Domaine Boudau Rivesaltes sur Grains 2002, A.C. Rivesaltes Vin Doux Naturel .

Colour: deep, dark, purple.
Nose: quite expressive, but not yet fully developed, warm, sweet, with raisiny fruit, spices, mineral, elegant, complex, some vanillin, a bit port like, some earthy nuances, refined with many nuances.
Taste: full-bodied, sweet, but elegant and with loads of complex and refined fruit, very deep and with excellent balance: strong core of aroma's, beautiful tannins and fine acidity that matches perfectly with the sweetness.  Not heavy, too sweet or over alcoholic, but impressively well knitted together with great refinement and grace.
Finish: very long, intense, sweet, with spices, red, raisiny fruit, silky, well embedded, spicy tannins, with a lot of elegance, very classy.

* An excellent sweet red wine, made of 100% Grenache grapes, fortified, thus with natural unfermented sweetness of the grapes. In the same style as a good Vintage Port, but not as strong and heavy, but much more elegant and refined.  The perfect balance, the great refinement and the multi layered aroma's in this wine makes it so special.

- Drink from now on, will develop more complexity (especially in the nose) and will keep for at least 5 - 10 years. Will gradually change into a less fruity, more earthy and spicy style of wine.

- 2002, a difficult year in the south of France yielded very variable wines. This producer succeeded in producing really stunning wines in that difficult vintage, great skill, determination and severe selections resulted in wines that are not so strong and powerful as from "normal" years but with greater elegance and more refinement with the same impressive depth of clean and complex, "mineral" fruit. Not yet discovered top class producer of Roussillon wines, not cheap, but in comparison with Ports of the same quality a real bargain.

- lotnr.: L 526967174

- tasted: 07-06-’04

- estimated retail price ca. 12 euro

- average production: 10.000 bottles

- Domaine Boudau (Véronique & Pierre Boudau), 6, Rue Marceau, 66600 Rivesaltes, France, tel.: + 33-468644537, fax.: + 33-468644626, e-mail: les.vignobles.boudau@wanadoo.fr, web site: www.domaineboudau.fr