ch doisy-daene

A brace of sweeties

~ Richard ~ Leave a comment

Somehow, no photos!

2011 Ch Rieussec 14%
Sauterne
Masked; pale gold colour, and some harmless tartrate crystals. Pineapple rind, mixed tropical fruits, honey, vanilla, marzipan, subtlety and decadence mingled. This is awesome – concentrated, stonefruits too, fresh, full bodied. How good is Sauternes! 2010-2014 first guess, leaning to earlier. Unmasked, good enough result! (143 g/l residual sugar, 95% semillon, 3% Sav blanc, 2% muscadelle)

Drink to 2041, 96 points

2010 Ch Guiraud 13.5%
Sauterne
Oranges, marmalade, citrus peel, apricot, ginger, vanilla, texture and persistence. Nice, typical, I’d like to see more acidity and focus; welcoming but not profound. Vintage or the marque? But I’m always happy to drink this style.

Drink to 2033, 90 points

2015 Ch Doisy Daene 13.5%
Barsac
Brilliant bright yellow/gold; cumquat and tropicals (green pineapple and guava, pure, decadent, hedonistic with rampant citrus and amazing spiced, honeyed, drinkability. (100% semillon)

Drink to 2040, 94 points

2014 Ch Coutet 14%
Barsac
Brilliant bright yellow/gold, but with a darker, deeper, more profound fruit profile; “almost” burnt orange, quince, pear, incredible viscosity with sweet spices, vanilla, waxiness, and an intriguing whisp of floor polish (not necessarily a flaw in this style). A wonder! (162 g/l residual sugar- 75% semillon, 23% sav blanc, 2% muscadelle)

Drink to 2038, 95 points

More recent splashes

~ Richard ~ Leave a comment

2014-5 doisyblanck heggies1983 vps

All served blind – it may seem premature to serve young Barsacs, but these proved wholly delicious, with enormous capacity to live and improve for many years. Cellaring estimates are conservative, but no-one is immortal.

2014 Ch Doisy-daene 13.5%
Barsac, 100% semillon 144g/l rs; The website is very detailed, and I tasted this wine a few months ago with similar notes.  Enormously aromatic; tropical fruits, pineapple rind, touch of vanilla essence, green nettle, botrytis. Exciting, fine creaminess, honeyed with lovely racy acidity, some cashew oak,  spotless.

Drink to 2030, 93 points

2015 Ch Doisy-daene 13.5%
Barsac, 100% Semillon, 136 g/l rs. A slightly greener fruit profile than the wine above, ripe pear and more stonefruit white peach (and botrytis); this wine already seems more rewarding, with impressive fine honeyed texture, greater- but still balanced-ginger-spice oak, and richer depth and mouthfeel, with supporting acidity.

Drink to 2035, 94 points (and more to come)

2005 Paul Blanck Furstentum vendanges tardives Gewurtztraminer 12.5%
Alsace, screwcap! Half-bottle, purchased at the winery, from a special site. Light gold in colour, it displays musk, roses and oiliness. The palate is moderately sweet, but its persistent, varietal with a winningly appealing citrus twang

Drink to 2025, 92 points

2007 Heggies “242” botrytis riesling 8.1%
A half-bottle located after my records showed I had none left (previously reviewed on this site). Amber/light copper coloured. The 242 refers to the amount of retained sugar, which comfortably sits at the BA level, and from a site in the Eden Valley, South Australia – where mostly dry Rieslings are produced, but often a small amount of botrytised Riesling. It’s packed with orange essence and marmalade, very decadent; on the viscous palate there are apricot and stonefruits. It’s still fresh, ultra-sweet -but still balanced-  some hardness is emerging, so drink sooner, not later.

Drink to 2022, 92 points

1983 Stanton and Killeen Vintage Port 19%
Rutherglen, and a hot dry year. A solid bricky colour, but browning only on the rim. Ripe and sweet with some raisined fruit, iron and liquorice, sweet, chalky, lively but a little warm. But it’s 35 years old, and 100% shiraz. On the evidence of this bottle, no further improvement is likely, but it’s still a satisfying and rewarding wine

Drink now, 88 points

1983 Dow’s Vintage Port 20%
Portugal of course. Paler colour than the wine above, showing a more interesting fruit expression of blue and red fruits, and milk chocolate covered almonds. The palate is fine and detailed – and medium-bodied, but also suggests the acidity will hold while the fruit recedes. At this stage, the tannin is balanced, but every bottle will be different.

Drink to 2025, 92 points

Random recent drinking

~ Richard ~ Leave a comment

2010 Ch La Tour blanche 14% (sauternes)
80% Semillon, 15% Sav Blanc, 5% Muscadelle, 130 g/l rs
A chateau that overdelivers on bang-for buck, there is stonefruit, barley-sugar, just-ripe apricot and cumquat. Oak plays in the background and this is delicious.
93 points, and irresistible to 2025, or longer.

2007 Joh Jos Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese AP29,  7.5%
Ripe red apple, petroleum, minerals.Crunchy, some fruit rind notes too on the palate, bracing, lovely tingly, pebbly drive.
The 2007 Mosel Rieslings have emerged from their shell and are providing rewarding hedonistic drinking
92 points, and drink to 2030 or beyond

2004 Ch Climens 13.5%, (Barsac)
Glue smells accompany apricot cream and almond. Very sweet, but with a some bitterness too. It had the misfortune to be contrasted with the next wine, and while this half-bottle was eminently drinkable,
86 points. Perhaps an underperforming bottle.

2005 Ch Doisy-daene 14% (Barsac)
Another VFM producer, and the wine shows nutmeg and cinnamon spices, pineapple and vanilla. Classic palate length, with sweetness and acidity just right.
93 points, and drink to 2028.