Clarendelle Amberwine

(2006) Clarendelle's 50cl bottle of 'Amberwine' is very attractively presented in a cream-coloured cardboard tube, and is a blend of late-harvest and Botrytis grapes from the Monbazillac region, a very traditional blend of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. It has a pale yellow colour (which will become increasingly amber with cellaring), and an immediately alluring nose of dried apricots, marmalade and honey. There is a gentle, floral character too, and a hint of beeswax. On the palate it has lovely verve and freshness, with plenty of rich, opulent pineapple and nectarine fruit nicely balanced by a sense of mineral acidity. This is a very seamless wine, with a long finish, that is already delicious but will cellar for a decade or more.

From the sweet white appellation of the Bergerac region, this is a full, botrytis-dominated wine, opulent, layered with dryness to balance the citrus and honey flavors. Maybe without complexity, but certainly with all the right botrytis wine characters.