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Wine Description
The Story
The Château Coutet vines' deep roots extract elements from its terroir to give the grapes freshness, richness and strength. For this reason the estate carries the name "Coutet,” derived from the Gascon's word for knife, to signify the fresh, lively and crisp palate that is the wine's signature style. In its youth, the wines display generous notes of white flowers, citrus fruits, honey and vanilla. Ginger and pineapple are very typical aromas in a young Château Coutet. Time brings out deeper, warmer notes in which spices combine with exotic nectars and candied fruits, such as gingerbread mingled with marmalade. Age also enhances the harmony of its roasted Botrytis character and its distinct aromas to give Château Coutet a delicate and unique bouquet that is unsurpassed.
Area under vines: 38.5 hectares (95 acres)
Planted grape varieties: 75% Sémillon, 23% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Muscadelle
Soil: Clay with a limestone sub-soil
Average age of the vines: 38 years
Planting density: 7,500 plants per hectare (3,000 plants per acre)
Vineyard management: "Taille à Cot" (traditional Sauternes pruning) and rational cultivation
Harvest: By hands (successive passes, called tries)
Average yield: 9 hl/ha (0.9 ton per acre)
Ageing: 18 months in French oak barrels, 70 to 100% new
Wine Information
Climatic conditions played an important role in the 2006 vintage, marked by very dry weather interspersed with hot days until the end of July. Irregular conditions in August caused the grapes to ripen unevenly, but hot weather in September and October allowed them to achieve full maturity.
| Harvest dates: | September 17 to October 19 |
| Tries: | 6 manual successive passes |
| Number of days harvest: | 22 |
| Grape varieties: | 75% Sémillon, 23% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Muscadelle |
| Fermentation: | 100% barrel fermented, 100% new French oak |
| Ageing: | 18 month in new French oak barrels |
| Estate bottled: | May 2008 |
Tasting notes:
The wine is of a lovely golden color. Its nose, albeit discreet, opens up on a multitude of aromatic notes, fine and subtle, among which one can find touches of mild spices, honey, vanilla, pretty notes of toast, with possibly a light hint of cocoa, all in all supported by a tinge of small candied fruits as well as citrus fruits. Just like on the nose, the finesse on the palate is predominant over the power. It displays an elegant mix of well-integrated aromatic notes giving an impression of liquor, which finishes off on a beautiful mineral freshness, typical of Barsac's wines. The wine shows a beautiful balance, with mildness, finesse and aromas at their fullest.
Light to Medium gold with greenish hue, this wine exhibits wonderfully pure notes of wood spice such as vanillin, honeyed citrus, a hint of under-ripe peach and touches of crème brûlée and marmalade. With a great acidity and finesse, this is a medium-bodied, impressively endowed, but generally very racy, restrained style of wine that should age beautifully for 25 or more years. It is not the sweetest, and by no means the biggest wine of 2006, but it has nobility tattooed all over it. Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate February 2009, 92/100