2005 - Vouvray Moelleux Reserve, Domaine de Clos Naudin (Foreau)

Foreau’s 2005 Vouvray Moelleux Reserve smells spectacularly and kaleidoscopically of quince and apricot paste, date, honey, nutmeg, sweet floral perfume, pear distillate, lemon, white raisin, and hints of bitter quinine and smoky Calvados. Extraordinarily rich on the palate, yet clear, juicy in primary fruit character, and with luscious citrus leavening its concentration of nutmeg- and cinnamon-tinged apricot and quince, this finishes with terrific length and penetration, still clear and pure as honey, quince, apricot, apple blossoms and lilies slowly dissipate. Here is a Vouvray for the ages. Its 154 grams of residual sugar are by no means overwhelming and should assist it in a long, slow evolution. Furthermore, they are the reason one can enjoy the elegance and delicacy of 11.5% alcohol after, following sec, demi-sec and moelleux that weighed in at a surprisingly uniform 13.5%. Even in tough years, Foreau never disappoints. But in 2004, after rigorous triage of fruit and young wine, he bottled only one still Vouvray, and very little of that. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990