4 | Wine | Sweet, 2006

"While no surprise here, this wine, which will be bottled in 2009, is certainly this estate’s greatest effort since their 2001. It completely outclasses everything from the appellation, but even when you’re number one, that’s often hard to do. This light gold wine offers up a sensational smorgasbord of aromas including huge honeyed pineapple and other caramelized tropical fruit flavors, massive richness, and a viscous, unctuous texture with the oak beautifully integrated. The wine has enough acidity to buttress its full-bodied mouthfeel, but this is not by any means the sweetest or most alcoholic of the d’Yquems I have tasted. In fact, in the range of d’Yquems, this is a powerful wine, but it is one built more on finesse and elegance, a la the 1988. Nevertheless, this wine will prove to have 50+ years of longevity. The finish, the mid-palate, the sensation of looking at a skyscraper of Semillon with a small dosage of Sauvignon, is impressive. Like all of the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes, one can drink this young, but the nuances and complexities really don’t emerge for at least a decade, especially in the case of a wine such as this. Bravo!" Reviewed by Robert Parker.

"The 2006 Dolce is intensely fruity, driven by aromas of citrus and stone fruits, and layered with notes of honey and spice. Ripe peach and pear dominate in the nose and are complemented with notes of orange zest, dried apricot and fig. The palate is loaded with ripe and juicy apricot. It begins with a silky entry, followed by an unctuous and balanced mid-palate, and a mouthwatering, clean finish. With time we expect the emergence of the bottle bouquet, together with a subtle minerality, will beautifully showcase the fruit-forward nature of this youngster."

"Bright yellow-gold. Perfumed aromas of dried apricot, fresh papaya, hazelnut and sweet almond. Sweet and moderately rich, with lively acidity lifting the peach nectar, sultana and dried fig flavors. Finishes precise and long. One of the better Vin Santos in recent memory from Castellare, this nicely balanced wine spent five years in small oak barrels."