The Chateau de Fargues has a gorgeous bouquet that is going to be wondrous after bottling, mineral-rich, tensile honeyed fruit that is less flamboyant than recent vintages and yet amazingly well-focused. The palate has a spicy tincture on the entry, laser-like precision, with a zesty, citrus-driven finish. This is a more delicate, understated Chateau de Fargues, but left alone in the glass over several minutes, it really begins to blossom and gain weight. This should be outstanding after bottling.

The 2013 de Fargues is deep, powerful and intense. Apricot jam, orange marmalade, spices and wild flowers inform a Sauternes built on real resonance and layers of flavor. White flowers, lychee and mango are some of the many notes that linger on the close. The 2013 is quite rich, yet also maintains a gorgeous sense of transparency.

Tasted blind. Unusual and spicy on the nose. Almost an aroma of biscuits with lemon oil. Big and rich and intensely sweet but fresh too. Still very primary and a lot more complexity to come. (JH)

Plentiful lemon aroma, perhaps to the exclusion of complexity on the nose. The palate has a honeyed, marmalade and floral note but the fruit speaks loudest from this mix. (RH)