2005 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes, Bordeaux

2005 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Product: 20058122962
 
2005 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes, Bordeaux

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Description

The 2005 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey offer apricot, fig jam and touch of almond on the focused bouquet, grilled walnut coming through later. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity, quite structured and almost austere in comparison with other vintages. There is good tension here, vibrant and citric with impressive mineralit towards the finish. This has great potential.
Neal Martin - 30/12/2014

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate91/100
The 2005 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey offer apricot, fig jam and touch of almond on the focused bouquet, grilled walnut coming through later. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity, quite structured and almost austere in comparison with other vintages. There is good tension here, vibrant and citric with impressive mineralit towards the finish. This has great potential.
Neal Martin - 30/12/2014 Read more
Wine Spectator92/100
Lots of dried fruits with hints of honey and spices. Full and rich with a thick, sweet, dense palate. Long, refined finish. Not the 2001, but excellent. James Suckling - Wine Spectator Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey is a property with a long history and a château that dates back to the 13th century. This 1er Cru Classé property had a very high reputation during the 19th century and was rated third behind La Tour Blanche and d`Yquem in the 1855 classification.

Lafaurie-Peyraguey is located in the commune of Bommes and its 40 hectares of vineyards are planted with 90% Sémillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Muscadelle.

Lafaurie-Peyraguey was bought by the Cordier family in 1917 and produced rather monolithic and bland wines until the late 1970s when Michel Laporet was appointed as administrator. He severely restricted the yields, introduced more rigorous selection procedures at harvest time and initiated fermentation and maturation in oak casks.

Lafaurie-Peyraguey is now unquestionably one of the top half-dozen estates in Sauternes. It is now no longer owned by the Cordier family but has passed into the hands of the Société Foncier des Domaines Cordier, which also owns Château Meyney in St-Estèphe and Clos des Jacobins in St-Emilion.

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Sauternes

Sauternes

Sauternes is where arguably the world's finest sweet white wines are produced. The Sauternes appellation actually consists of five communes: Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, Fargues and Sauternes itself. Barsac is also an appellation in its own right.

Sauternes literally has an atmosphere different from any of the other major communes. At the southern tip of the Graves,close to the Garonne, not only is the land hillier and decidedly more bucolic but it also enjoys a specific mesoclimate of evening autumn mists which linger until well into the following day, unless burnt off by warm sunshine.

The mists are caused by the cool, spring-fed waters of the Ciron River meeting the warmer tidal Garonne, and the result is an ideal environment for the growth of the mould botrytis cinerea. When its arrival is felicitous, it feeds on the water in the ripe grapes, dehydrating them and leaving sweet, shriveled fruit.

Other regions in Bordeaux (ie Cadillac, Loupiac) produce wines in a similar style from the same method, but none achieve the profundity and complexity of Sauternes.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. D'Yquem, Ch. Climens (Barsac), Ch. Suduiraut, Ch. Rieussec,  Sigalas- Rabaud, Ch. Coutet (Barsac), Ch. de Fargues, Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Ch. Doisy-Védrines (Barsac), Chateau Partarrieu, La Tour Blanche

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Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

The blend used for White Graves and Sauternes and rarely encountered outside France. In the great dry whites of Graves, Sauvignon Blanc tends to predominate in the blend, although properties such as Smith Haut Lafite use 100% Sauvignon Blanc while others such as Laville Haut Brion have as much as 60% Sémillon in their final blends. Sauvignon Blanc wines can lose their freshness and fruit after a couple of years in bottle - if blended with Sémillon, then the latter bolsters the wine when the initial fruit from the Sauvignon fades. Ultimately Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its aroma and raciness while Sémillon gives it backbone and longevity.

In Sauternes, Sémillon is dominant, with Sauvignon Blanc playing a supporting role - it is generally harvested about 10 days before Sémillon and the botrytis concentrates its sweetness and dampens Sauvignon Blanc`s naturally pungent aroma. It contributes acidity, zip and freshness to Sauternes and is an important component of the blend.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.