Chateau Doisy Daene 2005 (Barsac, France)
Cork, $50 375ml

I don’t drink much Dessert wine. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy it, but as everyone knows, the situation whence to drink stickies doesn’t arrive very often. I find most Australian Botrytis Semillon styles somewhat over intense and just too heavy to be drinkable – not enough acidity, too much sugar. Dessert Riesling however is unsurprisingly much more to my tastes, as is this light, bright style of sticky.

Light yellow in colour (particularly light for a Sauternes) this smells fresh and bright with minimal Bortrytis on the nose. Pineapple, yellow apples and a hint of caramel that flow from nose to palate with some linearity. There is a hint of the slightly feral influence of Bortrytis on the palate, finishing with acid that is long, bright and lingering. Its a quite refreshing style that needs about 10 years but is already quite approachable and not too sweet. On day two it had barely moved an inch, with the creme caramel palate elements becoming slightly more prominent.

This is a rather delicious Sauternes then with everything ahead of it. Its not bad value either, all things being equal. 18++