DESSERT WINE - France

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

STAGE 17 -  MOUNTAIN - SAINT-GAUDENS > PEYRAGUDES 130 KM

Just 30 mins north of Toulouse, some of France's rarest vines are painstakingly nursed back from extinction by husband and wife team Diane and Philippe Cauvin. Diane took the reigns of the family estate after learning viticulture and completing a tour de force throughout French vineyards including Burgundy. All made by hand with particular focus on the native negrette and biodnymically farmed since 2006.

Cranberries and sour cherry with a white pepper top-note greet you from the sunny and warmth filled glass. There is a generosity in the mouth with fleshy red fruits, the lightest touch of citrus pith and red cherries. The mid-weight style works well and no oak, just concrete tanks preserves the fresh cut flavours on the palate nicely.

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Pale lemon-gold colored, the 2018 Carmes de Rieussec is a little youthfully mute to begin, offering glimpses at lemon meringue pie, lime cordial and beeswax scents with touches of baking bread and marzipan. The palate is appealingly rich and packed with citrus and spice layers, finishing long and honeyed. LISA PEROTTI-BROWN, Wine advocate

The 2018 is another top notch release for this beloved wine. It's so perky and fun, the overall feeling is one of playfulness and excitement rather than the often imposing nature of its big brother. It is both thirst slacking and simultaneously moreish. Lashings of tingly minerality and fresh acidity are what really set this up as a delight to drink. Lovely right now with a lighter dessert or some cheese but I would be tempted to put it away for a handful of years, I think that energy and buoyancy will hold in in good stead for a while to come. A really pure and attractive Carmes. ROSCOE

This wine, his Carte d'Or is a blend of sites which he thoughtfully keeps fresh by not burdening it with too much sugar (its sweetness is balanced with a zesty line of acidity). It's a delightful and lively rendition that will age well or give pleasure right now.

'The palate shows a very appealing concentration, with white peach, white pear flesh, a delightfully match-sticky freshness and also a beautifully bright acidity…this has very nice fruit and tension, but also a delicious minerally frame for it all. Very good indeed.' thewinedoctor.com

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Full and rich, flavors of apricot, orange and spice are coupled with a dry core and fine acidity. Everything is in balance in this rich, ageworthy wine, with a fresh and crisp finish. WINE ENTHUSIAST

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Sauternes 1er Cru Classé
24 BOTTLES remain at time of offer
The 2017 Rieussec captures the natural intensity of the year, while also remaining faithful to the house style that is now favored by the estate. A high percentage of Sauvignon Blanc (17%) adds freshness and lift to the passionfruit, pineapple, mint and lemon confit flavors. Beautifully harmonious and persistent in the glass, the 2017 has so much to offer. In this tasting, it is simply tremendous. (94-97) ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2017 Rieussec was affected by the frost, losing around 15% of the production although, it was more located in parcels that are designated for the dry white R de Rieussec. Eric Kohler told me that it was a relatively rapid picking. It has around 125gm/L residual sugar. It has a clean but slightly distant bouquet, does not really exude the richness that you expect from Sauternes. The palate is medium-bodied and more promising than the nose: a viscous opening, quite spicy and slightly Auslese in style. The acidity is well balanced and it becomes increasingly lively towards the lychee and fennel-tinged finish, as if compensating for the nose. (92-94) NEAL MARTIN

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The aromatics on the Doisy-Daene comes racing out of the blocks like a March hare, soaring from the glass with honey, quince and lychee aromas with a sorbet like freshness and vivacity. The palate is supremely well balanced with a heightened level of tension and purity, offering delectable but subtle notes of white peach and apricot towards the beautifully composed, mineral-rich finish. Curiously, it reminds me of a top-flight Mosel Auslese, but what a fabulous Barsac from Denis Dubourdieu! (97) NEAL MARTIN

The 2011 Doisy-Daëne has a tightly wound nose at first, unfurling to reveal pure honey, saffron and Mirabelle aromas. The palate is well balanced with a harmonious texture, fine acidity, very pure with an almost caressing honeyed, lemongrass-tinged finish. There is something almost tender about this Sauternes. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. NEAL MARTIN, TASTED 2021

Medium gold. The nose is richly fruity, with aromas of apricot and peach as well as some tropical fruit, and the oak is nicely judged. There's opulence on the palate but the zesty acidity ensures there is nothing heavy about the wine. It's very concentrated and silky, again with discreet oak nuances, and it shows remarkable persistence and finesse. Perfect now STEPHEN BROOK, TASTED 2021

The Coutet 2009 is a sensational effort from Philippe Baly and his team. It has a fragrant nose of honey, vervain tea, pineapple, frangipane and apple-blossom, well defined if needing a little more vigour at the moment. The palate is vibrant on the entry, informed by touches of apricot and orange peel, very focused and tensile towards the long, sensuous, viscous finish. It has the same minerality exuded by Doisy-Daene and reminds me of a stellar ’62 tasted just a few weeks previously. A magnificent Coutet. (98) WINE ADVOCATE

 

Intense exotic fruits abound, powerful apricot, nectarine, white flowers and white truffles with excellent bitter almonds on the finish that works so well as a counterpoint to the luxurious texture. I love this, silky and seductive yet strict. (97) DECANTER, tasted 2020

Denis Dubourdieu has provided one of the genuine stars of the vintage with the Chateau Doisy-Daene, two, if you count his Extravagance. This has a very fragrant nose with apple blossom, lime leaf and a touch of honey. Very fresh and lifted...spring-like. The palate is very well balanced, not a powerful Sauternes but ethereally poised and focused, skipping blithely to an animated pear, honeysuckle and apricot finish. Very pretty, very complete and very outstanding. (98) NEAL MARTIN

The last time I tasted the 2009 Doisy-Daëne, I felt it was in a dumb phase. This bottle suggests that it is no longer in that phase! It has a lovely bouquet with honey, white peach, nougat and light marzipan scents, growing in intensity with just a touch of lavender. Wonderful definition. The palate is very well defined with superb concentration, a surfeit of botrytis, tangy marmalade and quince notes with a touch of ginger enlivening the finish. What an outstanding Doisy-Daëne! Tasted at the vertical at Doisy-Daëne. NEAL MARTIN, TASTED 2022

SAUTERNES

The 2016 Suduiraut is fabulous. Crème br?lée, passion fruit, tangerine peel and exotic floral notes all race out of the glass. I marvel at how Suduiraut can deliver so much flavor intensity and yet remain so gracious and classy. The 140 grams of residual sugar are very well integrated. This is such a gorgeous wine. (97) ANTONIO GALLONI

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!