L'Extravagant de Doisy Daene 2007

Tasted with Denis Dubourdieu at the chateau. The 2007 contains 12% alcohol, 200gms residual sugar with 4.4 gms total acidity. It has less Sauvignon Blanc than other vintages at just one-third. Clear golden colour, very lucid, the L'Extravagant de Doisy-Daene is very refined on the nose with scents of dried honey, mango, a slight petrol accent and reductive note that imparts great complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with beautiful balance, pure orange essence, apricot, a touch of lemon curd and minerals that lead to a perfectly focused finish. Drink 2013-2040.

Refined and balanced, with citrus fruit, pineapple and just a hint of vanilla. Full-bodied, medium sweet, with a finish that's tangy, spicy and long. Pretty and harmonious

Yellow-gold. An essence of fruity noble rot on the nose: racy pineapple, apricot, orange, honey. Then extraordinarily dense and vibrant, with huge pineappley acidity giving verve and precision to the wonderfully unctuous, incredibly sweet flavors (the residual sugar is reportedly more than 200 grams per liter!). The combination of thickness and verve here is mindboggling. Perhaps most impressive on the bracing, incredibly long and almost painful finish, which throws off flavors of pineapple, honey and toast. With this wine's level of sweetness and acidity, it should evolve in bottle for decades. One of the best young Barsacs-or botrytis wines from anywhere-I've ever tasted.

Delivering 12.0% ABV and 200gms residual sugar, Denis Dubourdieu's luxury Barsac, the 2007 L'Extravagant de Doisy-Daene, does not hold back, born with a lucid golden hue with big fat tears (of joy). The bouquet is very intense but very tight at first, demanding time to unfurl in the glass at its own pleasure: white peach, apricot, orange-blossom and a touch of marmalade with breathtaking definition. The palate is full-bodied with a viscous entry, so pure and caressing with mellifluous honey, apricot and citrus lemon, wonderful delineation on the finish, the thread of acidity interwoven through that powerful finish with the length of an ocean liner. Brilliant. Drink 2015-2050.

An incredibly rich, honeyed nose with oodles of botrytis: mango, peach and apricots waft seductively from the glass. The palate has immense purity and a harmony that is difficult to encapsulate into words. Just a seamless Barsac, beautifully integrated, wonderful levels of botrytis that is never over-powering with wonderful definition on the intense but brilliantly focused finish. Not so much extravagant, as seductive. Fantastic: a real hedonistic delight. Drink 2015-2050. Tasted April 2008