Vignobles Darriet Château Dauphiné Rondillon, Cuvée d’Or 2009, Loupiac, France

Tasting Note: A dessert wine oozing with ripe-fruit, body and wonderful complexity and minerality.

Deep-intensity gold in color, this wine has a pronounced-intensity nose of dried-apricot stonefruit, peach puree, blossom, marmalade, white fig, dried apple and pineapple with hints of petrol.

On the palate the luscious, full-bodied, sweet-Bordeaux blend has medium-plus-intensity flavors suggested on the nose supported by medium-plus acidity and completing with a long, dried-fruit-infused finish.

The wine is balanced with an acid structure that keeps the wine lively on the palate.

This is why the dessert-wine world loves the classic pairing of semillon and sauvignon blanc.

Bottle Note: 80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc. The Cuvée d’Or has been the original recipe of Darriet’s Family for more than 200 years. The terroir is a real jewel with gravel soil on which are planted hundred-years-old vines of semillon mixed with hundred years old pear trees. Vinificated and aged in French oak barrels, the Cuvée d’Or, gathered at the same time the delicate and powerful aroma, the structure and the elegance of the once sweet wine. This wine develops tasty notes of candied fruits and dry apricots. Best pairings with foie gras, cheese platter – made of blue cheese, comte or Parmigianino. Nice to serve during a meal with white meats and white fruits dessert. T° service: 10°C/50°F. Can be kept refrigerated up to 3 weeks after opening. Can drink now for freshness or let it mature for 15 to 50 years from vintage date. Grand Vin de Bordeaux. Residual sugar: 119 g/l. Sugar at harvest: 340 g/l.

This wine was submitted for review.