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Chateau Tirecul La Graviere, Monbazillac Cuvee Madame, 1999 (500ml)

Dessert Wine from Southwest France, France
$139.99
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Two hectolitres per hectare: that's the yield behind the 1999 Cuvée Madame, so low it looks like a typo. It's why this Monbazillac deserves a seat next to sweet wines with far bigger reputations. 1999 wasn't an easy year. Sour rot set in, and the grapes were picked in four separate passes through the vines between 11 October and 4 November, with a ruthless selection. The producer's verdict is that the results were worth it. Their own description, extreme suavity without heaviness, is exactly what you hope for from a sweet wine this concentrated. Claudie and Bruno Bilancini took on the Tirecul vineyard in 1992, when it was in very poor shape, even though it is one of Monbazillac's ancient Premier Crus. What it had going for it were old vines on the region's best hillside slope and soil that had never seen chemical fertiliser. This is a mature bottle with real age on it, and the 500ml size is just right for sharing after dinner.

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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

    1999

  • Size

    500ml

  • Farming Practice

    Traditional

  • Style

    Elegant

  • Sweetness

    Sweet

  • Body

    Full Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Seared foie gras with fig compote; Roquefort or Fourme d'Ambert with walnuts; tarte Tatin; apricot or quince tart; crème brûlée.

Tasting Profile

Pure aromas of candied, crystallised fruit. Sweet and extremely smooth on the palate, rich without feeling heavy.

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