Chateau Doisy-Vedrines

The three Doisy vineyards of Barsac were all born from a single estate, with the origin not well documented. The earliest record dated from the 18^th century, describing an estate to the south of Chateau Coutet owned by the Vedrines family. The newly wed Jean Vedrines and Marie Raymond had settled in a small village here, and established an estate complete with a chateau, beginning to plant vines.

Within the same century they expanded the domaine by acquiring a small portion of the Coutet vineyard. In the early 19^th century it was recognized as a leading estate in Barsac, along with Coutet and Climens, which at the time was co-owned by the Vedrines and Dubosq families. Without clear records, the estate was later divided into three portions, probably under the Napoleonic laws, with the two smaller portions going to the Faux family and forming Doisy-Dubroca.

The other smaller portion was purchased by Jean Jacques Emmanuel Daene, and becoming Doisy-Daene. The largest remained with the original owners, and forming the today Doisy-Vedrines. The family remained at the estate until the middle of the 19^th century, and was sold to the Boireau family in 1851, still under the family till now.

It was passed to Madame Teyssonneau, finally bequeathing it at the age of 94, to her daughters and grandson, Pierre Casteja, who ran the property from 1946. With his passing in 1973 it came to the next generation, Olivier Casteja, who continued till today, and also taking the role as president of Les Grands Crus Classes de Sauternes & Barsac in 2013.

The vineyards cover 27 hectares, with the average age over 40 years. The soils are typical in the Barsac region, with a mix of limestone, sand and clay, in red color, over a limestone bedrock peppered with fossilized starfish. It is a single block of vines, dominated by Semillon, accounting for 21 hectares out of the 27. The remaining is a mix of Sauvignon Blanc of 2 hectares, Sauvignon Gris on 2.5 hectares and Muscadelle on the remaining 1.5 hectares.

For many years the vines are propagated from their own vineyards and some neighbors, and only since 1976 did they purchase grafted vines. Harvest is manual, with a number of tries, usually four to eight times, to select the botrytised berries, using over 40 pickers. The fruit is then transported to the chai, followed by sorting and pressing using pneumatic equipment, with the juice running off for overnight debourbage before fermentation.

Cultured yeast is used to ensure fermentation is carried out in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats, then they are decanted into oak barrels of which 60% are new. The fermentation will continue for three to four weeks, and once the desired level of alcohol has been attained, the process is brought to a halt by cooling down to zero degree Celsius, without the addition of sulphur.

The works are now overseen by Frederic Deyres, the technical manager, and Herve Romat, the oenologist. Elevage follows, with up to 18 months in wood, and the wines are tasted before final assemblage. The grand vin is Chateau Doisy-Vedrines with about 3000 cases per annum, and a second wine La Petite Vedrines also of similar production volume. A dry white is produced, in very small quantity, called Chevalier de Vedrines.

I have recently tasted the 2003 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it is of medium intensity gold color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, with pronounced intensity of citrus fruit such as lemon and orange marmalade, maturity notes of honey, stone fruit of apricot, dried fruit of sultana, kernel notes of walnut, oak notes of coconut, sweet spice of nutmeg. The wine is developing.

Palate

Sweet, with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium (+) alcohol and full body, with medium (+) intensity of citrus fruit such as orange marmalade, tropical fruit of pineapple, stone fruit of apricot, maturity notes of honey, oak notes of coconut. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Sauternes with an amazing nose, showing both extreme intensity and good complexity, the wine is balanced, with refreshing acidity supporting the sweetness, making the wine not cloying at all. The palate is equally intense and amazing, with a fairly long finish. A typical showcase of why the Sauternes is one of the best dessert wines in the world. Ready to drink now, the wine has the potential to further age for another 8-10 years.