; the sweet fruit kind of masked it for a bit, but coudn't get past the light walnuty musty aspect. EWG 10 (or rather 20) years on dinner.
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I recall candied and tart peach, meyer lemon, overripe papaya.. a very sweet swine with sweetness derived from the fruits rather than honey or confection sugar. acidity that is present upfront and till the end, avoiding a cloying nature. rich mouthfeel. A lot of everything in a bombastic yet balanced wine.
A very faint cardboard that had me wondering if this was every so mildly corked? Overall very enjoyable, but a bit too decadent and think for my preference. Glad to have enjoyed one.
Unfortunately this wine gave me one of my worst allergic reactions. Like a rolling pin of pain that came in waves after I had a few glasses.
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replacement for corked bottle, Lighter than I remembered at first but seemed to be putting on weight with air. This never got to the stunning stage that I expect from Constance but I left as it was still developing What I tasted B+/A-, but 89 Constance is usually an A for me, this probably just needed air.
Q3 - 2018 Tasting - Whites - “ABC” Anything but Chardonnay (New York, NY): 1/18 white wines tasted double blind. Color is caramel. On the palate the wine is simultaneously tart & sweet with honeyed, floral notes and a nice finish. My guess was an older Sauternes. My first time trying this wine and hopefully not the last, it was really pretty lovely and just had a great balance of acid and sugar.
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Anything But (still) Chardonnay - ABC wines | Q3 Wine Club (The Apt): Wine #1: I had a guess on what this was just because the older dessert Vouvrays are pretty distinctive. Some thought maybe d'Yquem, but I think missing the acidity that goes with those. It's very much like burnt orange peel with a lovely sweetness and good age characteristics. At the very end there's almost this drying feeling that tends to leave you wanting more and another sip. In a very nice place right now. Not sure that it's getting much better, but also doubt it's really going anywhere. (5 pennies)
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Nose: honey, apricot ,logan , subtle mint. palate: very smooth sweetness and still hv lively acidity ,rich apricot ,caramel, with good mineral backup, very long aftertaste with honey, orange zest lingering ( i guessed over a minute) . Amazing showing of an aged sweet chenin blanc and hv good life head. No wonder will be my sweet wine of the year !
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Dinner at Sun Wah (Chicago, IL): Simply put, this has to be one of the most profound chenin blanc wines ever produced. Maybe it's bolstered by the fact that this is a sheer botrytis bomb, and it's a fair criticism that this wine has lost some of the outright chenin characteristics, but this wine is an exercise in profundity and balance. It is incredibly sweet, with an inordinate amount of concentration and flavour -- spice, citrus, stone fruit, caramel -- and perfectly balanced by its acidity. Never cloying for a moment. This is a masterful winemaking effort that will outlive anyone who was alive when this wine was born.
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The color of dark rose. Very fine and silky on the palate, it provides just an impossible array of fresh Loire Valley flavors including red flowers, crushed cherries, apricots and silty minerals with just the right touch of sweetness. The finish is so perfectly intense and refined showing great complexity with notes of spices and crushed flowers. Incredible tonight but actually this still has decades of maturity left. 96+ At Racine's, NY.
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Burgundy Dinner with Gokhan and Friends (Nell's - Seattle WA): Apricot, honeycomb, marzipan with engaging complexity from botrytis and structure. Good weight and length, and while I haven't had this wine in a long time, I remember it from before as being bigger and richer. Still, wonderfully tasty, 93 points tonight.
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Deep golden amber. Honeyed fruit nose. Medium to lightly unctuous. Gorgeous beacon of pure pear and citrus. Moderately sweet with a brulée aspect. Tremendous length. Superb dessert wine which will last.
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Dark yellow color. Complex aromas of dried yellow fruits, pine and resin. Extremely sweet (390 g/l sugar), compact and undeveloped in the mouth. The mouth feeling tells another story than the dark color.
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A Dinner Focused on Two 1990 First Growths (Home): Half bottle. Deep amber/gold. Prominent secondary botrytis notes and a strong element of fig. Very sweet and unctuous, lively balancing acidity. Great length. A true essence, but this small format bottle could have used more complexity to elevate it to the level of its mythic reputation. Do not let the dark color fool you, though; even out of a small format, this is still very much alive and kicking.
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A wonderful evening of Chenin. (Chez Kravitz- Old Saybrook): Yes, a bit of a baby killer, but it was good to check in on it and I’m glad Marco brought it so I could let mine sleep longer. It was decanted about four or five hours prior to our having it. There was more brightness and youthfulness to this bottle than my past few samples. Still quite primary with an intense apricot character, a hit of marmalade, pineapple and quince that’s moving into the darker quince paste realm. Of course there’s a strong mineral streak with just a bit of marzipan. There’s a lot of residual sugar here, but the magic of this wine has always been the balance the acidity gives it. Just perfectly balanced. Really, it’s a benchmark wine for describing balance. A youthful, immortal wine. A+.
Chenin Blancs @ the Kravitz (Old Saybrook): Such a monumental wine. A quarter of a century old, yet still vigorous and full of life. A concentrated elixir of apricot, honey, quince, orange marmalade and assorted rich tropical fruit. A sneaky hint of minerals is able to poke through the wealth of honeyed, fruity goodness. Lengthy, tangy, clingy finish. For all its weight, it remains lively, energetic and clean. Outrageously good.
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Spicy, many-fruited nose. A long, bursting progression of sweet, mellow yellow and white fruits on the palate, so centered overall, effortlessly powerful, it could swat you like a fly while doing a back-flip on the balance beam. One of the best wines I've ever had.
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unbelievable. I would only rate this so high because I have had amazing tokaji essencia and the great Alsace SGN. This wine was had after a 37 year old red Burg that rocked, a 2000 Bordeaux from the Nargaux appellation that was a second growth a Blanc Bordeaux from 2005 that was liquid mineral with fruit to spare and one of the most unique wines I have ever had that after two shared bottles remains unique in the world of Barolo and fortified aromatic wines.
Every possible type of heated it cooked sugar from butterscotch and toffe to salted caramels with every tropical fruit and every stoned fruit from it fresh form to its best dehydrated form. Turkish apricots for example with bright acidity that was more candied citrus making this wine effortlessly float about the mouth.
Michael Briadbent was do right in with this wine. I think we got hints of the wet wool after testing some course wool socks. Really once in a lifetime stuff.
I could be rating this perfect with no real hesitantly. 98+-100pts.
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Hommage A Jacques Perrin dinner - 89, 90, 00 and 10, also 02 Salon, 02 Carillon BBM, 89 Constance and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): What an incredible wine. Bright amber. Subtle yet incredibly complex nose displaying apricots, cranberries, tarte tatin, honey, red tea, orange zest, sweet and spicy spices and strong presence of mineral. Excellent concentration yet airy and weightless which I only find in great wines, intense sweet red fruit driven palate impression, strong presence of mineral, sweet spices, bright acidity and lovely long finish. This is all about incredible weightless texture. Wow!
