Chappellet 1998 Molleux

Chappellet 1998 Molleux, Napa Valley ($42/375 ml bottle). California produces a number of surprisingly good dessert wines, but few this exceptional. Made from old-vine chenin blanc, the Molleux is as good as any dessert wine you`ll find in Vouvray, the French home of this underappreciated grape variety. At Chappellet the Molleux is hand picked, using only grapes that have been infected with the botrytis mold, which the French call "noble rot." This concentrated white dessert wine is complex and dazzling. Rating: 96.

Author: Robert Whitley