Had these two last week:
1. Chateau Coutet a Barsac AC: Barsac (11%-14%; MeBaC) 1976: Deep gold color; very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty some butterscotch/caramel some toasty/oak very complex old-Sauternes nose; fairly tart off-dry intense butterscotchy/caramel very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight earthy some toasty/oak very complex classic old-Sauternes flavor; very long/lingering intense butterscotchy/caramel toasty/oak very intense botrytis/apricotty off-dry very complex finish that goes on&on; a beautiful classic old Sauternes that will go another 10-20 yrs; even though the dessert was quite sweet, it was intense enough to hold up to the budino pretty good.
_______________
2. TablasCreekVnyd 100% PetiteManseng Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (13.3%; www.TablasCreek.com; Hrvstd: Sept 25; SaH: 28 Brix, ph: 3.28; RS: 8.24 gm/100 ml; 40 cs) 2015: Med.gold color; very strong grapey/passito quite mango/dried mango/concentrated somewhat herbal/earthy/straw slight figgy/FigNewton rather complex nose; fairly tart/tangy quite sweet bit herbal/earthy very intense grapey/passito/dried mango/dried pineapple flavor; same very intense grapey/passito dried mango/dried pineapple light earthy/herbal/hay bale/Kansas hayloft very sweet fairly tart finish; no evidence of botrytis but a beautiful/classic example of Italian passito wine; should go out 20 yrs at least. $40.00/500 ml (VIN)
_______________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The Coutet we had at the new Marietta release dinner at LoyalHound on Thurs. I paired it w/ Renee's killer butterscotch budino. Not quite sweet enough to match the budino, but great on its own. The TablasCreek I served Fri night when we had Ron&Jamie Coleman/TamarackCllrs over for dinner.
PetitManseng is grown mostly in SW France, in Gascony, Jurançon and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, where it is often made into a dessert wine. There it often shows a lot of botrytis, sometimes not.
The TCV was a classic example of Italian passito dessert wine..the kind they should be making all up&down the coast of Calif. At this high of sugar level, the varietal character is pretty much obliterated...this wine could be made from Chard...anything, I think.
Tom