Lafaurie Peyraguey 2010

The Lafaurie-Peyraguey 2010 is a little more backward on the nose compared to its peers, with tightly wound scents of dried honey, tropical fruit quince and melted butter. The oak is well integrated. The palate is well-balanced on the entry, the viscous fruit neatly offset by the crisp line of acidity that keeps the finish taut and linear. This is a stylish Sauternes full of breeding and class. Perhaps it has wider appeal than its peers and it serves as a perfect introduction to the Sauternes vintage.

Pale to medium lemon-gold color, the 2010 Lafaurie-Peyraguey dishes up fragrant notes of jasmine, musk perfume, spiced pears and apple tart with nuances of honeycomb and praline plus a waft of chalk dust. The full-on decadent palate possesses impressive tension with loads of spicy sparks and a mineral-laced finish. Lookin' good right now and should cellar a further 12-14 years. Drink 2020-2034.

Very deep gold. Quite good intensity and muscularity. A bit brûlée and dense and chewy. Polished and muscular. Mid to heavy weight and with lots and lots of sugar! Just not an awful lot of subtlety. RS 125 g/l, TA 4 g/l. 13.62%

In the 1855 classification this First Growth was ranked in third place behind Yquem and La Tour Blanche. The 2010 has plenty of oily rich fruit with a finish that rolls on and on. The creamy fruit has great power and ripe exotic fruits. It is a big wine that could turn out to be more powerful and complex than on this showing if it retains the balance.

The nose is surprisingly light fragrant but lacking a bit of depth. Sweeter fruit gives flesh on the mid palate but the citric freshness is there tending to lighten the finish.

Very rich and pure aromas, mix of agrumes and white fruits, delicious balance, slightly less precise sample than Clos Haut Peyraguey, but very similar in overall balance and texture. Great future. Drink 2020-2050.