1970 Château Rieussec

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 91 points

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  11/28/2022 - Papies wrote:

  Good healthy bottle. Dark caramel to the point that the color worried us but the wine is healthy, a piece of history and very much should be treated as such. This was a very solid one maybe a 92+ but pointless to rate as at this age there are no good wines only good bottles.

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  10/28/2022 - crazywineguy wrote: 89 Points

  No ullage, cork in good nick (not recorked to our guest's knowledge). Dark orange colour. Mature, apricot, spice, medium quality and short finish. Agreable but nothing spectacular. It's best years are behind it I think.

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  3/1/2018 - Bourgognefreak wrote: 94 Points

  Excellent cork and bottle.
  Classic notes and still rather sweet its more than 47 years age.
  Perfect balance and fine notes of caramel, orange and dark sugar.
  drink now as it is really in a good spot.

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  11/7/2012 - forceberry wrote: 85 Points

  Rich, heady and unctuous bouquet that is quite funky and even a bit dirty. There seems to be a hint of oxidation that has given the nose a slightly disagreeable edge. There are notes of barnyard, decomposing wood, Brie cheese, some pungent Gueuze ammonia, a little canned peach, a hint of apple juice and a whiff of French bread. The palate is quite light, elegant and bright with refreshing acidity. The sweetness seems to have receded with the years, and even though the wine is obviously sweet, it is markedly less so than young Sauternes wines are. There are flavors of old wood, bruised apple, some rye bread, a little Palo Cortado Sherry, a hint of dried yellow fruit. The palate is complex and layered and there is a lot of depth to the flavor, but somehow the wine moves erratically from gentle, complex and rich aged Sauternes to the other end that is hollow, angular and oxidized, and back. The rather dry finish seems to have suffered more than the midpalate; there are flavors of bruised apple, pungent Palo Cortado Sherry, bright lemony acidity and hints of stale rye bread in the long and persistent aftertaste.
  
  Apparently this wine has once been a really great and complex Sauternes (+92 pts stuff, easily), but it hasn't stood up to the test of time - this wine has obviously been in decline for some time. It is not completely oxidized and undrinkable, but enough so that the surmaturé characteristics have taken the lead. Every now and then you can see glimpses of the glory and the potential the wine once has held, but now it seems to have faded to only a shadow of its former self. Still enjoyable, but not the jewel I expected it to be. Not really worth the 80€ (for a 75 cl bottle). Drink up.

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  2/7/2010 - wendt wrote:

  Slightly oxidized but overall a nice wine. Honey Suckle, Pineapple, and that sweet aged Sauternes taste.

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