Medium brassy colour. Oxidised crème brulée toffee sweet fruit aromas. Well concentrated lemon curd, touch brassy flavours with tobacco marzipan notes, fine butter sweet textures and persistent fine acidity. Sweet and sour wine. Not in the best conditions. But has the weight and mineral quality to be something. Tasted at the Union des Grand Crus.
93 points
The 2016 La Tour Blanche has a typically rich bouquet with clear honey, orange blossom and a touch of dried mango. The palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity, fine tension, great detail on the finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is a superb La Tour Blanche with style and elegance.
94-96 points
Very rich and dense with dried apples, honey and lemons as well as some spices and richness. Sweet and flavorful. Big wine on the finish.
93-94 points
"A slew of dried mangoes and candied citrus, a full, succulent body and a long, clean finish, give this Sauternes plenty of appeal. Drink or hold."
93 Points, JamesSuckling.com
Sauternes is home to arguably the most prestigious and long-lived sweet wines in the world. Located 65 km south of the city of Bordeaux at the southern tip of the Graves, the appellation has 2100 ha of vineyards planted on flat, alluvial gravels overlying thick layers of limestone. Although viewed as one appellation, Sauternes actually consists of five communes; Barsac, Bommes, Fargues, Preignanc, and Sauternes with Barsac also a designated appellation in its own right. What makes Sauternes unique is its special mesoclimate caused by the confluence of the Ciron and the Garonne rivers.
The region experiences evening mists in autumn which set in until late morning and are subsequently burnt off by warm sunny afternoons. It is precisely these conditions that provide the ideal environment for the growth of botrytis cinerea – a fungus that attacks the grapes, causing them to dehydrate leaving sweet shrivelled fruit, ideal for sweet wine production. Sauternes wines are made predominantly from Sémillon with Sauvignon Blanc with small amounts of Muscadelle. Golden in colour with enticing aromas and flavours of honey, acacia, stone-fruit, candied citrus and marmalade, classic Sauternes is rich, unctuous and beautifully balanced by fresh acidity. Capable of long-ageing, the wines turn deep amber with age, taking on more tertiary caramel flavours over time.