Château Gruaud-Larose 1928 - 2011: Deep golden, seemed older than its 25 years, very fresh and very sweet. Could definitely have had more complexity, but the structure is just amazing.
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Anniversary weekend at Fearrington with Alan & Lehna. As with many other occasions with this wine my notes simply say "lightning in a bottle". Slightly but previous bottles so no perfect score for this one but it was plenty enjoyable. I still believe that the best Cuvee Constance yet made is this inaugural vintage and that it is still on the upswing part of its' aging curve. 14.5+14.5+9.5+9.5=98
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Not a perfect bottle. Bought at auction and seem to have been stored to warm. The colour is between dark amber and Coca Cola. A sweet Chenin Blanc from 1989 should be much more vital than this. I've had a Moulin Touchais 1949 that was younger in colour than this one. Quite nice bouquet though ... fudge, raisins, brown sugar, honey and caramel. Reminds me of an old Madeira. But a bit medecinal. It even taste like an old Madeira.
I was toald that this wine is one of the two wines M. Broadbent gave the score 6 out of 5. But this bottle was not in the best shape. Still I give this wine 90-91p ... so I bet this wine is wonderful if it is a bottle in good or great shape. I will look for this wine in the future.
Chambolle Night: Elegant and balanced, a tad too dominant toffee and lacking balancing acidity, develops somewhat in the glass. Slightly disappointing. Not obviously flawed, but perhaps just an off bottle?
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Champagne, Burgundy, and old Huët at the North End Grill (North End Grill, NYC): Once again, monumental, and another incredible showing for what is one of the greatest wines (sweet, white, or otherwise) I've ever had the chance to drink. A spectrum of flavour that's hard to catalogue, but this seems to have it all with layers of rich fruit, honey, marmalade and other wooly and floral elements all coming together seamlessly, and incredible balance between the sweetness and acidity. The sense of textural refinement and elegance here is amazing, and the flavours resonate long after each sip. Thanks Ross.
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Nearly perfect. The inteposition of fruit, sweetness and acid is mindblowing. Botrytis, rich and what flavors! Brilliant wine!! It knocked the d'Yquem out of the park for me. Kudos to Murray for sharing.
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Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity. The feel is silky with deep and honeyed tones of caramel, pears, peaches, toffee, red apples, and some marmalade.
Overall: This was a stunning wine. It just drew you in with it's depth and refinement. This was a wine that commanded your attention at every point.
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Tremendously disappointing for me! As mentioned in the note below, this just wasnt all there -- a recent auction buy, this was more oxidized than i would expect for an 89 loire of this pedigree -- and the biggest issue was that it wasn't pleasant oxidation, at least not at first. something a little disjointed on the attack, it smoothed out and provided lush sweet apricots and honey. long, smooth finish was initially tainted by a metallic note, but came around with some air.
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The bottle we had was not "flawed" but it clearly was on an accelerated oxidation trajectory. The bottle needed some time to open up, and once some of the oxidation seemed to integrate, this showed its class. Apricot, brown sugar, spice, tropical fruit. Incredible melange of flavors blended harmoniously. The acid suffered a touch, probably due to accelerated oxidation. I can't put this up there with some of the other scores for this wine, but I could see structure and class that a perfectly stored bottle of this wine can exhibit.
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Los Angeles "Bucket List" Offline (Los Angeles, California): Laser-like precision, Chenin Blanc waxiness, plenty of acidity, minerality, and stone and tropical fruits. The d'Yquem was certainly the more complex, but I preferred the acid-sugar balance of the filigreed Huët. Well integrated, but I suspect this needs a few more decades to reveal its fully mature side.
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Amber coloured. In the nose very pleasant and fascinatingly complex with candied apricots and oranges, quince, caramel. Super deep. On the palate, extremely sweet, yet balanced out by the strong acidity. Very long with honey in the finish. Quite extreme.
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Mark's 60th (Hix Mayfair): Brilliant gold. Classic rich unctuous perfectly braced by acidity. Great depth and complexity and will live forever. Simply stunning.
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(375 ml). Still my favorite dessert wine of all time (if anything the half bottle is drinking better than the 750s). Waxy, wooly, wonderful. Great acidity, vibrant, complex. A
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Wine Bash of the Year 2012 (Jade Palace, Forum Galleria): A remarkable wine - one of the best sweets I have had this year. It had one of those noses that makes you go wow the moment you stick your nose in the glass - fresh, lively, and super complex, with layers of honey and treacle and spice, on a bed of fresh apples and dried apricot aromas, a twist of lemons and just a tiny bit of lanolin as a reminder that we were in Chenin Blanc territory. The palate was equally wonderful. It was full, fleshy, complex and brilliantly integrated. However, what was most amazing about this for me was the sheer purity of the flavours here in spite of the wine's great depth and weight, with supple, almost melting acidity caressing delightful flavours caramelised apples, dried figs and apricots - it was so astoundingly balanced that it seemed lithe, graceful and effortlessly elegant. There was a great amount of energy on it too, with an undercurrent of more citrussy lemon drops driving the wine into a super-long finish, with lots of honey and spice filling the backpalate along with subtler nuances of orange blossom and Chantilly cream. Amazing stuff, all finally underlined by a glint of steely minerality. This is probably ageless and can go on for decades on end, but boy was it good on the night.
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Jawdropping. Utterly seamless with ripe Chenin fruit, wooliness, honey, marmalade and floral elements combining flawlessly into a whole. Somehow this conveys a sense of incredible power and intensity while at the same time feeling incredibly precise, focused and light on its feet, with a powerful acid spine keeping it impeccably balanced. A spectacular wine and an amazing experience.
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This wine has unfortunately gone through a fast track development and showed dark amber color, which it defenitely should not. The aromas are extremely raisiny, but also extremely concentrated and sweet. I could easily give it 90 pts. as it it is, but that would be unfear for this wine.
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2012 - Gary's wine bash! (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 11.5% Opened for 5hrs. This medium - deep golden nectar is showing captivating bouquet of super ripe intense yellow fruits, caramel, marzipan yet with incredible underlying freshness and perfume floral scents. This is a full-bodied dessert wine with wave after wave of honey coated yellow fruits that filled up the mouth. It is not amazing because of its concentration and richness but because of the amazing level of ripe and bright acidity that keeps the wine weightless, well delineated and focus. It is so elegance and refreshing that I have no problem to keep drinking it. The finish is long and lingering, with mild bortrytis spiciness, almond, honey lemon and mango aftertaste. Wow, so delicious. This wine has no problem to continue to develop in the bottle for another decade or 2 and by then, it will be Extraordinary. Well, provided if you can keep your hand...off! 94-96
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Bottle, fill and cork all excellent. Amber -gold color. Bracing acidity, excellent balance. Lovely aromatics. Seems to have plenty of life left, but not likely to improve. I have not had many of these older Huets, but I compare it aged Sauternes - this wine does not have the carmel, creme' brulee and tropical flavors of that wine. It is more restrained and subtle. We greatly enjoyed this bottle, but I concur with at least some of the other notes that it is a bit unidimensional.
