Coutet Cuvee Madame - Sauternes 1988 (Label damage)

Coutet Cuvee Madame - Sauternes 1988 (Label damage)Cut from the same mold as other Cuvee Madames, but perhaps the ultimate example because the intense botrytis and unctuosity the wine possesses is buttressed by slightly more acidity, giving the wine all the weight and massiveness of its two younger siblings, the 1989 and 1990, but with more focus and vibrancy. It is difficult for readers who have never tasted Cuvee Madame to imagine a wine of such honeyed richness, power, and flavor dimension not

superb concentration

with 13% alcohol and good freshness

intense on the finish with that trademark Coutet acidity driving the finish and lending so much energy

concentrated and generously proportioned medium-bodied flavors that are blessed with plenty of dry extract that simultaneously coats the palate and buffers the moderately firm tannic spine

Eden exhibits copious notes of creme de cassis

Araujo’s 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is a picture perfect example of the year

A wonderfully fresh

This is a more Rhône-ish style

white blossom

Here the wood and menthol influences are a good deal less subtle and while they don't dominate the even spicier and slightly riper liqueur-like cassis

dazzling Cabernet Sauvignon

indeed this could aptly be described as a wine that delivers power without weight