Usually get to posting notes on this region in the way you usually arrive at the wines, but I’ve shunted this region up the batting order for two reasons. Firstly, Sauternes and Barsac have made some of the most thrilling wines of the 2011 vintage, red or white. Secondly, it seems a bit unfair that they should always trail the reds, especially so in this vintage. Sauternes and Barsac are always appealing young, particularly during a week of tasting tannic, sappy reds, but defining their exact scale and grandeur feels tricky to me. Not this year. 2011 Sauternes is clearly in the same league as 2010 and 2009. It may even be the best year the region has had since 2001.

Overall 2010 not as rich and sweet in feeling as 2009 but there seems more elegance here and maybe it is bit more akin to 2007 but with more strength. The best wines had great balancing acidity which makes them extremely fresh. I’d also imagine that the wines will be pretty long-lived. The wines are listed below in terms of how I’ve marked them. Chateau d’Yquem and Chateau Climens are the important exceptions here and were not tasted.

2009 is a wonderful vintage for Sauternes and Barsac. It is not that common that the conditions for a great red wine year provide the same conditions for a great sweet wine year but this does look to be the case in this vintage. Although it is early days the wines in general have a wonderful delicacy and balance and the warm year produced ripe fruit, high in flavour and with high potential alcohol.