2005 Chateau de Fargues Sauternes

We have been familiar with this property for some four decades, and it continues to deliver more hidden value than just about any other producer around. Ownership must have something to do with it because it belongs to the Lur Saluce family whose stewardship of Chateau D'Yquem for centuries has brought them well-deserved fame. DeFargues is newer stuff. It was first given over to the making of Sauternes in 1943 and is still in the process of development with new acreage about to be planted on the estate. There has been, as long as we have known the wine, a bit of a family tie to D'Yquem in the level of concentration achieved in the vineyard and the richness and complexity of the finished wine. The 2005 version is nothing short of brilliant and will stand as one of the best wines made in the entire appellation.

Medium yellow. Exotic, high-toned apricot, spices and flowers on the nose, complemented by coconutty, toasty oak. Very sweet and unctuous, with exotic, nobly rotten flavors of pineapple, apricot and coconut and an impression of elevated alcohol. Not quite as racy, fruity or structured as the 2007; conveys an impression of softer acidity, and yet this maintains a light touch. Finishes with suggestions of vanilla and marzipan.