Cuvée madame
LA CUVEE MADAME
The origin of Cuvée Madame dates back to Madame Rolland-Guy, owner of Château Coutet between 1922 and 1977.
During this period, the vineyard workers were in the habit of working unpaid for one day to pick the last remaining grapes from the property's two oldest parcels, whose berries were super-concentrated. A sweet wine of incomparable richness and flavor was obtained in this way. The very small and exceptional cuvée was dedicated to Madame Rolland-Guy.
The Baly family continues this tradition during the finest harvests. The superb Cuvée Madame was made in 1981, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1997 and 2001, to succeed the memorable 1943, 1947, 1959, 1971 and 1975 vintages.
Viticulture
To produce this rare wine, berries from the estate’s two oldest plots are selected. The average age of those vines is 55 years.
Vinification
A painstaking selection, each grape is picked one-by-one by hand. Further sorting takes place at the wine press and damaged grapes are eliminated immediately. The unfermented grape juice is quite rich, with 22 to 24 degrees of potential alcohol. A single, light pressing (at less than 180 kg/cm2) produces a clear, limpid juice.
Alcohol fermentation takes place in new oak barrels. The large amount of natural sugar forces the yeast to work slowly and develop secondary aromas that will contribute to the wine’s complexity. Once this hard work is done, the wine is aged in barrels for three years before bottling.
Varietal Mix
100% Sémillon
Tasting Notes
Château Coutet’s Cuvée Madame is a marvel of concentration and complexity. Displaying a color between gold and amber, the wine first presents aromas of acacia, honey, apricot, quince jelly, pineapple and coconut. What follows are mineral notes, citrus and floral (white flowers). On the palate it allies density and elegance, all with a superb structure and aromatic finesse, with hints of candied figs, currants, peach, quince and spices. The fruit is lush, rich, velvety and dazzling. The finish is excellent, both fresh as well as persistent with a silky texture and a very nice balance.
Appreciation of the wine
Wine Spectator - James Molesworth, 93 points (May 2011) - CUVÉE MADAME 1997
"Very rich, with lush, creamy apricot, date, melon and blood orange aromas and flavors that all glide through the broad, marzipan-tinged finish. Powerful and just starting to unwind. Drink now through 2021. 133 cases made."
Neal MARTIN, 96 points (April 2010) - CUVÉE MADAME 1997
"The ’97 Cuvée Madame has a very opulent, botrytis-rich bouquet with yellow plum, honey and orange peel that wafts like a harlot from the glass. It is instantly seductive and tangibly different to the regular Coutet. The palate is beautifully balanced with vibrant acidity the slices through the mellifluous, honeyed fruit mingling with fresh apricot, Clementine and a touch of passion fruit. There is a candied quality to this Cuvee Madame, an almost constrained decadence that brims over towards a powerful, alcoholic, lascivious finish. Wonderful. Drink now-2030+"
Markus del Monego, Best Sommelier in the world 1998 (April 2011) - CUVÉE MADAME 1995
“This exceptional wine brings together great, and sometimes opposing, characters: power and elegance, opulent sweetness and freshness, expressive aromas and finesse. But the complexity of this wine reigns. The rare occasions that I have had the opportunity to taste the Cuvée Madame have always left me with a profound memory. The 1995 vintage is no exception to this experience. A wine of intense golden yellow color, the wine reserves for us a complex nose with aromas of citrus, juicy apricots, ripe peaches, spices and sweet flower honey. On the palate, this wine presents itself opulent, but without being heavy with its hint of fresh acidity that contributes to the elegance. It is a sublime wine with fruity aromas and complex with a touch of vanilla on a long finish. This bottle proves that the Quintessence of Barsac finds itself in a bottle of Cuvée Madame.”
Wine Spectator - James Molesworth, 94 points (May 2011) - CUVÉE MADAME 1995
"This has a rich, dense core of apricot, fig, glazed peach and date notes, surrounded by alluring green tea, quince and chamomile. Superlong on the finish, with a creamy feel that just sails on. Drink now through 2020. 104 cases made."
Andreas LARSSON (2006) - CUVÉE MADAME 1995
"(...) I recently was offered a bottle of the 1995 Château Coutet Cuvée Madame. It’s a wine that I’ve never tasted before. It is without a doubt one of the greatest Sauternes that offers a huge complexity with beautiful aromas of apricots glazed in honey, spices and cloudberries, the palate is very dense and rich, but it stays together all the way, sublime and lusciously sweet with a delicate finish (...)"
La Revue du Vin de France (December 1994) - CUVÉE MADAME 1990
“Full of delicacy and roundness on the palate. Aromatic finesse with an excellent finish, both fresh and persistent, silky texture, beautiful balance. The opposite of a coarse wine with a very nice concentration that leaves no doubts on its perfect elegance.”
Robert PARKER, 96 points (September 1994) - CUVÉE MADAME 1989
“The 1989 Cuvée Madame is deep, bright gold in color. This blockbuster sweet wine offers up aromas of coffee, custard, pain grille, honeyed tropical fruits, and a note coconut. Unctuously-textured, and oozing glycerin, extract, and richness, this full-bodied, yet extraordinarily well-delineated wine offers the rare combination of power and complexity. It is an amazingly thick Cuvée Madame that suffers only in comparison with its surrounding siblings.”
Robert PARKER, 99 points (November 1994) - CUVÉE MADAME 1988
“Cut from the same mold as other Cuvée Madame, 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 Cuvée Madame to imagine a wine of such honeyed richness, power, and flavor dimension not tasting heavy. The 1988 is still young, even more youthful than the 1989 and 1990, with good underlying acidity, and luxuriantly rich layers of viscous, full-bodied flavors of crème brulée, peaches, apricots, and pears. The finish lasts for over 40 seconds. This may turn out to be the most compelling of all the profound Cuvée Madames that have been made to date.”
Robert PARKER, 96 points (March 1997) - CUVÉE MADAME 1986
“This unbelievably decadent, unctuous Cuvée Madame has the type of extract (but without the overlay of heavy, toasty oak) that one normally finds only in a great vintage of d’Yquem. The wine is much less evolved than the regular Cuvée of Coutet. At the moment, it is crammed with honeyed tropical fruit that comes across in a powerful format. This is an enormously rich, almost overwhelmingly intense Barsac that needs another decade to begin to reveal its subtleties and complexities. It is mind-blowing!”
Robert PARKER, 96 points (December 1990) - CUVÉE MADAME 1981
“The 1981 Cuvée Madame is a medium golden wine with a huge honeyed aroma filled with the scents of oranges, toast, coconuts, and other tropical fruits. Thick, unctuous flavors coat the palate. There is just enough acidity to provide lift and focus. This is a colossal wine.”
Robert PARKER, 98 points (March 1988) - CUVÉE MADAME 1971
“Wines such as the 1971 Cuvée Madame are almost impossible to describe effectively. Spectacular from the first time I tasted it in the mid-seventies, I have been fortunate enough to have this wine three more times and each bottle has been better than the last, suggesting that perhaps even better things may emerge. There is an extraordinary fragrance of spring flowers, honeyed fruits, herbs, vanillin, and a strong scent of crème brulée. In the mouth, remarkable richness and super acidity give the wines clarity and lift. Gobs of botrytis are obvious and the richness and extract levels are amazing. The color has changed little since I first tasted it... This is one wine to go out of your way to taste.”