Taste 7 of the legendary Chateau Coutets
at two exclusive events…
Hosted by Aline Baly
Co-owner and the Chateau Director of
Marketing & Communication.
Masterclass: 5:30-7pm, 9 Wines with Nibbles, $115
Dinner: 7:30pm, 9 Wines & 4 Courses, $245
Monday August 5th
The Chateau Context…
“Very full and intense… Unmissable…
Most impressive…This should live for almost ever.”
Jancis Robinson
“Coutet has a quintessential Barsac nose…The palate is beautifully
balanced and powerful…
This is an outstanding Coutet that will give years of drinking pleasure.”
Neal Martin
“A triumph... Full and sweet with bright acidity and a long,
intense finish. Powerful wine.”
James Suckling
‘The palate is all class, featuring ethereal intensity and amazing poise,
enveloped in a satiny texture and seamless acidity,
finishing long and mineral laced.’
Lisa-Perrotti Brown
“This is an elegant beauty, showing terrific cut and precision.”
James Molesworth
“…all grace this airy, wonderfully refined Barsac.”
Antonio Galloni
“…this has a purity and freshness that is striking and moreish…
This is excellent and easy to recommend”
Jane Anson MW
The Chateau History
Following a number of informal rankings, the 1855 classification ordered by Napoleon III was issued for the Universal Exposition. It officially recognised Château Coutet as one of the Classified First Growths of the Sauternes and Barsac appellations, alongside the finest wines from the Médoc and Graves regions.
Henry-Louis Guy, an industrialist from Lyon, acquired Château Coutet in the 1920s. The famous and unrivalled Guy & Mittal hydraulic presses, still in use, stand as a memento of his time there, holding the secret to the extraction of juice from the estate’s best grapes. His wife, who later married Edmond Rolland, managed the estate until 1977. The tradition of an exceptional wine in her honour, the Cuvée Madame, persists to this day.
Marcel Baly and two of his sons, Philippe and Dominique, became the new owners of Château Coutet in 1977. Originally from Alsace, the family subsequently expanded overseas, especially in the United States. With zeal and determination, they set about the task of renewing the vineyard and the winery buildings.
In 1994, the two brothers concluded an agreement with Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA. The winemaking team is now advised by the technical staff from Château Mouton Rothschild. At the same time they entered into a commercial agreement for the exclusive distribution of the estate’s wines.
The Baly family has now been at work at Château Coutet for forty years. A good opportunity to celebrate the progress made, the anniversary was marked by critical acclaim: Château Coutet 2014 was ranked third in the Top 100 World Wines published by Wine Spectator, an achievement which has spurred the team at the estate on to even greater things.
chateaucoutet.com
The Wine List
1st Course
La Chartreuse de Coutet, 2nd Vin 2020 (375ml), Our Price $33
Medium golden yellow, silver reflections. Ripe yellow tropical fruit, roasted pineapple, fresh apricots, candied orange zest, an inviting bouquet. Quite powerful, juicy, with a fine fruit sweetness, a discreet acidity, honey on the finish, lingering, sweet apricots on the finish, good ageing potential.
92 Points Peter Moser, Falstaff.com
La Chartreuse de Coutet, 2nd Vin 2015 (375ml), Our Price $41
2nd Course
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2020 (375ml), Our Price $62
The 2020 Coutet has a pale lemon-gold color, waltzing out of the glass with energetic notes of lemon tart, pink grapefruit, green mango and lime blossoms, with hints of chopped almonds, clover honey, candle wax and straw, plus a waft of sea spray. The palate is all class, featuring ethereal intensity and amazing poise, enveloped in a satiny texture and seamless acidity, finishing long and mineral laced. Currently, while it is just a tick or so down on the impressive 2019, I love the restraint and energy of this 2020 and wouldn't be surprised if it eventually spreads its wings and surpasses its showier sibling over time.
94-96 Points Lisa-Perrotti Brown, The Wine Advocate
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2019 (375ml), Our Price $71
The pale lemon-gold colored 2019 Coutet is a thrill ride from the get-go, exploding from the glass with fantastically intense scents of tangerine peel, lime blossoms and lemon marmalade over a core of pineapple upside-down cake, candied ginger, ripe apricots and clover honey plus suggestions of chanterelles and musk perfume. The palate is equally electric and exhilarating, prancing around the palate with a whole myriad of candied citrus, stone fruit and citrus flavors, charged by a racy backbone of acidity, finishing beautifully textured and with an epically long firework display of minerals. Apart from all that, it is pretty darn delicious.
95-97 Points Lisa-Perrotti Brown, The Wine Advocate
Medium golden yellow, silver reflections. Fine yellow tropical fruit, a hint of spice, mandarin zest underneath, a somewhat restrained bouquet. Medium-bodied, juicy, yellow tropical fruit and peach on the finish, somewhat powerful, flint aftertaste, sure maturity and certain ageing potential, still needs time.
96 Points Peter Moser, Falstaff.com
3rd Course
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2010 (750ml), Our Price $134
The rich golden hue of the colour still has green nuances! The nose is dominated by candied fruit, blossom honey and apple. The wine starts silky and then flows completely round and homogeneous, oily with sufficient acid balance, a wine of great harmony and balance. The finish reveals full-bodied reserves.
95+ Points Ulrich Sautter, Falstaff.com
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2009 (750ml), Our Price $128
Medium golden yellow colour, silver reflections. Juicy tropical fruits, a hint of canned peach, nuances of saffron, delicate hint of red berries, pleasant botrytis touch. Full-bodied, elegant, powerful, sweet texture, fine acidity, orange zest on the finish, white fruit nuances in the aftertaste, very fresh and well persistent, slowly approaching its drinking window, great ageing potential. Wait another two or three years.
96 Points Peter Moser, Falstaff.com
4th Course
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2008 (375ml), Our Price $70
Tasted single blind against its peers. This has a very floral, exuberant bouquet with white peach and grapefruit soaring from the glass. It is very pure and vivacious. The palate is harmonious with what feels like more sucrosity than on previous occasions. It is not viscous in texture, suggesting high acidity to slice through all that sweetness (a typical Coutet trait, as it turns out.) The finish displays touches of ginger and dried orange rind that linger nicely in the mouth, although the general impression is that it needs several years to “calm down.”
92 Points Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2007 (750ml), Our Price $139
Offers fascinating aromas of cooked apple, clove and honey that follow through to a full body, with super lively acidity and spicy blanched almond and honey character on the palate. Long and powerful, showing amazing botrytis character, with so much spice and richness, yet also freshness.
95 Points James Molesworth, Wine Spectator
Coutet Barsac Premier Grand Cru Classé 2005 (375ml), Our Price $80
Hint of bronze, blossomy on the nose. Very full and intense and has absolutely MASSES of weight. Unmissable. You could slice this in two. Most impressive. This should live for almost ever. Very neat finish. Acidity well hidden.
19 Points Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com