From a "quintessential Chenin Blanc year" (Michael Broadbent), the luminously orange-golden 1989 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux Première Trie displays a beautifully clear and intense yet not loud, nobly elegant and perfectly balanced raisin fruit with precise aromas of dried apricots and ripe peaches intertwined with subtly spicy, mineral and chalky notes on the nose. Sweet and superbly harmonious on the highly elegant, silky textured and well concentrated palate, this full-bodied, gorgeously fruit-concentrated and animated Chenin from the first picking of dried berries has a perfect, sensual flow and reveals an incredible generosity, finesse and delicacy. This is a gorgeously balanced sweet wine with an intriguing concentration of fruit and finesse. Great to drink on its own for a lifetime or with foie gras or lobster. According to Noël Pinguet, there was no botrytis in 1989, "the berries were dried on the vines in a vintage that is the best I have ever made and stands alongside with 1947." (145 EUR; 240 GBP for the Magnum)

Ideal vintage – as good as 1947. Hot but light rain each month. Intense copper colour. Lovely ripe almond-milk notes, really low acid but very fresh. Lovely sweetness and toast underneath. You can see a little relation with Jurançon here and its passerillage. Still amazingly youthful. Much simpler than the 1959 for example. (JR)