Château La Tour Blanche 2011

Tasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château La Tour Blanche 2011 has a more reticent bouquet compared to its peers: traces of wild honey, Clementine, hints of petrol and tree sap coming through reluctantly with aeration but never attaining what you might call “full power," possibly due to hail damage during the growing season. The palate is medium-bodied, a little understated like the nose, with well-judged acidity and a tightly wound finish adorned with dried honey, mandarin and a touch of barley-sugar. The aftertaste is quite long, suggesting that it will contentedly repay 4-5 more years in the cellar.

Shows lovely pitch, with white peach, pineapple, honeysuckle, green almond and ginger notes out front, backed by hints of yellow apple and orange blossom. The long, floral-framed finish isn't shy on depth or richness, but relies on elegance overall. Best from 2016 through 2040. 2,915 cases made.

93-95. Barrel sample. This is a crisp-textured wine, with a complex structure of rich, dense fruits, spice and wood. The wine is only just coming together, promising many years of aging ahead.

Has real class and good balance between acidity and richness. A lean attack, which is sleek with exotics fruits and mint tones. Long, spicy and very precise with brooding fruit character that will resurface with some time.

Aromas of minerals, dried pineapple and pears. Hints of pie crust. Full body, medium sweet, with a beautiful linear backbone of chalk, honey and mango character. Structured Sauternes. Almost tannic. Phenolic. Better in 2016.

Sweet, opulent, cream and vanilla. Textural but not hugely expressive – a little muted on the finish. (RH)

The 2011 La Tour Blanche has a relatively austere bouquet for the estate. Despite coaxing, it does not quite get out of second gear. Scents of wax and white flowers emerge with time, but it needs more fruit. The palate is well balanced with a spicy entry and moderate depth, but it's linear and missing some bandwidth on the finish.

A solid performance in this vintage. One of the few Bordeaux chateaux to include Muscadelle in the blend, the wine serves up vanilla tinged, tropical fruits, honey, flowers and spicy scents. The finish is sweet, fresh and offers good intensity.

Medium yellow gold, silver reflections. Delicate caramel, nutty touch, fine botrytis spice, candied orange zest, a hint of wood. Juicy, elegant, ripe yellow tropical fruit, mango and papaya, good acidity, already developed and balanced, ripe peach on the finish, versatile.

Medium-deep yellow, quite intense, with a bright rim. A Burgundian-style nose: quince, mirabelle plums, a subtly peppery touch of botrytis, ripe yellow apple, freshly baked white bread. Very long, elegant palate, with a hint of lemon oil in a sultana-like extract; it comes across as very grapey and therefore very fresh too, with a dreamlike, elegant finish. Perfectly balanced. One of the very best La Tour Blanche vintages—perhaps even the best ever produced. And that’s saying something, given that the 2009 and 2010 vintages already scored 19/20!

Medium-deep yellow, quite intense, with a bright rim. A Burgundy-like aromatic profile: quince, mirabelle plums, delicately peppery botrytis, ripe yellow apple, freshly baked white bread. A very long, elegant palate, with a hint of lemon oil in a sultana-tinged extract; it feels grapey and therefore very fresh, with a dreamlike, elegant finish of remarkable length. Perfectly balanced. Among the very best La Tour Blanche vintages—perhaps even the finest ever produced. This despite 2009 and 2010 already scoring 19/20 points. It could become a wine of the century.

Fresh, powerful, fragrant, mineral bouquet: mint, citrus, fine botrytis character, almond pastry, honey. Dense, velvety, fresh palate with intense, full sweetness, very good acidity, a dense, creamy structure, fresh, full aromatics. Very long, powerful finish with superb retronasal aromas. 19/20 2022 - 2050

Rich and generous, this sweet wine deserves 10 years in the cellar to mellow.

A rich, full-bodied Sauternes, surprisingly well-structured, with a good length.

Pale color with green highlights. Fruity, fresh, vanilla-scented nose with a hint of mirabelle plum. The palate is delicately mellow with a silky texture and medium body, leading to a roasted finish with toasted nuances.