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Anniversary dinner at Buku with Steve & Barb. A perfect way to end the Evening's trio of '89s. Very similar to previous bottles with minimal notes written down. Lightning in a bottle and true perfection. 50+15+15+10+10=100
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Gentaz, Passat and Huet show up for dinner at Mark's. (Mark's.): My last half bottle of a group that I sourced from Europe eleven or twelve years ago. For the most part they've all shown more advanced than from 750, but while that's also the case with this one, it's also one of the best showings from .375 that I've had. The color is noticeably darker than it has been in the past, though not even close to being in the same realm of say a '90 Foreau Reserve. Beautiful aromas and flavors of ripe apricots, earl grey tea, orange marmalade, mineral, marzipan and a dollop of shoe polish. Certainly sweet, but a little less so than previous bottles and it's of course balanced impeccably by its acid backbone. Still youthful even from this bottle, so 750's should still slumber, or have a long decant. Gorgeous wine. A.
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Shama's LLC Offline (The Square, London): Full orange gold. A touch of butterscotch and cream on the nose. Sweet but with good baalncing acidity. Pleasant but for me a little too one-dimensional on the finish. ***(*)
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Dinner at Table 16 for Barb's Birthday. Amber in color and all my notes say is lightning in a bottle, 99 points. Am I out of descriptors for this all time classic? I don't think so. I think the short note was more a factor of conversation. By any measure this wine wowed those around the table that have never before had it and continued to amaze those of us that have been lucky enough to have had it before. Why 99 points tonight and not 100? I have no idea. All I know is that I continue to be thrilled that I bought this wine heavily.
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Open That Bottle Night at St. Jacques, Raleigh, NC. How many times can you describe the same wine as true perfection and come up with something new to say? Medium gold in the glass with flecks of amber. The wine seems to float on the palate and is truly beautiful beyond mere words. While the sugar level is clearly high, the acidity is there to match and the balance is impeccable. Really as perfect as a wine can be yet it is still quite primary today and will grow into something different, and hopefully equally perfect, as time passes. 50+15+15+10+10 = 100
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Served at Ledbury dinner. Slightly red/pink colour. Gloriously precise nose and palate. Such weightless weight! So much subtlety of flavour that worked so well with the passionfruit souffle and sauternes ice cream dessert.
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Mötley Crü does '90/'91 California Cabernet Sauvignon (Steve Williams): 1989 Huët Vouvray Cuvée Constance: A 20-year old wine that, I think, is way too young. Still incredible, however, with incredible honeyed fruits and a strong backbone of acidity that balanced nicely. I'd like to taste this one in 20 more years as I bet it will be amazing.
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Dinner at St. Jacques, Raleigh, NC with Craig and Melanie. Two great courses of food and wine down, could the 3rd wine live up to it's potential? Dark and shiny gold in the glass and the wine was as good as gold ( maybe better! ). This wine rides the sugar/acid tightrope better than almost every other sweet wine. An utterly compelling wine that forces one to keep drinking in anticipation of another sip of this nectar of the Gods. Clearly still has alot of development ahead of it but how many bottles will live to see age 50+ when it is so great today? Still holds my opinion as the finest Cuvee Constance made to date. Lightning in a bottle and true perfection. My 2nd perfect score ever and very well deserved. 50+15+15+10+10 = 100
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Usually my favorite wine of all time, this bottle, alas, is a little lackluster. From a .375 ml and schlepped with me out to San Francisco recently, while still quite good, it showed a little older than from full bottles, with more of a nutty and marmalade edge to it. It also seemed a little shy, perhaps beaten up by the car rides to and from airports and being in the belly of a plane. It just didn't have the depth, length or vibrancy I've come to expect from this wine. Quite sweet, but balanced. At least that stayed consistent. Still lovely, if not the bell ringer it usually is. A-.
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Dinner at Steve & Barb's house with Colonel Bob. Medium gold in the glass, this wine was loaded with aromas and flavors of white fruits. The residual sugar level here is clearly high but the acidity really hides the impression of sweetness very well. Still quite young but drinking really well. This is a wine that is all about balance. One of the finest dessert wines ever made and one that will age for an eternity. 50+14+15+9+9 = 97
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Dinner at Steve & Barb's house. Bright gold in the glass, this was an electrifying wine to drink. Big honeyed nose that seems to follow what the '89 Moelleux 1ere Tries are like except this is even richer and sweeter. The sweetness is matched beautifully by the acidity. Lots of honeysuckle in here. Still drinking like an infant but this is very drinkable today( VERY! ). Extremely long finish. This is a wine that is very difficult to fully express with words. A true legend that lives up to it's reputation and will drink well for at least another 50 years, maybe 100. The 4 of us drained this 750ml in record time. It is a dessert wine but not one that you tire of at all. Every sip revealed new nuances. WOW! 50+14+15+9.5+9.5 = 98
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Orange amber. Wow, as great as its reputation with brilliant acidity, gorgeous orange/quince fruit, some florality, a touch of toffee, and endless length. Magical balancing act of concentration and lightness. I'm so grateful that I finally had a chance to try this legendary wine.
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Came to this with such high expectations given its exalted reputation but felt it didn't live up to these. Double decanted about 3 hours before serving. Interesting, slightly pink hue. Elegant, sharp, well balanced sweet wine but really not singing tonight.
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Dinner with the Cassettas (The Square, London): Golden marmalade, a hint of golden syrup and raspbery slush puppy. Very bright fruit, soft acidity, a touch of dieselm very well blalanced, berhaps the acidity could have been more rigid, and a bitter finish let it down. I am sure this was not the best bottle of this.
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TTG#10: Summer Wines? (Tokyo American Club): Deep and rich gold with a dense texture that moves languorously around the glass. First blush on the nose is major botrytis with a panoply of rich sweet fruits – apricot, ripe fig, orange and more exotic citrus. With a little time open, this develops spice notes and even shows a bit of deeply underlying stoniness. On the palate, extraordinarily concentrated, but absolutely in balance. If you can imagine the most agile dancer somehow moving unfettered through a big pot of honey, then you’ve got the measure of how beautifully the acid balances the sweetness and texture. Palate is equally complex to the nose and the finish just won’t end. A truly stupendous wine. I’m often wary lux cuvées, as they tend to be a bit too much of everything, but occasionally it is possible to put 10 lbs. of potatoes in a 5-lb. sack and have it all hold together. This one does hold together – and magically. I can only imagine how amazing this will be in time.
