Evening of 30 Sweet/Dessert Wines

Chez Jason and Julie, Orinda, California
Tasted Friday, March 13, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,272 views

Introduction

image
So when it came time for my buddy Jason to host his local monthly tasting group, he went with his favorite kind of wine as the theme--sweet wines. I gathered he didn't expect this to be a particularly popular theme, but ultimately most of the group turned out, bringing with them 30 sweet wines, along with an interesting selection of potluck dishes aimed at complementing the wines. (Jason himself whipped up a couple of versions of seared foie gras, one of his specialities.) California sweeties dominated the proceedings, and were responsible for some of the best and worst wines in the tasting. Sauternes was the next best represented region, with miniverticals of Yquem, Suduiraut and Doisy-Vedrines. Our single Austrian entry was, for me, the best wine of the tasting--an '02 Kracher--while Italy supplied one of the most intriguing and unusual wines of the tasting: Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé. All in all, an evening-long sugar rush proved to be as enjoyable and excessive as one might expect. Many thanks to Jason and Julie for including me.

NB: My apologies to our local Mr. Yquem, my buddy David Niederauer, for referring to some of these wines as "dessert" wines. He's worked hard to educate the wine world to more accurately refer to Sauternes and the like as "sweet" wines, following Comte Lur Saluce's injunction to him some years back: "Monsieur, Yquem is not a 'dessert' wine. It may be drunk at any time, and goes better with other dishes than dessert." And I'm well aware that under American food laws and regulations, "dessert wine" means fortified wine. Nonetheless, since several of the wines on hand that evening were labeled "dessert wine," and since at least a few were fortified, I felt that the compound descriptor sweet and/or dessert was appropriate.

JB, Jeff and Jason
image

Flight 1 - Canadian Icewines (2 Notes)

Well made, and quite reliable for pure flavors, even if they rarely attain the complexity of some of the great botrytised wines.

Flight 2 - California Sweet Wines (12 Notes)

The best here for me were the '02 Dolce and the '06 Baton, with the '82 Santino being a rare and enlightening treat. (The smokiness of the latter went quite well with the smoked calamari I brought.)

  • 2001 Arrowood Special Select Late Harvest Riesling Hoot Owl Creek 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

    Medium reddish orange color; floral, blood orange, orange sherbet nose; blood orange, orange syrup, lime palate, a little narrow and lacking acidity; long finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Baton Wines Chardonnay Late Harvest Charles Heintz Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Medium canary yellow color; floral, lime and orange blossom, honey and vanilla nose; concentrated, ripe lemon, lime, tart orange, clementine, mineral, grapefruit palate with good acidity; long finish 94+ pts.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1994 Beringer Vineyards Johannisberg Riesling Special Select Late Harvest 92 Points

    USA, California

    From 375 ml - dark orange color with red and yellow lights; petrol, cane sugar and apple cider nose; focused, concentrated to the point of syrupy, mature, baked peach and apricot, orange, orange-lime marmalade palate with some acidity; long finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2004 Crooked Vine Winery Aromatica Dessert Wine 78 Points

    USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Livermore Valley

    Dark red violet color; chemically processed raspberry chocolate sauce nose with a touch of TCA; off putting hot tart raspberry and chocolate sauce palate; short-medium finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2002 Dolce Winery Late Harvest 94 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    From 375 ml - medium orange color with yellow meniscus; sweet orange, vanilla and almond nose; tight yet, tart orange, clementine, lemon and mineral palate with good acidity; long finish (needs a few years)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2002 Lolonis Winery Chardonnay Antigone-Late Harvest 92 Points

    USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County

    Medium dark golden yellow color; focused floral, jasmine, vanilla and orange nose; tart burnt orange, mineral and lime palate; long tart lime finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Peirano Estate Vineyards Muscat Canelli The Heritage Collection 91 Points

    USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi

    Bright canary yellow color; floral, orange blossom, orange honey nose; tasty orange muscat with lightness, orange blossom and orange palate with good acidity; medium finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1982 Santino Riesling Dry Berry Select Harvest Wine 93 Points

    USA, California, Sierra Foothills, California Shenandoah Valley

    Dark red orange tea brown color; mature, petrol, dried orange and grapefruit nose; tasty, blood orange, earth and smoke palate with depth; long finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2003 Topaz Wines Special Select Late Harvest 91 Points

