Domaine Cauhapé Jurançon Quintessence du Petit Manseng / 2010 / 375mL

Description:

The Domaine Cauhapé Quintessence du Petit Manseng 2010 is a deeply concentrated sweet white from Jurançon in South-West France, made from Petit Manseng left on the vine until December. Fifteen years on, it is golden, unctuous and driven as much by acidity as by sugar.

Dried apricot and candied pineapple lead, with quince paste, beeswax and orange marmalade behind them. Time in bottle has layered in caramel, vanilla and a faint saline edge, while the fruit still smells fresh rather than tired.

Petit Manseng's naturally high acidity is what makes this wine work: the palate is rich and viscous, but the line of acid cuts straight through the sweetness and keeps the whole thing taut. Two years in new barriques has left a savoury spice and toast underneath, and the finish runs long, sticky and faintly bitter in the way good botrytised and passerillé wines often do.

Serve it well chilled with Roquefort or a washed-rind cheese, or with foie gras if you are going the traditional route. It also stands up to tarte tatin, crème brûlée and anything involving poached stone fruit, and a small glass alongside a mature blue is arguably the best use of it.

The 375mL format matters here. A half bottle evolves faster than a 750mL, so this 2010 is showing its tertiary side now and is drinking beautifully through to around 2030 — and it is the right size for two people finishing a meal rather than committing to a full bottle of something this intense.