1995 Coutet Cuvee Madame
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Tasting notes
Thanks to its combination of absolute quality and supreme rarity, Coutet’s Cuvee Madame has a near mythical status. Fewer than 1,500 bottles are produced from the Barsac estate’s oldest vines, only when the conditions are perfect, meaning that it has been released just a handful of times since 1943.Jancis Robinson gave it a near perfect 19 points, praising the “pure essence of Sémillon… Great acid and extraordinary persistence” – the hallmarks of any great Sauternes. At over a quarter of a century of age, the 1995 is still in the early years of its drinking window. Neal Martin suggests this “powerful Cuvée Madame” will “age for decades”.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 1995 Cuvée Madame from Château Coutet is a vintage that I have encountered twice before, and this is consistent with those. Iridescent in amber color, the bouquet feels mature with complex and alluring tangerine, nectarine, gingerbread and saffron aromas. The palate has maintained that waxy texture, perhaps a little lighter than the bottle in December 2018. However, that mineral core remains fully intact, fresh and perhaps just a little more petrolly than I recollect on the finish. This is drinking perfectly now. Tasted at Clarette in London at a private dinner.
Bright golden tawny – orangey gold. Edge that’s very slightly burnt with barley sugar and then medium weight and pure essence of Sémillon with a strong apricot purée aspect. Great acid and extraordinary persistence. Builds on the finish and just goes on and on. Really lively. RS 145 g/l. 100% Sémillon. 100% barrel fermented, 100% new oak, all of it in new French oak for three years. Bottled June 1998. (Sept 2015)
The 1995 Coutet Cuvée Madame has a less flamboyant bouquet than other vintages, quite tight at first with dried honey, pain d’épices, barley sugar and wax resin aromas. The palate is well balanced with a viscous, waxy-textured opening, quite spicy in style, very well balanced and fresh, quite mineral-driven, with that Manuka honey lingering long on the finish. Excellent. (145gm/L residual sugar, 3.5gm/L total acidity, 13.5% alcohol).
About the producer
Classified as a First Growth in 1855, this Barsac property has a history stretching back to the 14th century. Today it has 38.5 hectares of vineyard, producing brilliant sweet wines cut by taut acidity. In certain years, it produces Cuvée Madame, pure botrytised Semillon from its oldest vines.