x
  • Country ranking ?

    1 054
  • Producer ranking ?

    13
  • Decanting time

    -
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Salads

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The Story

Raymond-Lafon is a name to watch in the Sauternes district, particularly if one is looking for a wine that is close to the brilliance and majestic richness of Yquem for less than one-third the price.

This small estate abuts Yquem's vineyard and has had an excellent reputation. The 1921 Raymond-Lafon was considered even better than Yquem's wine in that great vintage. I have never tasted the 1921 Raymond-Lafon, but the single greatest Sauternes I have ever drunk was the Yquem of that vintage.

However, the estate of Raymond-Lafon fell into neglect, and it was not until 1972 that Pierre Meslier, the manager of Yquem, purchased this vineyard and began to rebuild this wine's once fabulous reputation.

With a tiny yield of 9 hectoliters per hectare (even less than Yquem's), with the same grape blend and winemaking techniques employed as Yquem, and with the same ruthless selection procedure (normally 20% - 100% of a harvest is declassified), Raymond-Lafon has already produced a succession of splendid Sauternes, beginning with a great 1975 and just recently concluding with a monumental 1990.

Raymond-Lafon looks to be well on the road to becoming one of the great classic wines of Sauternes. Unfortunately, the wine is extremely difficult to find because of the tiny production and the fact that proprietor Pierre Meslier sells much of it to private clients in Europe. One must wonder why this vineyard, situated next to Yquem and surrounded by all the Premiers Crus Classés of Sauternes, was overlooked in the 1855 classification.

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Vintage 2020

In Bordeaux, the heat resulted in early flowering. Also, this led to an early harvest after a very hot summer. As a starting point, there is great maturity in the grapes, and one can expect a more opulent vintage than in the last few years.

The summer this year has been the warmest since 1959, yet the rain has fallen at the right times during the growing season. The harvest took place two weeks before the norm and will yield grapes with high potential alcohol and the lowest acidity since the 2003 vintage. As they say in Bordeaux: "It has been a good and extreme growing season which hopefully also produces great wines".

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Latest Pro-tasting notes

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Written Notes

Raymond Lafon is a very stylish wine with a botrytized aroma of sweet pineapple, guava and mango, rich, elegant, excellent acidity, sophisticated touch, and long finish. Impressive performance from this consistent property. 95p.

 

  • 95p

Cask sample taken in a half-bottle 12 April. 
Deep coppery gold. Lively, vegy nose but not as concentrated and focused as some vintages. But superior and classic with an appetising lightly sour note on the finish after lots of clean sweetness. Still a little chewy.

  • 88p

Intense golden colour. Very refined nose with clean botrytis, ripe apricots, peach jam, candied orange peel, Cassata Siciliana, honey and white nougat, vanilla and gingerbread spices. On the palate well structured with rich sweetness balanced by fine acidity, dried apricots, juicy peaches and refined mild spices. A great Sauternes with excellent balance, depth and length. 

  • 95p
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Information

Origin

Sauternes, Bordeaux

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