De Bortoli `Deen Vat 5` Botrytis Semillon 2009 (12x375mL half bottle), NSW.

"For the miniscule yields inherent to botrytis, a bargain dessert wine that hasn’t been concocted by freezing or reverse osmosis in the winery is nigh-on unheard of, and this is why Vat 5 is nothing short of remarkable. Baby brother to the iconic Noble One, it’s matured in small portion in oak and spends a surprising number of years maturing prior to release. The result is, not surprisingly, oozing with complexity of honey, marmalade, toffee and toast. There’s a note of onion-like reductive complexity in the background, and a textural, phenolic mouthfeel, neatly balanced by sweetness on a long finish."92 Points - Tyson Stelzer, Wine Taste Weekly, January 2014

"The little sibling of Australia’s most famous dessert wines, the de Bortoli Noble One, this is astounding value for the style, deep golden with wildly lifted ripe apricot smells and some woody herb and spice adding thrust in the palate. Ripe summer fruits go well with it." Tony Love, Herald Sun, Advertiser Adelaide, December 2014

"Vat 5 is a budget-priced intro to this outstanding Riverina style. Sweet citrus, honey and marmalade aromas and flavours, tangy acidity. Top value." 90 -Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, March 2014

"Coming from the Riverina-based De Bortoli family, the acknowledged masters of botrytis dessert wines in Australia, this wine is terrific value. It is gold with amber tints and has scents of mixed peel and bay leaves. Rich, ripe apricot flavour rolls onto the front of the palate and honey comb, mandarin and clove elements chime in on the middle palate. Nutty characters feature at the finish. The botrytis on the label signifies that the wine is made from grapes infected by the parasitic fungus botrytis cinerea, often called noble rot. Botrytis is responsible for the celebrated French sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac and it concentrates the sugar and removes the water from the grape berries." 4.5 Stars - John Lewis, Newcastle Herald, October 2014