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The Robert Foley Band: Wine and Rock & Roll in the Green Mountains.; 7/21/2006-7/22/2006 (Friday night at my house, Saturday at Bisto Sauce in Shelburne): Nightcap to the Robert Foley Band reception. My '89 Huets were not stored well before I got them and are clearly much more advanced than better kept bottles. - Quite dark orange/gold. Mature aromas of exotic honey, dried fruits, roasted nuts. - Viscous, powerful and very sweet flavors are lifted by mouthwatering acidity but oxidation is fighting it out with the fresh fruit (and winning). - Even though this is showing premature age it is still an impressive sticky.
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California 'cult' lunch at Spago with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): Wow, this is a very special wine. The nose was a little wonky at first, lightly smoky with ripe botrytis, vinyl, petrol and peach pit. On the palate this had awesome, focusing acidity with rich, layered flavors of apricot jam and peach, very vibrant and deep at the same time. The finish shows amazing persistence and yet is ethereally light despite the huge weight of the wine. This was very inpressive on its own and was a fabulous foil to a seared piece of foie gras.
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Insignia Vertical @ Surf Village (Milford): Nice nose of sweet apricots and minerals. Similar impression on the palate. Great mouthfeel. Seemless and ethereal in the mouth. Perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Long finish. Tasted late in the night, after many other wines. Because of that, I felt I got a wonderful, but not "legendary" experience.
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Dessert Wine Extravaganza: The group consensus as the wine of the tasting. Stunning viscosity, the texture of syrup. The nose was initially very subdued, eventually opening up to be merely moderately subdued, it is still somewhat closed, just hinting at its future. This wine defines balance, with massive acid to balance and delineate the massive sweetness. In fact, it tastes, in Alsatian terms, more like a sweet vendange tardive than a selection des grains nobles because of the impeccable balance. The fruit keeps unfolding to show new layers as it opens up, and carries the longest finish of any wine I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. Without question, the greatest dessert wine I've ever had, and possibly the greatest wine of any sort I've ever had.
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4/20/2024 - acyso wrote: 98 Points
Dinner at Tiny Pine Bistro (Carbondale, CO): This ranks up there with 2001 Yquem as one of the best dessert wines (still readily available on the market, I might add -- as there are plenty of small German bottlings that aren't) made in the last 40 years. This is basically what high-botrytis chenin should be. Textbook in every way, and just ridiculously stunning in its quality. Despite the maturity, this feels like it has decades still to go -- a result, obviously, of its being chock full of preserving acidity and residual sugar. A kaleidoscopic palate that never feels heavy for a second, though the concentration and complexity makes a little go a long way.
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1/13/2024 - englishman's claret wrote: 96 Points
Finally a great bottle of this, wafting if not rocketing from the glass with a complete, complex nose, filling the room with clover honey, acacia, mirabelle, almond, and cooked mushroom. What texture this shows in the mouth with acidity to match and aromas of youth balanced by those of maturity. Fabulous with cheese, and a fabulous example of why ever cellar should have some representation of the Loire.
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12/2/2023 - ekessler wrote: flawed
corked
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9/9/2023 - SimonG wrote: 90 Points
A Ledbury Dinner: Deep bronzed amber, almost a hint of copper. Marmalade and butterscotch nose. Similar on the palate, more rich than sweet and balanced by still significant acidity. Little change from a bottle twelve years ago. ***1/2
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7/29/2023 - englishman's claret wrote:
A disappointingly simple bottle, ex winebid
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2/25/2023 - AudunG wrote: 96 Points
Dark rusty red! to brown color. Complex and super clean aromas of dried yellow fruits, honey and raisins. Extremely sweet and concentrated (390 g/l sugar), compact and undeveloped in the mouth. This wine will last for decades, despite the color. My first note on this 10-11 years ago has turned out to be totally wrong. This is, I guess, as good as sweet Chenin Blanc can be.
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2/5/2023 - zachb1125 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Salil Bday
Just beyond incredible. Absurdly dark color, looks like oloroso sherry. Classic nose and palate. Rich, burnt sugar, soft apple, honey, burnt honey, pineapple upside-down cake, the tiniest bit of menthol, brown sugar, pear. Beautiful, delicious.
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12/17/2022 - acyso wrote: flawed
Wines with porchetta (Chicago, IL): When I opened this, I thought I was safe from the TCA, but still felt that the bottle was somewhat flat. Well, a few hours later, the TCA was pretty obvious...
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12/14/2022 - acyso wrote: flawed
A survey of Domaine Huet (Chicago, IL): Coat of arms label. Corked. Which was not easy to detect because of how much else was going on with this wine. The stripped palate made this a pretty obvious TCA call.
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12/10/2022 - englishman's claret wrote: flawed
Sadly, slightly corked - but the wine underneath is so obviously excellent, showing a melange of apricot, ripe pluot, cooked button mushroom, and clover honey. The 89 Cuvée Constance is texturally gorgeous too, supple, sweet but not cloying.
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11/20/2021 - drwine2001 wrote:
Wedding Anniversary Celebration (Acquerello, San Francisco): Deep golden brown, yet so paradoxically fresh. Quince, honey, great acidity, and luxurious mouth coating feel with any oiliness or excess weight. Brilliant, ageless essence of dessert wine, not much more than that to say.
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6/13/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 97 Points
It's hard to describe the brilliance of this wine which is mature and balanced but will clearly age for decades more. So fresh and lifted with incredible flavors of apricot/peach, chalky minerals, petrol and Moroccan spices. Layered and so smooth with great depth and power but also light on it's feet and supremely elegant on the long, ultra-complex and deeply satisfying finish. There's more to say about this wine but I can't find the words...
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10/10/2020 - dcwino wrote: 99 Points
BM's famous brisket gathering (Bethesda, Maryland): Beautiful bright amber. Hedonistic nose displaying opulent yellow fruit, apricot, apricot marmalade, peach, a hint of dry fig, red currant, dry orange peel, tea, spicy spices, copper, saline and limestone. Exceptional concentration, unbelievably layers decadent pure yellow fruit, intense yet sensual and weightless, bright acidity, strong steely mineral, and a seamless long decadent yellow fruit driven finish with tea and coopery mineral at the end. The palate is simply perfect. For my palate, one of the greatest wines!
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12/8/2019 - peternelson wrote: 88 Points
Dark rum color; this was nice, but really mared by a hint of oxy and/or TCA mustiness; the sweet fruit kind of masked it for a bit, but coudn't get past the light walnuty musty aspect. EWG 10 (or rather 20) years on dinner.
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10/27/2019 - SARED Likes this wine: 97 Points
96-97. Lost tasting note, so this is off memory.
