Very good wine. Dark gold in color. Incredibly sweet -- I could literally see sugar in the wine. The acidity has gone way down. This is a sweet, hedonistic wine, but it is not as food-friendly and many German desser wines I've had, or the '01 Rieussac which is flat out a better wine for drinking right now or in the future. Not to disparage this wine with marmalade, cherry preserves, dates and figs, and honey, but... unless you have sentimental reasons to drink this wine (which we did) I wouldn't reccomend spending the arm and leg that it probably costs at auction now. Long finish, though. 92.5

a

Do you mean the current Rieussec or a 1976 Rieussec?

I had this probably two years ago and I thought it was way too young and it was a little over acidic. What you are saying here is disappointing.

I hope Davidn is right that this wine is still young. I was born in 1976 and am planning on this for my 50th birthday wine.

davidn, I was comparing it to the '01 Rieussac, not the '76. SFWine, we had this at my friend's 30th birthday party (also born in '76, obviously). He said that he had tasted the wine before and that it was better then. I have no idea how these were stored when young and sugar (which this has a lot of) is obviously a preservative. But based upon the specific bottle I tasted from, I would be very surprised to see this notably improve and would say, again based solely on this one bottle, that there is no way this hits age 50 in particularly good shape. Sorry. I'm sure my friend has more so maybe I'll be posting another TN on this next year at this time.

a

My bottle of 1976 is one of the most beautiful colors in my vertical. It is a clear golden honey; I almost droll just looking at it. I sure hope that at 30 years of age this is not at its peak.


The only other '76 I have in the cellar is a Beaulieu Vineyard Pinot Noir Beaumont; not a very exciting prospect for a birthday wine Jim.


BTW, when refering to a vintage of Chateau d'Yquem (this may sound really dumb but it will make sense to you) one should always include the century as part of the date. a '76 Yquem could just as easily mean an 1876 or even a 1776. I believe Montecello has a couple of bottles dating back to just after the revolution.

I tried 1976 d'Yquem, but it was 20 years ago in a d'Yquem tasting (that ended with us popping a couple Grand Cru burgs and a Cheval Blanc, possibly the best store tastings I ever attended). I don't own a lot of Sauternes, but I've got a 1976 Climens waiting for an occasion.

-Al

'76 is my birthyear, too. I just picked up a '76 Rieussec for this fall.

'76 is my mid-college year.

-Al

Quite true


'76 was the Nation's bicentennial. It was quite a 4th of July!

You were born and I was 34.

The 1976 BV GDL was pretty good back 10-15 years ago, not sure how it's held up. Back then, I preferred it to some of the more highly touted vintages.

-Al

Its fine.

SFWine,

The 1976 Heitz Martha's is very good, but it isn't getting any better.

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