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Wine Description
The Story
The Sauternes produced by Château de Fargues is the result of outstanding gifts of nature and the motivation – one might even say the stubbornness – of a family devoted to fine wine, and an attentive, enthusiastic winemaking team.
It takes four years to produce wine at Fargues, and work is constantly being done simultaneously on four vintages at any one time.
This is how the refinement and delicious taste sensations are procured at Château de Fargues.
Its myriad aromas wake up the senses and coat the palate with a host of sensations.
At Château de Fargues, the focus on quality starts out in the vineyard, with the drainage and planting of young vines, and continues up until bottling in the château cellars. The team at Fargues does everything in their power to obtain the best quality juice.
Production is small because of the extraordinarily demanding criteria – that go so far as to reject an entire crop if it is not up to scratch. The château refuses to bottle any wine that is not worthy of its name. That is why there was no Château de Fargues whatsoever in certain years such as 1972, 1974, and 1992. This means coming to grips with the fact that in some years the magic just doesn’t work.
Exceptional conditions cannot be repeated every vintage, and it is all to the château’s credit that they accept to take such a radical and courageous step. The estate accepts on principle the idea of working in the vineyard for an entire year without a single bottle of wine being entitled to the Château de Fargues name…
“Noch” – “More” – is the family motto.
The small winemaking team at Fargues is tightly knit, works together well, and is totally devoted to the goal of making great wine.
Training and passing on traditional skills is essential. Every worker is versatile, able to work in the vineyard or the cellar, planting vines or bottling wine, topping up and racking wine or looking after the Bazas cattle, or even helping in the wheat fields… The aim on all fronts is to produce the best possible quality. Everyone has a great deal of respect for nature, and works closely with their colleagues. This sort of relationship is essential in vineyard management.
Wine Information
The 2001 vintage
Weather during the growing season
A mild, wet winter developed into a very wet spring, with constant showers until late April.
Bud burst took place later than usual, after which it stopped raining.
The vines flowered during the first ten days of June. July weather was cold and terrible.
However, the wisdom of the age-old saying "août fait le moût" ("August makes the wine") became apparent. The heat returned and there were intermittent showers between August 15th and the end of the month. September was cold and dry, which enabled the grapes to ripen slowlyand maintain a healthy acidity.
Some rain in late September followed by a significant increase in temperature brought on noble rot.
The Wine
Fermented and aged in barrel for three years.
Production : less than 20,000 bottles
Alcohol: 13.9%
Sugar : 132 g/l
Acidity: 4.90 g/l
Harvests
The first wave of picking, from September 29th to October 4th, produced grapes of remarkable purity, but only satisfactory concentration. Fortunately, an Indian summer then set in.
In light of the unpredictable weather, pickers went out for one wave after another in mid-October.
The juice became richer and more concentrated with each passing day.
It rained on Saint Luke's day (October 18th), which gave rise to a new burst to botrytis in the last unharvested grapes. A final wave of picking took place on October 24th. The grapes from this vintage were concentrated, complex, varied, and pure, with delicious flavours.
It was soon obvious that we had an extremely successful vintage on our hands.
Tasting notes
Beautiful, brilliant straw-yellow colour. Wonderful complex bouquet of very ripe fruit, apricot jam, and vanilla followed by hints of honey, dried apricot, almond, citrus zest, and that touch of minera freshness typical of Château de Fargues. Starts out very round and full on the palate.
Perfectly opulent and elegant without any heaviness. The acidity balances out the rich sweetness and gives the wine depth, and an endlessly long aftertaste. Everything you would hope for in a great Sauternes is there ? and then some ! As the bouquet leads one to expect, this wine is remarkably complex on the palate. Delicious fruit flavours as well as candied fruit, candied citrus peel, and botrytis fill the mouth, with just the right touch of lemon and spice.
This vintage is the perfect blend of complexity (1997), power (1990 or 1989), and elegance (1988) of Château de Fargues.
This is truly a great wine with tremendous ageing potential !