Wine Ratings

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Subtle yet complex aromas of lemon, spice, honey and dried apricot. Full-bodied and very, very intense, with loads of dried fruit and a long, spicy finish. Best after 2014. 2,080 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WSThe 2005 Haut-Peyraguey is medium to deep straw-gold in color. It gives up pronounced notes of creme caramel, baked apples, and spice cake with hints of almond croissant and candied ginger. The palate delivers compelling freshness to the slowly maturing fruit, finishing long and lifted.The Wine Independent | 92 TWIA ripe, creamy wine, which has great poise and freshness. There’s just a touch of caramel, but the fruit—sweet apples and crisp pears—is dominant. A pure pleasure to taste.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WE

Pale gold, the 2009 Climens offers up a fabulously fragrant nose of green tea, chamomile, powdered ginger, lemon marmalade and fallen leaves with suggestions of spice cake and preserved mandarin peel. The palate is super intense with vibrant, energetic fruit and layer upon layer of perfume and spice nuances, finishing very long and incredibly youthful.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPRich and opulent, but the Barsac terroir keeps it reined in. Exotic fruit notes, baked apple and confit fruit. Pure, velvety and unctuous but with a bite of citrus zest freshness coming in behind. Biodynamic estate. Drinking Window 2019 - 2050Decanter | 97 DECThe 2009 Climens has a clean and pure bouquet with honey and brioche aromas, like pure sunlight! The palate is fresh and crisp with superb botrytised fruit. Great tension and a dash of ginger and lemongrass spice up the detailed finish. This is a Climens that is only just beginning to demonstrate what is capable of. Bon vin! Tasted blind at Farr Vintners’ 2009 Bordeaux tasting.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe superb palate boasts richness, with honey and orange zest notes. It shows fine balance between the flavors of orange jelly and the intense botrytis-driven notes. It has a light, delicate texture and acidity.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WERounded and broad in feel for now, with richly layered toasted almond, ginger cream, brioche and glazed apple notes that all glide through the viscous finish, where a flash of green tea can be found. This has the buried zip for the long haul, which it will need to assimilate fully. There’s lots in reserve. Best from 2015 through 2034. 4,165 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

A big, broad, powerful style, with piecrust, roasted almond and hazelnut cream notes framing the core of apricot, creamed peach and dried mango. Picks up extra fig and pear details through the toasty finish. Needs a bit of time to finish sorting itself out. Best from 2017 through 2030. 5,415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe dried-mango and pineapple character is so delicious in this wine. It’s full-bodied and medium-sweet, with a pretty density and a fruity finish. Wonderful balance to this super Sauternes. This is a little in reserve now, with so much for the future. Try in 2017.James Suckling | 96 JSTasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Suduiraut 2011 has a muffled nose at first: dried honey and quince, wet wool and marzipan scents that gradually open up with aeration. Coming back after 10 minutes there is a heartwarming gingerbread note. The palate is viscous on the entry and full of tension. There is a keen line of acidity here, quite linear at first, but it fans out nicely toward the finish and offers notes of honey, mandarin and even a touch of rhubarb! This is a class act, a Sauternes that does not need to shout about its inherent qualities.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 93 RP-NMHeady apricot and mango nose. Concentrated and creamy, with density and weight of fruit. The oak is integrated and the wine is harmonious in a rich rather than racy style. Long. Drinking Window 2016 - 2050.Decanter | 93 DEC(Château Suduiraut (Sauternes)) The 2011 Suduiraut is one of the most delicately styled and dancing wines of the vintage in Sauternes. The deep, pure and very clean nose soars from the glass in a classically glazed mélange of bee pollen, pear, fresh pineapple, honeycomb, chalky soil tones, apple blossoms and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, very pure and crisp, with very good mid-palate depth, fine focus and balance and a very long, light on its feet and complex finish. I really like the elegant style and shape of the 2011 Suduiraut. (Drink between 2016-2040)John Gilman | 93+ JGVery fresh and strongly fruity, with just the right amount of dry botrytis, this is already approachable. However that botrytis does promise aging, with peach and ripe orange flavors pushing forward. Drink this attractive wine from 2019.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2011 Suduiraut, picked from 12 September to 5 October in three tries through the vineyard, has an intriguing bouquet. It does not possess the thrilling intensity of the 2014 and 2015 tasted alongside, replicating the wet wool, almost Loire-like bouquet that I picked up upon in previous encounters. The palate is well balanced with a slightly viscous texture. This is a gentle Suduiraut, missing the complexity of a top vintage but fresh and generous. It is linear in style, some might say conservative with just a touch of gingerbread on the finish. Fine. 148gm/L residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Tasted at the Suduiraut vertical at the château.Vinous Media | 92 VM