I recall candied and tart peach, meyer lemon, overripe papaya.. a very sweet swine with sweetness derived from the fruits rather than honey or confection sugar. acidity that is present upfront and till the end, avoiding a cloying nature. rich mouthfeel. A lot of everything in a bombastic yet balanced wine.
A very faint cardboard that had me wondering if this was every so mildly corked? Overall very enjoyable, but a bit too decadent and think for my preference. Glad to have enjoyed one.
Unfortunately this wine gave me one of my worst allergic reactions. Like a rolling pin of pain that came in waves after I had a few glasses.
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9/17/2019 - DaleW wrote:
replacement for corked bottle, Lighter than I remembered at first but seemed to be putting on weight with air. This never got to the stunning stage that I expect from Constance but I left as it was still developing What I tasted B+/A-, but 89 Constance is usually an A for me, this probably just needed air.
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9/17/2019 - DaleW wrote: flawed
corked
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6/9/2019 - LWI wrote: 95 Points
60-års dag og blinsmaking: Knekk, høy syre, meget intens. Strålende.
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10/20/2018 - ericindc wrote: flawed
October Wine Dinner in DC (Eric's House in DC): lightly corked. You could certainly taste a ton of great fruit under there. A shame.
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7/14/2018 - retired_and_roving Likes this wine:
Q3 - 2018 Tasting - Whites - “ABC” Anything but Chardonnay (New York, NY): 1/18 white wines tasted double blind. Color is caramel. On the palate the wine is simultaneously tart & sweet with honeyed, floral notes and a nice finish. My guess was an older Sauternes. My first time trying this wine and hopefully not the last, it was really pretty lovely and just had a great balance of acid and sugar.
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7/14/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Anything But (still) Chardonnay - ABC wines | Q3 Wine Club (The Apt): Wine #1: I had a guess on what this was just because the older dessert Vouvrays are pretty distinctive. Some thought maybe d'Yquem, but I think missing the acidity that goes with those. It's very much like burnt orange peel with a lovely sweetness and good age characteristics. At the very end there's almost this drying feeling that tends to leave you wanting more and another sip. In a very nice place right now. Not sure that it's getting much better, but also doubt it's really going anywhere. (5 pennies)
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7/7/2018 - KCC320 wrote: 96 Points
Nose: honey, apricot ,logan , subtle mint.
palate: very smooth sweetness and still hv lively acidity ,rich apricot ,caramel, with good mineral backup, very long aftertaste with honey, orange zest lingering ( i guessed over a minute) . Amazing showing of an aged sweet chenin blanc and hv good life head. No wonder will be my sweet wine of the year !
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5/30/2018 - acyso wrote: 98 Points
Dinner at Sun Wah (Chicago, IL): Simply put, this has to be one of the most profound chenin blanc wines ever produced. Maybe it's bolstered by the fact that this is a sheer botrytis bomb, and it's a fair criticism that this wine has lost some of the outright chenin characteristics, but this wine is an exercise in profundity and balance. It is incredibly sweet, with an inordinate amount of concentration and flavour -- spice, citrus, stone fruit, caramel -- and perfectly balanced by its acidity. Never cloying for a moment. This is a masterful winemaking effort that will outlive anyone who was alive when this wine was born.
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5/15/2018 - dream wrote: 96 Points
The color of dark rose. Very fine and silky on the palate, it provides just an impossible array of fresh Loire Valley flavors including red flowers, crushed cherries, apricots and silty minerals with just the right touch of sweetness. The finish is so perfectly intense and refined showing great complexity with notes of spices and crushed flowers. Incredible tonight but actually this still has decades of maturity left. 96+ At Racine's, NY.
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4/10/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote:
Burgundy Dinner with Gokhan and Friends (Nell's - Seattle WA): Apricot, honeycomb, marzipan with engaging complexity from botrytis and structure. Good weight and length, and while I haven't had this wine in a long time, I remember it from before as being bigger and richer. Still, wonderfully tasty, 93 points tonight.
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1/5/2018 - MikeATL wrote: flawed
1989 Vouvray Madness (Good Luck Gourmet, Doraville, GA): Lightly corked, which is enough to kill it.
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9/16/2017 - drwine2001 wrote:
Deep golden amber. Honeyed fruit nose. Medium to lightly unctuous. Gorgeous beacon of pure pear and citrus. Moderately sweet with a brulée aspect. Tremendous length. Superb dessert wine which will last.
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4/22/2017 - LWI wrote: 97 Points
Best bottle so far. Elegance and complexity, hand in hand. Full, yet light.
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3/7/2017 - tcarter Likes this wine: 98 Points
Totoraku Cali Cabs & Syrahs Dinner (Totoraku): This is really special stuff. So alive. Wonderfully balanced. What a treat!
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11/27/2016 - AudunG wrote: 95 Points
Dark yellow color. Complex aromas of dried yellow fruits, pine and resin. Extremely sweet (390 g/l sugar), compact and undeveloped in the mouth. The mouth feeling tells another story than the dark color.
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8/20/2015 - drwine2001 wrote:
A Dinner Focused on Two 1990 First Growths (Home): Half bottle. Deep amber/gold. Prominent secondary botrytis notes and a strong element of fig. Very sweet and unctuous, lively balancing acidity. Great length. A true essence, but this small format bottle could have used more complexity to elevate it to the level of its mythic reputation. Do not let the dark color fool you, though; even out of a small format, this is still very much alive and kicking.
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7/11/2015 - BradKNYC Likes this wine:
A wonderful evening of Chenin. (Chez Kravitz- Old Saybrook): Yes, a bit of a baby killer, but it was good to check in on it and I’m glad Marco brought it so I could let mine sleep longer. It was decanted about four or five hours prior to our having it. There was more brightness and youthfulness to this bottle than my past few samples. Still quite primary with an intense apricot character, a hit of marmalade, pineapple and quince that’s moving into the darker quince paste realm. Of course there’s a strong mineral streak with just a bit of marzipan. There’s a lot of residual sugar here, but the magic of this wine has always been the balance the acidity gives it. Just perfectly balanced. Really, it’s a benchmark wine for describing balance. A youthful, immortal wine. A+.
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7/11/2015 - mdefreitas wrote: 97 Points
Chenin Blancs @ the Kravitz (Old Saybrook): Such a monumental wine. A quarter of a century old, yet still vigorous and full of life. A concentrated elixir of apricot, honey, quince, orange marmalade and assorted rich tropical fruit. A sneaky hint of minerals is able to poke through the wealth of honeyed, fruity goodness. Lengthy, tangy, clingy finish. For all its weight, it remains lively, energetic and clean. Outrageously good.
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6/27/2015 - Old Doug wrote: 98 Points
Spicy, many-fruited nose. A long, bursting progression of sweet, mellow yellow and white fruits on the palate, so centered overall, effortlessly powerful, it could swat you like a fly while doing a back-flip on the balance beam. One of the best wines I've ever had.
