WTN: New notes

1999 Drouhin, Volnay Clos des Chênes:
Strikes that balance between guts and grace; depth and elegance; structure and fruit; still firm but clear and charming. Benefitted from time in the decanter and should benefit even more from time in the bottle. Lovely wine with fresh king salmon done rare.

1999 Dugat-Py, Gevrey-Chambertin Les Evocelles:
13% alcohol; Gevrey earth and dark fruit with a soy note on the nose; no soy on the palate as the wine is deep, dense and earthy, a touch clumsy but very enjoyable and with moderate complexity; medium length finish. I expected some wood influence but did not find it. A well stuffed wine but not a monolith.

2006 Tokaj Kereskedőház Zrt., Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Muskotály Premium Selection 500ml:
10.5% alcohol; 156g RS, 9.8g TA, 100% muscat; a wine that is made perhaps once every thirty years – when the muscat has botrytis and is clean; this is a sweet wine that finishes almost bone dry – a contradiction of the first order; immense mouthfeel with complex flavors and an intensity like no other wine I have tasted (certainly beyond Essenzia); even with the kind of power it delivers, it comes across as light on its feet, aromatic, balanced and oh so pretty – almost achingly so. I am no fan of sweet wines but this is unique and stunning. A wine for the generations and a true life list bottle.
Oh my!

Best, Jim

1999 is a great vintage to me in Burgundy, but even more so in Volnay (I guess CdB in general, but my experience is mostly Volnay).
Interesting note re the all Muscat Tokaji Aszu, somehow I have in my head there had to be some percentage of Furmint, but no actual knowledge.

1999 is a great vintage to me in Burgundy, but even more so in Volnay (I guess CdB in general, but my experience is mostly Volnay).
Interesting note re the all Muscat Tokaji Aszu, somehow I have in my head there had to be some percentage of Furmint, but no actual knowledge.

This particular bottling is all muscat.
And a very rare bottling it is.
Was not acquired in the US.
Best, Jim

Hi Jim -

Thank you for the very good notes. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the Tokaji Aszú Muskotály. I've had the Tokaji Aszú Muskotály from Királyudvar before, which can be found in the US, and I thought that it was an exceptionally interesting wine. Királyudvar didn't label it with a number of Puttonyos, but I recall thinking that it was comparable to a top 5 Puttonyos Tokaji.

Dale -

I'm not 100% certain on this, but do believe that Tokaji Aszú Muskotály is the sole exception to the rule that Tokaji Aszú must be predominantly made from Furmint. Of course, there are also a bunch of non-Aszú wines from the Tokaj-Hegyalja region that are made from other, non-Furmint grapes.