Château Suduiraut, 1er Cru Classé, Sauternes,

Amber in colour, with tropical fruits of passion fruit and mango on the opening beats, clear depth of flavour and contrast provided by orange peel and aniseed bitterness, low acidity. Luscious, silky, powerful, enjoyable. Pierre Montégut technical director, 7hl/h yields, 70% new barrels 30% from barrels of one vintage.

The 2022 Suduiraut, 100% Semillon with 190 g/l residual sugar, is pale to medium lemon-straw in color. The nose is not at all shy, bounding from the glass with exuberant notes of peach preserves, orange marmalade, lime blossoms, and candied ginger, giving way to suggestions of spice cake and honeycomb with a waft of toasted almonds. The big, rich, full-on decadent palate delivers profound stone and tropical fruit layers with compelling tension and texture, finishing very long and hedonically alluring.

The 2022 Suduiraut comes from a quick and late harvest in October (three tries between 17 and 27 October with some passerillé grapes in September). Bunches were affected by botrytis but did not concentrate, at least not until a period of wind and warmth. Wild honey, quince and touches of marmalade on the nose, this opens nicely in the glass. The palate is pure and viscous in texture, with marmalade, again, and dried honey. Very open and approachable on the finish. Not profound, but quite delicious. Christian Seely said he drank this for breakfast the previous day - why not?