A Wee Australian Sweetie

Ha! Gotcha.

(Sorry. just trying to bring more traffic here by sucking in the Kylie fans. My bad. But hey!, now that you're here, stay for a bit. The Dots are very restful)

I've had some delightful Sweet Wine Saturdays, but this time SmallFierceGlasses had the genius idea of Sweet Wine SundayMonday: tasting de Bortoli Noble One Botrytised Semillon (02001, cork) over two days, to see how it evolves with a touch of air.

We were a little concerned about the colour of the wine - as a dark as a well-sherried malt whisky - but the first sniff chased that concern away like a gentle spring breeze clearing out the chilly remnants of winter.

Fresh and leafy, and somehow the air in my glass was cleaner than the surrounding air, with perhaps a touch of salt, as if there were ozone or sea air to it. Then marmalade, and later, a hint of soy or five spice powder. Lovely!

The palate was crisp lime marmalade, with a buttery feel. The finish was very, very sticky. An excellent 4++.

Day two was where it really got interesting. The nose now had added a very fleeting floral perfume, and perhaps a wee earthy note, but as to the palate and mouthfeel...

Ka-Wow...

If you could shrink-wrap a lime around a gooseberry, spray it with barley sugar crystals and then make it spin on the back of your tongue, you would get a notion of what the Little Genie in the Bottle was doing to me with this wine. Rarely have I tasted a wine which seemed so alive, tingling, moving. It didn't last long, perhaps only half a minute or so, but this is what the whole blooming wine thing is all about, these moments of pure sensory pleasure.

Re-reading this post, I'd be inclined to rate the wine as a 5, but my tasting notes say 4-5. Probably just churlishness.