Not a wine that I even see very often, much less get to taste. (My first time with the Doisy Daene L’Extravagant.) The nose is long, but it does cover four separate points in time, and I hope it will be useful for someone.
2001 Château Doisy-Daëne L’Extravagant- France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (6/8/2013)
From a half. Wax was a pain to remove. Color is an orangish-gold; nose is very intense with white fruits, nectarine, apricot, baking spices, very slight paint thinner; palate is full bodied, concentrated, great purity of fruit including nectarines, superb acidity especially on the midpalate that more than balances the increased sweetness; long finish, finishes fresh like an icewine. This is a very atypical Sauternes with a complex nose and an atypically pure and young palate with far more concentration that the regular doisy daene. The acidity is a real strength in this wine since it balances out the sugar perfectly and keeps the wine fresh. 95-97.
Update: 30 min air- the slight paint thinner on the nose has completely dissipated leaving a wonderfully complex nose of fruit and baking spice. The palate continues to show the dichotomy of richness but also fantastic acidity that gives it freshness, which is a quality that I usually associate with Yquem. This is not quite as complex as the best Yquem (although very complex anyway), but it’s strength is its uniqueness, character, and balance. It will likely transform somewhat as it ages, but I don’t think it will be perfect. Wait a decade before the next half. 97
Update: Day 2: Nose of tropical fruit, honey, baking spices (no paint thinner left on the nose, which is a relief); palate is full bodied, thick textured, still has fabulous acidity that lifts up the wine despite the thick texture, purity of mandarin orange fruit in the midpalate; finishes cleanly with a long length and great persistence minutes later. This seems like a blend of sauternes and icewine. Superb, and if the price was more reasonable I’m sure I would buy more of this. Given it’s actual price though, it may make more sense to buy Yquem from other good years (03, etc) or 01 Suduiraut/Rieussec/Fargues instead. Solid 96-97.
Day 3: Best on day 1 or 2 since that is when it was the most vibrant, but I still keep coming back for more. (97 pts.)
This wine is an all-time favorite of mine. Thank you for posting this! In spite of the price, I had to swing for a bottle. I just wish I could have afforded more. While this is unusual considering the 100% SB content, I think it is nothing short of stunning, and one of the very few wines I have ever tasted that I considered givign 100 points to (this was immediately after release). I agree it is super complex, and very Barsac in its profile in spie of its unusual content.
I was probably going to wait for age 20 or so to open my sole bottle of this.
Nice P.N. thank you for that.
Sauternes 2001 is “hors category”
In a quite huge Yquem tasting (over 20 vintages) the 2001 vintage was of an other world
It’s such an intriguing wine. I wouldn’t say it is the most complex sauternes that I’ve tried right now (though it may have been on release and it may be again some day… it’s at the right age to be in an in-between stage 2 phase, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it opened up more with another decade), but there’s something about it that is seductive and kept me coming back for more. It was incredibly rich but didn’t seem like it at all because of the fabulous balance. I have one more and will wait a long time to open that.
I don’t actually know what it cost on release, but K&L has it in stock now for $250/half. I think I got lucky since I bought mine as part of a small mixed lot of sauternes at auction for about $150/half each all in.
Ashish, thou lucky dog! Much vicarious pleasure reading your note. That and the D’Yquem are the last of the 01s that I want/need to try someday. Glad you tracked it over 3 days—superhuman control there, paisan.
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