at our wine clubs ladies night, we ended up with Coutet 83.

Pale bright straw, muted restrained nose, no botrytis, a flabby wine lacking
in fruit and no complexity at all.

tried another bottle, better nose with barley sugar, but again a bland
sugary drink...very disappointing

any one else had some of late?

John T

On Nov 12, 1:55 pm, "John T" > wrote:
> at our wine clubs ladies night, we ended up with Coutet 83.
>
> Pale bright straw, muted restrained nose, no botrytis, a flabby wine lacking
> in fruit and no complexity at all.
>
> tried another bottle, better nose with barley sugar, but again a bland
> sugary drink...very disappointing
>
> any one else had some of late?


I have not tasted Coutet 83, but Michael Broadbent has. In 1998 he
described it as fully mature. He mentioned a grassy style. He
described it as soft and rich with a touch of caramel on the end-taste
which was better than the Gripfix he had noted in an earlier tasting.
He rated it only 3 star out of 5 star. In contrast, he found 83
Climens outstanding in 2001, rated it 5 star out of 5 star, and
thought it might be good for another quarter of a century. It seems
1983 was not the best year for Coutet despite several outstanding
Sauternes made in that year. I would guess your bottle may have faded
a bit from what it was in 1998 at peak.

Interestingly, I have a note from Clive Coates ( The Vine ) on the Coutet
1983.

This note was written in September 1991

" Light golden colour, just a little suplhur but quite good concentration,
yet a bit coarse. On the palate this is rather insipid. medium body. Lacks a
bit of grip and fat. Uninspiring & now finishing a bit short. Drink soon !
13/20 marks. "

He calls the 1983 Sauternes - " a great but flawed vintage "

Best wines were Climens, Rieussec ( always reliable ) Lafaurie-Peyraguey and
of course, d'Yquem.

All a bit academic as, at 25yrs on, I doubt many of us have any 83's left.

Peter

"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> On Nov 12, 1:55 pm, "John T" > wrote:
>> at our wine clubs ladies night, we ended up with Coutet 83.
>>
>> Pale bright straw, muted restrained nose, no botrytis, a flabby wine
>> lacking
>> in fruit and no complexity at all.
>>
>> tried another bottle, better nose with barley sugar, but again a bland
>> sugary drink...very disappointing
>>
>> any one else had some of late?
>
>
> I have not tasted Coutet 83, but Michael Broadbent has. In 1998 he
> described it as fully mature. He mentioned a grassy style. He
> described it as soft and rich with a touch of caramel on the end-taste
> which was better than the Gripfix he had noted in an earlier tasting.
> He rated it only 3 star out of 5 star. In contrast, he found 83
> Climens outstanding in 2001, rated it 5 star out of 5 star, and
> thought it might be good for another quarter of a century. It seems
> 1983 was not the best year for Coutet despite several outstanding
> Sauternes made in that year. I would guess your bottle may have faded
> a bit from what it was in 1998 at peak.
>