1921 Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Doux

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  3/7/2014 - IJC Likes this wine:

  Drinking a 93 year old bottle of wine demands a commentary extending beyond the usual tasting note, I feel, for this is an experience few of us are likely to repeat. So, I write this more for the theater of memory than as a guide for future application.
  
  It begins with the presence of the bottle - an oversized, dark green (almost black) glass, heavy, handblown affair, with an enormous punt. The label is a thing of graphic beauty, the spare elegance of the typography set on a pristine white background, adorned only with a small gold and black crest set within grape clusters. By now familiar with the design, I knew that the specifics of vintage and sweetness were conveyed in the small, red typewritten capital letters, upper right corner, “1921 DOUX.”
  
  OMG appears only in the mind's afterimage, having stared, transfixed, in disbelief.
  
  1921 was a very great year for Vouvray, and the designation “Doux”,” akin to a Moelleux, is rarely seen today. Years ago, our host acquired this bottle directly from the vintner, a personal friend, and they had spoken earlier in the day; only a handful of bottles remain.
  
  Already a witness to history, this bottle has one more story to tell. Connie & Dave, who are celebrating their own history - a 60th anniversary - have invited us to share it with them. Only two months ago, we drank Foreau's Goutte d'Or, 2011, a wine in its infancy, and we remarked then that (properly cellared) it will outlive us. Tonight, we approach from the other end of the aging spectrum.
  
  The cork - the original cork - was removed with great care, and in a single piece, using an Ah-So. The wine was promptly served into Czech crystal stemware, the bowl engraved with vines that caught the light colored by the wine. We spent a moment in silence, then raised our glasses and toasted our hosts.
  
  One is first aware of the color - an autumnal brown, not unlike an Amontillado sherry, burnt orange with flashes of fire. The nose was subtle, and so, so subdued. The faint scent of apple, there and gone, back again, and gone again. No mustiness, no dampness, no way of knowing this was a '21, had we not seen the label.
  
  The taste - remarkable, otherworldly, unique. Lightness, and fresh, and a perfect balance of fruit, sweet, and acidity. Soft, whisper soft, so light in texture, no syrupy viscosity, no cloying finish. The apple scent showed itself in the mouth, at first with the crispness of a Granny Smith, and then with just a touch of the bitterness of a fine Armagnac. The aftertaste of a sweet sherry, nowhere near as strong as the sherry itself. The taste lingered long, long, long, and soft, soft, soft. Beautiful.
  
  We must have drunk for 20-30 minutes, and only at the end did the wine begin to show its age, but by then, we had been transported to another time and place, and it was time to come back to the present.
  
  Rated HC (hors category, beyond rating).

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