Pale lemon-gold colored, the 2016 Climens is a little youthfully mute, revealing notions of ripe peaches, mango and musk melon with touches of cedar chest, orange blossoms, candied ginger and baking bread. Bursting in the mouth with vibrant, energetic stone fruit and tropical layers, it is framed by fantastic freshness, finishing long and creamy.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96+ RPMy favourite sweet wine at the tasting (including Yquem). Already glorious, this will live decades. Burnished gold hue, botrytis notes on the nose, some leafy, spicy, lemongrass hints and a palate with just the right balance between lusciousness and freshness. Extremely subtle oak. A wonderful Barsac to drink between now and 2060.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2016 Climens has a wonderful bouquet similar to my last bottle, more expressive now with orange pith, wild honey and quince. Like before it opens wonderfully in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with fine definition, fresh and vibrant with a creamy honeyed texture, praline and apricot, on the seductive finish. Superb. Tasted at the Climens vertical at the château in April 2022.Vinous Media | 94 VMExpressive, with peach, mirabelle plum, mango and pear fruit flavors running along in unison, lacing with light bitter almond and orange notes and a flash of honeysuckle. Best from 2022 through 2038.Wine Spectator | 93 WS

Getting a big “Wow” in my notes, the 2017 Chateau Rieussec is an extraordinary Sauternes that has everything. Awesome notes of orange zest, honeyed flowers, ripe pineapple, peach, and spice all soar from the glass, and this beauty is already complex, has full-bodied richness and power, a great mid-palate, and a beautiful spine of acidity. It’s a brilliant, brilliant wine that can be enjoyed today or cellared for two decades or moreJeb Dunnuck | 98 JDInspirational depth with botrytis spice, toffee, dried-apricot and sponge-cake character. Full-bodied, very sweet and lively with a long, endless finish. Lively acidity balances the wine. Tight and linear. Compact column of fruit and botrytis. Give it age. Better after 2026.James Suckling | 98 JSA blend of 83% Semillon and 17% Sauvignon Blanc, the 2017 Rieussec is pale to medium lemon-gold colored. To begin, the nose blows you away with intense lemon tart, lime cordial, mango and quince notes followed by a second wave of floral, orange blossoms and honeysuckle scents, and then notes of crushed rocks, crème caramel and marzipan join the party. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is still very tightly wound with concentrated sweetness and a racy backbone to match, delivering layer upon layer of citrus and savory flavors, finishing on a persistent mineral note.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97 RPStill in barrel, the 2017 Rieussec is just as impressive as it was en primeur. Rich, ample and voluptuous, the 2017 has all the intensity that is so typical of Rieussec, but with the extra kick of freshness that is now such an emphasis here. Candied orange peel, crême brulée, vanillin, passion fruit and pineapple emerge from the glass. I can’t wait to taste this from bottle.Vinous Media | 94-97 VMAn exceptional wine, this is just stuffed full of exotic fruits, layers of apricot, saffron, truffle and citrus, all powering through the palate with a mouthwatering finish. An early harvest - they finished picking in 2017 the same day that they started in 2018, and the crop showed unusually pure botrytis, needing less sorting than usual. Absolutely one to look out for.Decanter | 97 DECIntense and richly sweet, this wine is also balanced, with both botrytis and baked-apple acidity coming through. This essential dryness gives the wine a dense core and aging potential. A high proportion of Sémillon adds its weight at the end. Drink from 2020.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEDelivers some rare floral lift for the vintage, with a honeysuckle edge out front, pulling creamed mango and papaya notes along. Flashes of green tea, hazelnut and piecrust emerge on the finish. Showy, but with nice detail buried within. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Drink now through 2035. 6,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 93 WS