1989 Château Coutet Cuvée Madame
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 1989 Coutet Cuvée Madame is a vintage that I have encountered only before in 2011. This was a small production of 1,000 bottles only. To be brutally honest, it cannot compare with its 1990 counterpart on the nose, although it is beautifully defined with melted wax, dried apricot, hints of honeysuckle and a touch of pain d’épices. The palate is actually better than the nose: very tensile thanks to a killer line of acidity, full of energy, less unctuous than the 1990 but with impressive detail and tension all the way through to the finish. (175gm/L residual sugar, 13.0% alcohol).
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Composed of 100% Sémillion, the1989 Cuvee Madame is pale amber colored with a totally seductive nose of Cointreau, candied ginger, nutmeg, crème brûlée, honey-coated almonds and incense with a waft of anise. The palate is incredibly youthful, rich and opulent with many, many layers and a seamlessly racy backbone, finishing very long and spicy.
Tiny quantities are made of Coutet's Cuvee Madame, a spectacularly rich Barsac that, along with Yquem, is the quintessential example of what heights a great sweet wine can achieve. The 1988, 1989 and 1990 vintages are nearly perfect wines. The 1990 is the richest and most powerful, but the 1988's extraordinary perfume is other-worldly. All three wines offer a profound bouquet of smoky, toasty new oak combined with honeyed peaches and apricots, as well as coconuts and a touch of creme brulee. With extraordinarily rich, full-bodied, marvelously extracted personalities, as well as wonderful underlying acidity, these are spectacular wines.|As a postscript, many readers may not realize that Coutet's Cuvee Madame is only released in great vintages. It is produced from the oldest vines and most botrysized grapes. The first vintage produced was 1943, followed by 1949, 1950, 1959, 1971, 1975, 1981, 1986, and the three vintages reviewed in this issue. Wine Advocate.April, 1995
About the producer
Classified as a First Growth in 1855, this Barsac property has a history stretching back to the 14th century. Today it has 38.5 hectares of vineyard, producing brilliant sweet wines cut by taut acidity. In certain years, it produces Cuvée Madame, pure botrytised Semillon from its oldest vines.