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6/27/2015 - Champagneinhand wrote: 99 Points
unbelievable. I would only rate this so high because I have had amazing tokaji essencia and the great Alsace SGN. This wine was had after a 37 year old red Burg that rocked, a 2000 Bordeaux from the Nargaux appellation that was a second growth a Blanc Bordeaux from 2005 that was liquid mineral with fruit to spare and one of the most unique wines I have ever had that after two shared bottles remains unique in the world of Barolo and fortified aromatic wines.
Every possible type of heated it cooked sugar from butterscotch and toffe to salted caramels with every tropical fruit and every stoned fruit from it fresh form to its best dehydrated form. Turkish apricots for example with bright acidity that was more candied citrus making this wine effortlessly float about the mouth.
Michael Briadbent was do right in with this wine. I think we got hints of the wet wool after testing some course wool socks. Really once in a lifetime stuff.
I could be rating this perfect with no real hesitantly. 98+-100pts.
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3/30/2015 - danielbleier Likes this wine: 97 Points
amazing, the most intense burst of apricot and honey I have experienced to date.
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2/20/2015 - dcwino wrote: 99 Points
Hommage A Jacques Perrin dinner - 89, 90, 00 and 10, also 02 Salon, 02 Carillon BBM, 89 Constance and etc. (The Grill Room at Capella Hotel Georgetown): What an incredible wine. Bright amber. Subtle yet incredibly complex nose displaying apricots, cranberries, tarte tatin, honey, red tea, orange zest, sweet and spicy spices and strong presence of mineral. Excellent concentration yet airy and weightless which I only find in great wines, intense sweet red fruit driven palate impression, strong presence of mineral, sweet spices, bright acidity and lovely long finish. This is all about incredible weightless texture. Wow!
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1/31/2015 - LWI wrote: 94 Points
Château Gruaud-Larose 1928 - 2011: Deep golden, seemed older than its 25 years, very fresh and very sweet. Could definitely have had more complexity, but the structure is just amazing.
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8/16/2014 - JeffGMorris Likes this wine: 98 Points
Anniversary weekend at Fearrington with Alan & Lehna. As with many other occasions with this wine my notes simply say "lightning in a bottle". Slightly but previous bottles so no perfect score for this one but it was plenty enjoyable. I still believe that the best Cuvee Constance yet made is this inaugural vintage and that it is still on the upswing part of its' aging curve. 14.5+14.5+9.5+9.5=98
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7/12/2014 - Tenuta Stefan wrote: flawed
Not a perfect bottle. Bought at auction and seem to have been stored to warm.
The colour is between dark amber and Coca Cola. A sweet Chenin Blanc from 1989 should be much more vital than this. I've had a Moulin Touchais 1949 that was younger in colour than this one.
Quite nice bouquet though ... fudge, raisins, brown sugar, honey and caramel. Reminds me of an old Madeira. But a bit medecinal.
It even taste like an old Madeira.
I was toald that this wine is one of the two wines M. Broadbent gave the score 6 out of 5. But this bottle was not in the best shape. Still I give this wine 90-91p ... so I bet this wine is wonderful if it is a bottle in good or great shape.
I will look for this wine in the future.
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11/2/2013 - LWI wrote: 94 Points
Chambolle Night: Elegant and balanced, a tad too dominant toffee and lacking balancing acidity, develops somewhat in the glass. Slightly disappointing. Not obviously flawed, but perhaps just an off bottle?
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7/1/2013 - salil wrote: 98 Points
Champagne, Burgundy, and old Huët at the North End Grill (North End Grill, NYC): Once again, monumental, and another incredible showing for what is one of the greatest wines (sweet, white, or otherwise) I've ever had the chance to drink. A spectrum of flavour that's hard to catalogue, but this seems to have it all with layers of rich fruit, honey, marmalade and other wooly and floral elements all coming together seamlessly, and incredible balance between the sweetness and acidity. The sense of textural refinement and elegance here is amazing, and the flavours resonate long after each sip. Thanks Ross.
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6/26/2013 - rnellans wrote: 97 Points
Nearly perfect. The inteposition of fruit, sweetness and acid is mindblowing. Botrytis, rich and what flavors! Brilliant wine!! It knocked the d'Yquem out of the park for me. Kudos to Murray for sharing.
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6/24/2013 - KeithAkers wrote: 96 Points
Rotating Dinner Series- A Focus on Cabernet Franc (Domaine Wine Storage, Chicago IL): Nose: Deep and layered nose with succulent tones of caramel, toffee, red apples, white fruits, acacia flowers, and some marmalade. The nose just sung where you got stopped in the moment.
Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity. The feel is silky with deep and honeyed tones of caramel, pears, peaches, toffee, red apples, and some marmalade.
Overall: This was a stunning wine. It just drew you in with it's depth and refinement. This was a wine that commanded your attention at every point.
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6/7/2013 - ews3 wrote:
Tremendously disappointing for me! As mentioned in the note below, this just wasnt all there -- a recent auction buy, this was more oxidized than i would expect for an 89 loire of this pedigree -- and the biggest issue was that it wasn't pleasant oxidation, at least not at first. something a little disjointed on the attack, it smoothed out and provided lush sweet apricots and honey. long, smooth finish was initially tainted by a metallic note, but came around with some air.
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6/1/2013 - jrobs7777 wrote:
The bottle we had was not "flawed" but it clearly was on an accelerated oxidation trajectory. The bottle needed some time to open up, and once some of the oxidation seemed to integrate, this showed its class. Apricot, brown sugar, spice, tropical fruit. Incredible melange of flavors blended harmoniously. The acid suffered a touch, probably due to accelerated oxidation. I can't put this up there with some of the other scores for this wine, but I could see structure and class that a perfectly stored bottle of this wine can exhibit.
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3/23/2013 - bpj87 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Los Angeles "Bucket List" Offline (Los Angeles, California): Laser-like precision, Chenin Blanc waxiness, plenty of acidity, minerality, and stone and tropical fruits. The d'Yquem was certainly the more complex, but I preferred the acid-sugar balance of the filigreed Huët. Well integrated, but I suspect this needs a few more decades to reveal its fully mature side.
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3/14/2013 - octopussy Likes this wine: 97 Points
Amber coloured. In the nose very pleasant and fascinatingly complex with candied apricots and oranges, quince, caramel. Super deep. On the palate, extremely sweet, yet balanced out by the strong acidity. Very long with honey in the finish. Quite extreme.
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2/28/2013 - redders Likes this wine: 96 Points
Mark's 60th (Hix Mayfair): Brilliant gold. Classic rich unctuous perfectly braced by acidity. Great depth and complexity and will live forever. Simply stunning.
