Berserkers,
Yesterday, I opened up the infamous 07 Myrat Sauternes which has caused such controversy on this board by having gone from a WOTY pick to being slagged all in the same thread by the same people. Today, I opened up 07 Noble One from Australia to compare. The results are suprising:
Chateau Myrat 2007 Sauternes: Let’s skip right to it. Very tropical fruit flavors of candied pineapple and guava, high acidity, low botrytis, extremely fruit forward and sweet, but a very short finish. It was actually quite refreshing which was good but not a characteristic I normally associate with Sauternes which is more hedonistic than thirst-quenching. Sweet, short, refreshing, tropical. Very un-Sauternes like the more I think about it.
My comment to my friends upon tasting this was that was more like icewine than Sauternes and they countered that icewine had a longer smoother finish. Still a very good value Sauternes, but I can see how Berserkers accustomed to a much higher quality level of Sauternes would be quite taken aback by this. At the time, I gave it my own WOTY and will not backtrack – at the time I first came across this in 2010 it had earned it. But things have definitely changed…
DeBortoli 2007 Noble One Botrytis Semillon: Whoa. Extremely lush and mouthcoating flavors of honey, botrytis, dried pineapple, guava and papaya. Especially the papaya, much more notable than in the Myrat above. The solid burnt orange-gold color indicates not oxidation but the complete lack of Muscadelle and Sauvignon Blanc. Nice bit of caramel on the finish as well. Decent acidity but nowhere near as much as the Myrat. Tastes like this was bottled yesterday and a very good argument in favor of screwcaps, at least where sweet wines are concerned. Rich, sweet and complex. Extremely high QPR as this goes for the exact same price as the Myrat above and is of far superior quality. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Well this was interesting and quite revelatory. I’ve had the Noble One before in the 06 and 04 vintages and I quite liked them but those were both under cork and not in close proximity to a Sauternes. The Noble One was amazing and pretty darn close to a high-end French Sauternes. Maybe not an Yquem but pretty darn close to a Rieussec. I have bottles of the 07, 08 and 09 vintages left. The 11 vintage was supposed to come out this week but the LCBO stores I have checked have told me it will not arrive and is not even in transit to Ontario yet! GASP! 
P.S. Yes, that is a 1963 vintage Armagnac in my second picture. It’s a Baron Gaston Legrand I picked up in Montreal to share with my wino friends and restaurant somms. I had that with the Noble One at dinner last night at Splendido here in Toronto.