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Chateau Tirecul La Graviere, Monbazillac Cuvee Madame, 1998 (500ml)

Dessert Wine from Southwest France, France
$139.99
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A sweet Monbazillac with more than twenty-five years of age is rare, and this 1998 Cuvée Madame from Château Tirecul La Gravière is exactly the kind of mature dessert wine we love to recommend. Cuvée Madame is the estate's selection of noble-rotted grapes, picked in separate passes through the vineyard as the botrytis develops rather than all at once. The grape is Muscadelle, and it comes from Monbazillac, an appellation in Southwest France. If you love Sauternes but have never tried its neighbours, this is a great place to start. Patience has already done the work: you get the depth of a properly aged sweet wine without having to cellar it yourself. The 500ml bottle suits it, too: plenty for a dinner party's dessert course, and nobody has to finish a full 750.

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Robert Parker

98 points

"In comparison with its siblings, the 1998 Vendange Tardive Cuvee Madame is more concentrated with a stunning "rôti" (texture), the consequence of noble rot. Evoking aromas of apricot, pineapple, vanilla pod, saffron and ripe orchard fruits, it's full-bodied, concentrated and dense with a seamless texture that paves the way to a long, generous and endless finish. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most impressive sweet wines from the southwest of France. Harvest occurred from October 21st to November 9th under perfect weather conditions." —Yohan Castaing

Jancis Robinson

18 points

"Orange gold. Rich and tangy. Much purer than the 1999. Unctuous and pure with lots of undertow. Wonderfully smooth."

Wine Spectator

91 points

"Unctuous, with honeycomb, walnut, golden raisin and dried apricot flavors that are still showing plenty of life and complexity. Ample spice and cream notes coat the finish. Drink now."

More about Chateau Tirecul La Graviere

Monbazillac has spent much of its history in Sauternes' shadow, and Château Tirecul La Gravière is the estate that has done as much as any to show how great it can be. These are true botrytized sweet wines, made with a patience that borders on obsession.

Bruno and Claudie Bilancini arrived in 1992, leasing about nine hectares of an old estate on the slopes of Monbazillac, across the Dordogne from Bergerac, and bought it outright in 1997. Bruno is a trained oenologist who had worked at the local cooperative. The vines face north and east on clay-limestone, which favors slow ripening and noble rot, and the farming is certified organic.

Two things set Tirecul apart. First, Muscadelle: elsewhere it is a supporting grape, but here it makes up around half the vineyard alongside Sémillon and a little Sauvignon Blanc, giving the wines a floral, exotic lift. Second, the harvest: grapes are picked by successive tries, berry by berry as the rot sets in, sometimes in as many as eleven passes, and yields often fall below ten hectoliters per hectare.

Cuvée Madame is the estate's top wine. It is made only in the best vintages from the most concentrated botrytized fruit, then fermented and aged for about two years in French oak. It ages for decades.

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Muscadelle , Semillon

  • Vintage

    1998

  • Size

    500ml

  • Farming Practice

    Traditional

  • Style

    Elegant

  • Sweetness

    Sweet

  • Body

    Full Bodied

Flatiron's Take

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Seared foie gras or a terrine of foie gras with toasted brioche; Roquefort or another salty blue cheese; apricot or pear tarte tatin; crème brûlée; Comté or other aged mountain cheeses.

Tasting Profile

Expect the classic profile of a botrytised Monbazillac with long bottle age: dried apricot, candied orange peel, honey and saffron, with Muscadelle's floral lift over Semillon's richness. Typically full and unctuous, with enough acidity to keep the sweetness balanced, it finishes long on caramelised, nutty notes. Think of a mature Sauternes.

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