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2/20/2013 - Rupert wrote:
Fine burgundy dinner (Alyn Williams at the Westbury): Voluptuous, baked apple sweetie, big concentration, very nice without being a wow
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12/20/2012 - DaleW Likes this wine:
(375 ml). Still my favorite dessert wine of all time (if anything the half bottle is drinking better than the 750s). Waxy, wooly, wonderful. Great acidity, vibrant, complex. A
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12/7/2012 - Paul S wrote: 95 Points
Wine Bash of the Year 2012 (Jade Palace, Forum Galleria): A remarkable wine - one of the best sweets I have had this year. It had one of those noses that makes you go wow the moment you stick your nose in the glass - fresh, lively, and super complex, with layers of honey and treacle and spice, on a bed of fresh apples and dried apricot aromas, a twist of lemons and just a tiny bit of lanolin as a reminder that we were in Chenin Blanc territory. The palate was equally wonderful. It was full, fleshy, complex and brilliantly integrated. However, what was most amazing about this for me was the sheer purity of the flavours here in spite of the wine's great depth and weight, with supple, almost melting acidity caressing delightful flavours caramelised apples, dried figs and apricots - it was so astoundingly balanced that it seemed lithe, graceful and effortlessly elegant. There was a great amount of energy on it too, with an undercurrent of more citrussy lemon drops driving the wine into a super-long finish, with lots of honey and spice filling the backpalate along with subtler nuances of orange blossom and Chantilly cream. Amazing stuff, all finally underlined by a glint of steely minerality. This is probably ageless and can go on for decades on end, but boy was it good on the night.
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9/29/2012 - salil wrote: 98 Points
Jawdropping. Utterly seamless with ripe Chenin fruit, wooliness, honey, marmalade and floral elements combining flawlessly into a whole. Somehow this conveys a sense of incredible power and intensity while at the same time feeling incredibly precise, focused and light on its feet, with a powerful acid spine keeping it impeccably balanced. A spectacular wine and an amazing experience.
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9/8/2012 - AudunG wrote:
This wine has unfortunately gone through a fast track development and showed dark amber color, which it defenitely should not. The aromas are extremely raisiny, but also extremely concentrated and sweet. I could easily give it 90 pts. as it it is, but that would be unfear for this wine.
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7/6/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 94 Points
2012 - Gary's wine bash! (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 11.5%
Opened for 5hrs. This medium - deep golden nectar is showing captivating bouquet of super ripe intense yellow fruits, caramel, marzipan yet with incredible underlying freshness and perfume floral scents. This is a full-bodied dessert wine with wave after wave of honey coated yellow fruits that filled up the mouth. It is not amazing because of its concentration and richness but because of the amazing level of ripe and bright acidity that keeps the wine weightless, well delineated and focus. It is so elegance and refreshing that I have no problem to keep drinking it. The finish is long and lingering, with mild bortrytis spiciness, almond, honey lemon and mango aftertaste. Wow, so delicious. This wine has no problem to continue to develop in the bottle for another decade or 2 and by then, it will be Extraordinary. Well, provided if you can keep your hand...off! 94-96
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6/5/2012 - winecowboy wrote: 93 Points
Crisp clean honeyed pear. Light apricot jam.
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1/2/2012 - vindictive wrote:
Bottle, fill and cork all excellent. Amber -gold color. Bracing acidity, excellent balance. Lovely aromatics. Seems to have plenty of life left, but not likely to improve. I have not had many of these older Huets, but I compare it aged Sauternes - this wine does not have the carmel, creme' brulee and tropical flavors of that wine. It is more restrained and subtle. We greatly enjoyed this bottle, but I concur with at least some of the other notes that it is a bit unidimensional.
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10/18/2011 - winelegends.net wrote:
simply,buy all you can get.
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8/20/2011 - JeffGMorris wrote: 100 Points
Anniversary dinner at Buku with Steve & Barb. A perfect way to end the Evening's trio of '89s. Very similar to previous bottles with minimal notes written down. Lightning in a bottle and true perfection. 50+15+15+10+10=100
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7/6/2011 - BradKNYC wrote:
Gentaz, Passat and Huet show up for dinner at Mark's. (Mark's.): My last half bottle of a group that I sourced from Europe eleven or twelve years ago. For the most part they've all shown more advanced than from 750, but while that's also the case with this one, it's also one of the best showings from .375 that I've had. The color is noticeably darker than it has been in the past, though not even close to being in the same realm of say a '90 Foreau Reserve. Beautiful aromas and flavors of ripe apricots, earl grey tea, orange marmalade, mineral, marzipan and a dollop of shoe polish. Certainly sweet, but a little less so than previous bottles and it's of course balanced impeccably by its acid backbone. Still youthful even from this bottle, so 750's should still slumber, or have a long decant. Gorgeous wine. A.
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2/25/2011 - SimonG wrote:
Shama's LLC Offline (The Square, London): Full orange gold. A touch of butterscotch and cream on the nose. Sweet but with good baalncing acidity. Pleasant but for me a little too one-dimensional on the finish. ***(*)
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2/5/2011 - JeffGMorris wrote: 99 Points
Dinner at Table 16 for Barb's Birthday. Amber in color and all my notes say is lightning in a bottle, 99 points. Am I out of descriptors for this all time classic? I don't think so. I think the short note was more a factor of conversation. By any measure this wine wowed those around the table that have never before had it and continued to amaze those of us that have been lucky enough to have had it before. Why 99 points tonight and not 100? I have no idea. All I know is that I continue to be thrilled that I bought this wine heavily.
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10/8/2010 - VindependenceDay wrote: 96 Points
Amazing depth, nectarine, peaches, apricot, honey, with enough acid to balance.
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1/19/2010 - JeffGMorris wrote: 100 Points
Open That Bottle Night at St. Jacques, Raleigh, NC. How many times can you describe the same wine as true perfection and come up with something new to say? Medium gold in the glass with flecks of amber. The wine seems to float on the palate and is truly beautiful beyond mere words. While the sugar level is clearly high, the acidity is there to match and the balance is impeccable. Really as perfect as a wine can be yet it is still quite primary today and will grow into something different, and hopefully equally perfect, as time passes. 50+15+15+10+10 = 100
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12/29/2009 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Served at Ledbury dinner. Slightly red/pink colour. Gloriously precise nose and palate. Such weightless weight! So much subtlety of flavour that worked so well with the passionfruit souffle and sauternes ice cream dessert.
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12/21/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: flawed
Badly corked.
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11/21/2009 - MarkC wrote:
Mötley Crü does '90/'91 California Cabernet Sauvignon (Steve Williams): 1989 Huët Vouvray Cuvée Constance: A 20-year old wine that, I think, is way too young. Still incredible, however, with incredible honeyed fruits and a strong backbone of acidity that balanced nicely. I'd like to taste this one in 20 more years as I bet it will be amazing.
