Wine Advisor
Doisy Daene 2005
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This is a great wine, but you would not expect anything else from Denis Dubourdieu. The nose is closed but has great definition. The palate displays exquisite balance, vibrant acidity, hints of almond and a tangible mineral core. Hints of beeswax and even kerosene towards the finish. Complex and engaging but always with supreme delineation and focus. Fabulous stuff. Tasted April 2007.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The nose is more muted than others. Chalk dust and lemon, apricot. The palate has lovely balance, very floral and minerally with a sweet peachy, petrolly finish. A great Barsac wine. Great balance and persistency. Tasted April 2006.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château Doisy-Daëne has a very attractive nose with perfumed apricot blossom, white peach and honey all infused with cold stone scents. The palate is very well balanced with beautifully judged acidity. This feels harmonious in the mouth, almost Coutet-like in style with a long, lightly spiced finish. This is an excellent Doisy-Daene from Denis Dubourdieu.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A sleeper of the vintage. No tasting note given.
About the Producer
Château Doisy Daëne is Bordeaux wine producer located in the commune of Barsac. Its sweet white wine ranked as Second Cru Classé (French, “Second Growth”) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. It belongs to the Sauternes appellation in Gironde, in the region of Graves. The three Doisy wine estates, Château Doisy Daëne, Château Doisy-Védrines, Château Doisy-Dubroca, originate from one single estate, the early history and division of which is not very well documented. The earliest documented mention of the Doisy wine cru is in André Julliens book Topographie de tous les vignobles connus in 1832. The Daëne part of the name comes from Jean Jacques Emmanuel Daëne, who was the vineyard owner and a wine merchant in Bordeaux, and who at some stage bought one of three portions of the estate. J.J.E. Daëne's three sons inherited the wine estate in 1875, and in the same year they sold a portion of it the Dubroca brothers of Doisy-Dubroca. In 1878 Doisy-Daëne was sold to Jean Paul Billot, and his daughter Pauline inherited it in 1884, and sold it to the Debans brothers in 1889. From 1924 Château Doisy Daëne has been owned by the Dubourdieu family. Georges Dubourdieu acquired it from the Debans heirs in 1924. Georges stayed in control until 1949, when his son Pierre Dubourdieu took over. One of Pierre Dubourdieu's innovations, in the early 1950s, was to start also making a dry white wine, the first in the Sauternes area. In 2000, Pierre's son Denis Dubourdieu took over the control estate. In 1990 and as a result of an experiment, Denis had introduced l'Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne, a concentrated wine of higher sweetness than usual Sauternes, produced from highly botrytised grapes. Doisy Daëne has 18.2 hectares (45 acres) of vineyards, planted with 86% Sémillon and 14% Sauvignon blanc. Until the 2008 vintage, there was also a small amount of Muscadelle in the vineyards. Doisy-Daëne produces three wines: Château Doisy Daëne, its sweet Sauternes wine, in composition close to the average of the estate's vineyards; Grand Vin Sec du Château Doisy-Daëne, a dry Bordeaux Blanc from 100% Sauvignon blanc and aged 8 months in oak barrels of which 20% new oak; L'Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne, an extra sweet Sauternes produced in some vintages. 45% to 80% Sémillon and 20% to 55% Sauvignon blanc depending on the vintage.
