Denis Dubourdieu is the head of the Faculty of Enology (or, to be more precise, the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin), but he also owns several wine estates: the grand cru Ch. Doisy Daënes in Barsac, Clos Floridène in Graves, and Ch. Reynon the other side of the river, in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux.
Reynon makes dry white, rosé, and red, as well as the wine we had yesterday at lunch with foie gras: a 1999 AOC Cadillac.
This came in a 50 cl. bottle, ideal for 3 people.
The semi-sweet and non-Sauternes/Barsac sweet white wines of Bordeaux can be incredible value for money. I don't know what I paid for this Reynon, but it was surely not much. And the wine delivers so much pleasure!
The color was medium gold, just starting to show its age and the nose was arguably more fruity than botrytized. Not deep and complex perhaps, but direct and very, very good.
The balance on the palate was truly pleasurable. I sometimes hear people say they prefer Loire stickies to sweet white Bordeaux when, in fact, this is unfair since it amounts in their minds to comparing two different categories of wines (Sauternes and let's say late harvest Vouvray or Coteaux du Layon). A more apt comparison would be, for instance, a wine like this, which unquestionably has the acidity to back up the sugar.
The afertaste was clean and fresh, with a mineral and slightly bitter quality typical of Sauternes, but in a minor key.
Wines such as this are a delight. It'll soon be melon season, and they are perfect with a small, sweet melon and thinly sliced dry cured ham (admittedly, a dish stolen from the Italians).
I like both the concentrated, weighty, incredibly aromatic wines of Sauternes and the less regal, but more versatile sweet white wines of Bordeaux such as this - sadly very little known on export markets.
Best regards,
Alex R