    USA, California, North Coast

    From 375 ml -bright medium yellow orange color; almond, apricot and sour cream nose; unctuous, almost too thick, apricot, dried apricot and almond palate with floral notes and good acidity; long finish 91+ pts.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Trader Joe's Moscato Late Harvest 87 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    From 375 ml - light medium yellow color; floral, jasmine and honeysuckle nose with green notes; processed tasting, sweet lime, Gewurtz, spicy palate; medium-plus finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2001 Turley Zinfandel Delinquent 91 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    From 375 ml - lightly cloudy light medium raspberry color with pale meniscus; focused nice dried cherry, dried berry and raspberry syrup nose; more youthful on palate of dried berry, raspberry syrup and tart plum, but hot; medium-plus finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2000 Viansa Friulano Frescolina 68 Points

    USA, California

    Medium lemon yellow color; odd, apple core, mercaptan, grapefruit nose; apple core, narrow palate; tiny finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 3 - Austrian (1 Note)

Mmmmm, Kracher.

  • 2002 Alois Kracher Noble Wine #12 Zwischen den Seen 95 Points

    Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee

    Bright medium dark reddish orange color; focused and appealing orange marmalade nose; rich, concentrated, massive and deep, luscious apricot, baked peach, sweet lemon palate; long finish (needs several years)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 4 - German (1 Note)

Our one German sweetie was, unfortunately, a weak representation of that important category.

Flight 5 - Italian (1 Note)

I hope to find some more of this hauntingly complex and unusual wine.

  • 2006 Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé 94 Points

    Italy, Sicily, Passito di Pantelleria

    From 375 ml - bright golden orange color with red lights; big, very aromatic, floral, preserved lemon, orange, jasmine and essence of orange blossom nose; concentrated, deep, star jasmine, menthol, lemon and preserved lemon peel, lemon blossom palate with a vague sense of pepper and good acidity; long finish (a most unusual sweet wine experience, remarkably complex)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 6 - Spanish (2 Notes)

The Gramona Gewurtz was a very unusual take on that wonderful grape.

Flight 7 - French - Sauternes (7 Notes)

Our Yquems didn't show as well as I would have expected, especially since I've had the '76 several times. I'm pretty sure this one was somewhat corked. It was a treat to compare these to the botrytised wines from elsewhere that evening.
image
image

  • 2001 Château Climens Cyprès de Climens 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac

    Light medium orange yellow color; lemon marmalade and mineral nose; medium bodied coconut, orange and lemon palate with mineral and very high acidity; medium finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1997 Château Doisy-Védrines 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Bright medium orange color with golden lights; orange honey, brown sugar nose; tasty, tart apricot, orange honey and sweet grapefruit palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1998 Château Doisy-Védrines 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Bright medium canary yellow with a touch of green; coconut, apricot, lemon, floral and lanolin nose; palate coating ripe, sweet orange, honeyed apricot and peach; medium-plus finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1989 Château Suduiraut 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Medium dark orange color; quince paste, lime and baked kumquat nose; mature baked citrus, quince, kumquat, mineral and tart lemon palate; medium-plus finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1990 Château Suduiraut 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Bright medium dark orange color with yellow lights; sugary lemon, floral, light maple sugar nose; smoky, tart orange, grapefruit, burnt orange, smoky marmalade palate; long finish 91+ pts.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1975 Château d'Yquem 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    From 375 ml - dark apricot yellow color with canary yellow lights; nice coconut, almond and lemon tart nose; rich, poised, focused citrus, coconut, baked clementine and mineral palate with good acidity; long finish 93+ pts. (needs 8-10 more years)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 1976 Château d'Yquem 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Bright apricot orange color with yellow lights; tart orange, lemon preserves and lime nose with possible touch of TCA; tart orange, mineral, lime, grapefruit palate with high acidity and tight yet; long tart finish 92+ pts.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 8 - French - Other Sweet Wines (4 Notes)

There were a couple of real clunkers in this category, but the Baumard Clos de Sainte Catherine was quite wonderful, as usual.

Closing

On the right, the lovely Julie
image

×
×