Pale yellow. The nose has hints of vanilla and botrytis – neither over-powering but it doesn’t give the impression that the wine will be a whirlwind of energy. As a complete contrast the acidity and, hence, the overall impression this wine delivers is quite ’2008′; fresh, some minerality but also still a depth of rich, faintly vanilla-inflected flavour. This is a very, very successful wine for the vintage – it’s so good in-fact, I could even be tempted to buy more, even though there was only one barrel! Yum!

One of the rarer bottlings by JCBoisset winemaker Gregory Patriat – a single barrel, 295 bottles. Pale lemon yellow. A nose of creamy oak and bright pineapple fruit that slowly fades. Well textured and with perfect acidity. The flavours are ripe – not too much so – and tasty, but far from simple, I even imageine (perhaps) a little aniseed and coconut. Slowly fades. A super wine, and a fine buy.