2005 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes (half bottle) (Pre-Arrival)

Ooh la la. From the generous aromas redolent of ripe peaches, sweet pears, honey, hints of caramel and blood oranges to its rich, oily, luxuriant texture and complex hints of botrytis that show up from first sniff to lasting aftertaste, this scrumptious bottling represents a first rate achievement by any measure. It is rich, genuinely layered and even a bit more advanced than the others, and while it is likely to last for two decades and more, it might come into perfection somewhat before the other highly concentrated bottlings.

Medium yellow-gold. Incredibly sweet aromas of apricot, acacia honey and marzipan. Supersweet, round and fat, but with enough ripe acidity to leaven the wine's huge impression of volume. A powerfully fruit-driven Sauternes with superb depth, but it's almost too rich today. Finishes with palate-staining sweetness and length and surprisingly fresh acidity . I'd give this 15 years in the cellar. This is carrying a high 165 grams per liter of residual sugar, and the percentage of new oak was raised from a normal 35% to 65% for this vintage, and yet the wine does not come across as woody.