Best Sauternes and Barsac 2020 wines tasted en primeur

Aniseed, liquorice, focus, flesh and precision and once again this is hard to fault. It has a silky, seductive, fleshy texture that widens out at first, then the whole thing abruptly pulls together into a tight bundle of steel and spliced lime juice. Incredible that they can achieve this with a tiny 3hl/ha yield (chosen for Fargues, from 6hl/ha overall) from a harvest that took place on October 19, 21 and 22. This will now undergo a 30 months barrel ageing. If all Sauternes was this good, there would not be an issue with convincing wine drinkers to open bottles.

Full of pleasure, silky and richly textured, easy to sink into but carefully measured at the same time, addings its layers of orange peel, bloody orange, white pepper spice and truffle slowly but surely as it inches through the palate. Tiny floral notes accompany the saline minerality on the finish. Almost no botrytis in September, and then when the weather deteriorated at the end of September things really became a bit worrying. But they were able to hold on until October 19 (after stopping at the end of September, I imagine needing nerves of steel). Yields of around 8hl/ha. 3,000 cases of Suduiraut. 137g/l of residual sugar. A great example of what botrytis does - the pH is at 4, so the freshness comes from the bitterness of botrytis not high acidities.

Rich and powerful, this is a seductive Barsac that has a great balance of acidity and sweetness, nothing too over the top, full of lime zest and mandarin, with tongue-licking slate on the finish. Great stuff, extremely well balanced. A yield of 16hl/ha. 10 months in barrel for ageing followed by nine months in stainless steel.

Burnt amber colour. There is a lot of intensity to this wine, a ton of orange zest, powerful truffle and apricot purée flavours and spliced citrus. A yield of 7hl/ha. 1/3 new oak ageing for 12 months; then in stainless steel for nine months. Tasted three times.

Powerful fleshy exotic fruits - the juice comes in from the first moment and doesn't let up, ensuring the apricot and mango fruits are shot straight through the core of steel. A brilliant showcase of what the soils of Barsac can do. A yield of 11hl/ha, 18 months in barrel. Tasted twice.

Bright, yellow gold colour, with citrus, apricot, pineapple and a ton of mango fruits on the palate. Silky texture with spikes of lime juice bringing pep and definition. Saffron and white pepper add even more lift through the finish, this is excellent and easy to recommend.

This is hugely appealing. Fleshy and exotic, with saffron and cinnamon, luscious and rich in a way that is a little atypical for the signature of Guiraud - you feel the concentration of the vintage, although the necessary lift on the finish comes in through white pepper spice, fennel, white pear and passion fruit. 2020 is the 10th vintage to be certified as organic. A yield of 8.3hl/ha, fermented and aged in 90% new oak.

This has bitter almond on the edges and an attractive blood orange feel overall. They have done a great job of finding focus and precision in this challenging vintage. A yield of 6.5hl/ha.

Tarte tatin and baked nectarine flavours, this is concentrated and powerful, with plenty of truffle, saffron and cinnamon, and a zest-filled mouthwatering finish. The concentration means thing power down a little through the mid palate, but this is a luscious wine.

Attractive, extremely silky and fleshy with deep apricot and nectarine. Has plenty of bright fresh fruits, intense and powerful. A yield of 6hl/ha, 30% new oak. Owner Bernard Magrez.

This was still on the lees when tasted, but full of super attractive orange zest and saffron flavours, plenty of depth and concentration, as you would expect with the tiny 1.8hl/ha yields. In conversion to organic farming. New oak barrels for the Sémillon, stainless steel vats for Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle.

Deep, burnished gold in colour. Bright and clean on the attack, this is good quality, with lemon zest flavours and silky in texture overall. A little flat on the finish. A yield of 16hl/ha.

Dark gold in colour, with excellent bitter orange peel, clementines and grapefruit dominating the palate. Residual sugar 137 g/l. TA 3.85 g/l. 3.78pH.