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8/7/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 100 Points
Dinner at St. Jacques, Raleigh, NC with Craig and Melanie. Two great courses of food and wine down, could the 3rd wine live up to it's potential? Dark and shiny gold in the glass and the wine was as good as gold ( maybe better! ). This wine rides the sugar/acid tightrope better than almost every other sweet wine. An utterly compelling wine that forces one to keep drinking in anticipation of another sip of this nectar of the Gods. Clearly still has alot of development ahead of it but how many bottles will live to see age 50+ when it is so great today? Still holds my opinion as the finest Cuvee Constance made to date. Lightning in a bottle and true perfection. My 2nd perfect score ever and very well deserved. 50+15+15+10+10 = 100
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5/23/2009 - BradKNYC wrote:
Usually my favorite wine of all time, this bottle, alas, is a little lackluster. From a .375 ml and schlepped with me out to San Francisco recently, while still quite good, it showed a little older than from full bottles, with more of a nutty and marmalade edge to it. It also seemed a little shy, perhaps beaten up by the car rides to and from airports and being in the belly of a plane. It just didn't have the depth, length or vibrancy I've come to expect from this wine. Quite sweet, but balanced. At least that stayed consistent. Still lovely, if not the bell ringer it usually is. A-.
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4/24/2009 - JeffGMorris wrote: 97 Points
Dinner at Steve & Barb's house with Colonel Bob. Medium gold in the glass, this wine was loaded with aromas and flavors of white fruits. The residual sugar level here is clearly high but the acidity really hides the impression of sweetness very well. Still quite young but drinking really well. This is a wine that is all about balance. One of the finest dessert wines ever made and one that will age for an eternity. 50+14+15+9+9 = 97
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2/20/2009 - Rupert wrote:
Amaziingly deep concentrated raisin fruit, but with an almost electric energy - very exciting
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11/1/2008 - JeffGMorris wrote: 98 Points
Dinner at Steve & Barb's house. Bright gold in the glass, this was an electrifying wine to drink. Big honeyed nose that seems to follow what the '89 Moelleux 1ere Tries are like except this is even richer and sweeter. The sweetness is matched beautifully by the acidity. Lots of honeysuckle in here. Still drinking like an infant but this is very drinkable today( VERY! ). Extremely long finish. This is a wine that is very difficult to fully express with words. A true legend that lives up to it's reputation and will drink well for at least another 50 years, maybe 100. The 4 of us drained this 750ml in record time. It is a dessert wine but not one that you tire of at all. Every sip revealed new nuances. WOW! 50+14+15+9.5+9.5 = 98
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10/5/2008 - drwine2001 wrote:
Orange amber. Wow, as great as its reputation with brilliant acidity, gorgeous orange/quince fruit, some florality, a touch of toffee, and endless length. Magical balancing act of concentration and lightness. I'm so grateful that I finally had a chance to try this legendary wine.
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4/21/2007 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 96 Points
Wonderfully balanced, complex and elegant However, for my sluttish tastes, completely blown away by the 03 SQN Mr K Nobleman served alongside it.
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2/20/2007 - DAN BAILEY wrote: 92 Points
Came to this with such high expectations given its exalted reputation but felt it didn't live up to these. Double decanted about 3 hours before serving. Interesting, slightly pink hue. Elegant, sharp, well balanced sweet wine but really not singing tonight.
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9/26/2006 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Domaine Huet tasting (Bentley Hotel, London): Hospital nose, beetroot 'n' brown sugar again, minty, stong and deeply sweet
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9/25/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 94 Points
Dinner with the Cassettas (The Square, London): Golden marmalade, a hint of golden syrup and raspbery slush puppy. Very bright fruit, soft acidity, a touch of dieselm very well blalanced, berhaps the acidity could have been more rigid, and a bitter finish let it down. I am sure this was not the best bottle of this.
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8/25/2006 - jrufusj wrote:
TTG#10: Summer Wines? (Tokyo American Club): Deep and rich gold with a dense texture that moves languorously around the glass. First blush on the nose is major botrytis with a panoply of rich sweet fruits – apricot, ripe fig, orange and more exotic citrus. With a little time open, this develops spice notes and even shows a bit of deeply underlying stoniness. On the palate, extraordinarily concentrated, but absolutely in balance. If you can imagine the most agile dancer somehow moving unfettered through a big pot of honey, then you’ve got the measure of how beautifully the acid balances the sweetness and texture. Palate is equally complex to the nose and the finish just won’t end. A truly stupendous wine. I’m often wary lux cuvées, as they tend to be a bit too much of everything, but occasionally it is possible to put 10 lbs. of potatoes in a 5-lb. sack and have it all hold together. This one does hold together – and magically. I can only imagine how amazing this will be in time.
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7/21/2006 - jfagan wrote:
The Robert Foley Band: Wine and Rock & Roll in the Green Mountains.; 7/21/2006-7/22/2006 (Friday night at my house, Saturday at Bisto Sauce in Shelburne): Nightcap to the Robert Foley Band reception. My '89 Huets were not stored well before I got them and are clearly much more advanced than better kept bottles.
- Quite dark orange/gold. Mature aromas of exotic honey, dried fruits, roasted nuts.
- Viscous, powerful and very sweet flavors are lifted by mouthwatering acidity but oxidation is fighting it out with the fresh fruit (and winning).
- Even though this is showing premature age it is still an impressive sticky.
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2/16/2005 - Eric wrote: 97 Points
California 'cult' lunch at Spago with Leve (Los Angeles, CA): Wow, this is a very special wine. The nose was a little wonky at first, lightly smoky with ripe botrytis, vinyl, petrol and peach pit. On the palate this had awesome, focusing acidity with rich, layered flavors of apricot jam and peach, very vibrant and deep at the same time. The finish shows amazing persistence and yet is ethereally light despite the huge weight of the wine. This was very inpressive on its own and was a fabulous foil to a seared piece of foie gras.
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5/8/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 96 Points
Insignia Vertical @ Surf Village (Milford): Nice nose of sweet apricots and minerals. Similar impression on the palate. Great mouthfeel. Seemless and ethereal in the mouth. Perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Long finish. Tasted late in the night, after many other wines. Because of that, I felt I got a wonderful, but not "legendary" experience.
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8/29/1998 - MikeATL wrote:
Dessert Wine Extravaganza: The group consensus as the wine of the tasting. Stunning viscosity, the texture of syrup. The nose was initially very subdued, eventually opening up to be merely moderately subdued, it is still somewhat closed, just hinting at its future. This wine defines balance, with massive acid to balance and delineate the massive sweetness. In fact, it tastes, in Alsatian terms, more like a sweet vendange tardive than a selection des grains nobles because of the impeccable balance. The fruit keeps unfolding to show new layers as it opens up, and carries the longest finish of any wine I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. Without question, the greatest dessert wine I've ever had, and possibly the greatest wine of any sort I've ever had.
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