Sauternes: A fresh debate

What determines freshness in Sauternes? Is it down to terroir? Vintage perhaps? Or maybe it’s the winemaker’s influence? James Lawther MW considers the relative impact of each of these factors…

James Lawther MW June 16, 2019

Credit: GEORGES GOBET / Contributor / Getty

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My first Sauternes love was Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1983. I was so enamoured with its vibrancy and citrus and tropical fruit fragrance that I bought two cases for what today seems a very derisory price.