On en parle... Les Larmes de Bacchus
1995 ‒ The Wine Doctor
This cuvée is sourced from a broad area of vines, on a variety of soils including clay, limestone and flint, across the entire domaine. As the name suggests it is a late tri, of hand-picked botrytised fruit, the juice vinified in barrel. In the glass it displays, at 27 years of age, a lightly burnished orange-gold hue. The nose combines Ligérian classicism with botrytis hedonism in a convincing style, leading with notes of herbal tea over toasted and dried fruits, caramelised nuts and praline. The palate has a simply fabulous texture, sweet yet sinewy, brimming with toasted and dried fruits mirroring the nose, figs especially, touched with notes of rose petals and grapefruit, the latter element coming through with a delicious and quite savoury acidity. All in all this is bright and focused, with a long, tense, sinewy and acid-bright finish. A great success. 96/100
2011 – The Wine Doctor
This cuvée is made entirely from handpicked botrytised grapes, which in this remarkable vintage (which saw a pre-harvest heatwave) means an unprecedented residual sugar of 300 g/l and an alcohol concentration of just 9%, the yeasts clearly having waved the white flag at this stage. It has an amazing colour, a golden burnished bronze. The aromatics feel slightly volatile, evidence of intense botrytisation, with scents of dried figs, dried apricot and orange, with black tea leaf and cigar box. The palate is truly intense, well into the liquoreux style, with an intense, eye-popping level of sweetness and a palate-dominating texture and grip. It has the acidity to match, nevertheless this is still a challenge to drink right now. I suspect if I come back to it on my hundredth birthday it may be a little more approachable, although I am not betting on it. A wine for your grandchildren. Or maybe their grandchildren. 95/100 (October 2020)