Château Rieussec 2024

Critic scores

• James Suckling94
• Vinous92-94
• Decanter93

The 2024 vintage in Sauternes

Vintage benchmark: 89/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A rainy autumn reduced the crop to very little: the wines that were made are fine and light.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Sauternes. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

The nose gradually opens with aromas of ripe fruit, such as candied apricot, accompanied by a more airy dimension. On the palate, the wine seduces through its balance: controlled sweetness, a lively structure and an almost saline freshness that carries the wine with precision. The 2024 vintage offers a more refined interpretation of Rieussec. Today, the wine expresses a balanced style driven by freshness, refined sweetness and great aromatic precision.

Blend of the 2024 vintage

Sémillon (83%), Sauvignon-blanc (17%)

Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2024 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with sémillon, sauvignon blanc, muscadelle.

Figures from the 2024 sheet

• 13.5 % vol.Alcohol

Winemaking

The grapes are harvested manually in small crates. On arrival at the cellar, they are immediately pressed in small pneumatic presses. After settling, the musts are funneled into barrels for fermentation (new for Sémillon, from one wine for Sauvignon). Each plot is pressed and vinified separately. The alcoholic fermentation is interrupted as soon as the desired balance between alcohol and sugar is reached. At the end of fermentation, the wines are kept on the lees and stirred regularly until mid-December. After a rest period, the wines are racked and blended before being put back into barrels.

Ageing

ageing for approximately 18 months in barrels (new for Sémillon, one wine for Sauvignon).

Terroir

Appellation: AOC Sauternes, Bordeaux, France. The vineyards of the Sauternes appellation lie on the left bank of the Garonne, some 50 km south of Bordeaux. The natural humidity brought by the river Ciron and by surfacing springs creates the ideal conditions required for the development of Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. The vineyard of Château Rieussec lies at the junction of Fargues and Sauternes.