A powerful Sauternes, with tiers of toasted coconut, ginger cream, wheat biscuit and warm brioche rising up out of the core of incredibly lush mango, papaya and orange chiffon flavors. The long finish lets bergamot, persimmon and spice notes fill in, with a flash of green tea echoing through the finish to lend a racy counterpoint to the overall heft. Best from 2018 through 2040.

95-97 Barrel sample. Ripe and sweet, initially very much a wine on the surface, but then one that offers an impressive density of botrytis, sweet apricots and complex biting honey.

Coming in at 140-grams-per-liter residual sugar, the 2009 de Fargues was picked from September 28 over three tries until October 19, a day before heavy showers curtailed the vintages. It seems to have gone into its shell since I last tasted it. It opens gradually with subtle notes of dried honey, lanolin, just a touch of chlorophyll and stem ginger. The palate is gorgeous: super fine tannins here, wonderful minerality and tension with a sense of everything being in its right place. It is not a powerful de Fargues - in fact, this is understated for the vintage. However, it will have great complexity and is worth cellaring for a couple of decades. Tasted April 2013.