To top off our Sunday Roast dinner I pulled this amazing beauty out of the cellar and let it loose.  I had tasted the Doisy-Vedrines 2010 previously and needed an equally big night to taste this vintage.  After thoroughly loving the Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon with our dinner it was appropriate to get this bottle cracking.  I previously gave the 2010 95 points, how would this one hold out?

Golden yellow in the glass with a nose of honey, candied pear, botrytis and peach cobbler.  Almond crisp with apricot torte and honeyed pears came in the first wave.  Pineapple syrup with flowers and citrus fill the mid palate along with some pear pie, absolutely gorgeous. Sublime balance with a razor sharp acidity and 60 second finish make this a near perfect wine.  Top to bottom- a smooth transition, 96 point plus for me.  I noticed huge legs in the glass and had to double check the bottle, 13.5 % alcohol but nary a sign of it.  One final thought….Uncious but not stuffy.  I paid $22 for this stunner worthy of 5 stars.  Ps. I bought all they had of the two vintages!  Salut….

Last weekend I had a big tasting night planned.  The Clarendon Hills Syrah was the opener.  I was then planning on doing a mini vertical of this wine with a 2011.  Problem is that I absolutely loved this bottle and ended up finishing it and saving the other one for another night.  I laid out two cheeses to go along with the sweet dessert wines.  They deserve their own blog posts- simply out of this world.The wine was poured into my Riedel dessert glass where it showed off a light golden color and had a nose of apricots, honey and almond chips. I made note of a classy smoothness with light botrytis in the initial attack. Honey and melon jam came to mind after letting the wine swirl a bit. The first sensation was of light acidity which became cutting on the mid palate. Apricot tart with a sweet minerality on the back end was a really nice way to tail it off but I was in for a surprise. I timed a rather long finish over 90 seconds which added some cloying sweetness and hazelnuts on the finale. Exquisite and worthy of 95 points from me. Here’s the bonus….. it’s only $20 and I’m buying all I can get in 375ml bottles. If you like sweet wines, this one is an absolute stunner. 5 stars for this sticky. Salut….

The original lineup, 2010 and 2011 Doisy-Vedrines

The cheese course, out the park with these two!