2001 - Doisy-Vedrines, Barsac

The 2001 Doisy-Vedrines includes 5% Muscadelle this year, which is an unusually high percentage for this estate. It has 125 g/L of residual sugar and a medium straw-gold color. It needs a little swirling to unlock scents of lemongrass tea, ginger cake, dried pineapple, and jasmine tea, giving way to a core of lemon tart and crème caramel. The palate is fresh and vibrant, with beautiful tension supporting the decadent sweetness and bright citrus and stone fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed. While gorgeous, this wine should easily cellar for another 40 years and then some.

Limpid gold in color, the 2001 Doisy-Védrines offers beeswax, honeysuckle and quince jelly on the nose; hints of gingerbread emerge with time. The oak comes through a bit here, which is odd after two decades. The palate is vibrant and tensile on the entry, delivering the weight one expects from this Barsac, allied with a fine bead of acidity that imparts tension. Tangy marmalade and quince notes appear toward the finish. This is a fine Doisy-Védrines that is à point.

Tasted at the château, the 2001 Château Doisy-Védrines has an attractive honeysuckle and butterscotch bouquet, well defined with just a touch of wet wool. Returning after 10 minutes it does appear to have lost some of its panache and complexity. The palate is clean and fresh on the entry: tangerine and honey, dried orange peel and a focused, tensile finish that feels long in the mouth, but like the aromatics, aeration seems to take this Barsac apart at the seams and it falls just a little flat. I must confess that this particular vintage did not match previous, more impressive showings.