The Story
Location & History: The Château Doisy-Daëne, Second Classified Growth in 1855, located in Barsac in the Sauternes appellation, is in the Dubourdieu family since 1924. For more than eighty years, three generations of winemakers have worked from father to son to make great sweet wines: Georges (1924-1948), Pierre (1949-1999) and Denis since 2000.
How was this wine born?
The first vintage of the Doisy-Daëne Extravagant is 1990. Pierre Dubourdieu remembers this crazy experience: "My son Denis was wondering what could a Sauvignon noble rot, pushed to the extreme of its concentration; at the time of picking Doisy-Daëne Dry, we left only two clusters per vine on some plots and decided to wait as long as possible. When these grapes were harvested in early November, they were extremely concentrated, completely candied, of a slightly darken color by the Botrytis. The sugar richness was impressive; 36 ° to 40 ° potential alcohol (sugar 612-680 gr/l). The pressing lasted two days.
The Extravagant of Doisy-Daëne was produced according to the same process, in 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003.
The quantities are very limited: 4 barrels in 1990 and 1996, 5 in 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 6 in 2001 and 2002.
Terroir:
The terroir of the Barsac plateau is a singular geological formation in Bordeaux. A thin layer of clay sands "the red sands of the Baracais" covers the limestone subsoil.This slab relatively uncracked rocky limit the depth of rooting of the vine to about 50 cm. the during the summer, the finely porous limestone restores to the vine the water which it has soaked during the winter, avoiding excessive water stress. This type of soil gives white wines finesse exceptional.
