2005 de Fargues, Sauternes (375ml)

SKU #1046920 96 points Connoisseurs Guide

We have been familiar with this property for some four decades, and it continues to deliver more hidden value than just about any other producer around. Ownership must have something to do with it because it belongs to the Lur Saluce family whose stewardship of Chateau D'Yquem for centuries has brought them well-deserved fame. DeFargues is newer stuff. It was first given over to the making of Sauternes in 1943 and is still in the process of development with new acreage about to be planted on the estate. There has been, as long as we have known the wine, a bit of a family tie to D'Yquem in the level of concentration achieved in the vineyard and the richness and complexity of the finished wine. The 2005 version is nothing short of brilliant and will stand as one of the best wines made in the entire appellation. *Three Stars* (5/2008)

96 points Jane Anson

A dry year, with a 40% water deficit between the 2004 harvest the 2005 vintage, giving very different aromatics from most in this vertical. Still replete with the flavours and aromatics of a young wine, you find juicy fresh apricots, pineapple, citrus, lemon curd, ginger, spiced nuts. Tasted both at the estate and within the same week also in Singapore at a Sauternes brunch held at 67 Pall Mall, both times delivering an accomplished mix of power and precision. During the winemaking, they included a few grapes that were shrivelled from the heat alongside those affected by noble rot, to ensure there was enough bitterness in the aromatic palate, and this is gourmet, luxurious, impressive. Harvest September 27 through to October 27, an exact month. François Amirault winemaker. (5/2022)

96 points The Wine Independent

The 2005 de Fargues is medium to deep straw-gold in color. It rolls out with ready-to-go notes of honey toast, peach preserves, pineapple paste, and orange marmalade with touches of walnut cake and burnt sugar. Rich and unctuous, the palate has a lively line to lift the dense, spicy fruit to a long finish. (7/2022)

96 points Wine Spectator

This is so creamy, almost milky in feel, with toasted coconut and cashew notes giving way to sweet peach, apricot and glazed pear flavors that glide along, while ginger, green tea, lychee and kumquat flavors extend through the finish. Shows terrific range and definition. Feels like it's just starting to open, and is in no rush. (JM) (3/2012)

95 points Wine Advocate

Tasted blind at the 10-Year On Tasting in Sauternes. The 2005 Château de Fargues has a rich and intense bouquet with layers of honey, dried peach, beeswax and acacia that soar from the glass. The palate is powerful and authoritative: intense botrytis-rich honeyed fruit with compelling mineralité underneath. It fans out in glorious fashion -- a stunning de Fargues that is now beginning to show its talents. As I remarked a couple of years ago, just afford it a couple more years so that it can fully absorb the vestiges of oak. (NM) (6/2015)

93 points Decanter

The nose is sumptuous but still conspicuously oaky, though the oak doesn’t suppress the lovely apricot fruit. Indeed it confers aromatic elegance. Very sweet and intense on the palate, this is creamy and concentrated, with excellent purity of fruit, but a lively acidity, which gives the wine its finesse. Well balanced. (SB) (4/2021)

92 points Int'l Wine Cellar

Medium yellow. Exotic, high-toned apricot, spices and flowers on the nose, complemented by coconutty, toasty oak. Very sweet and unctuous, with exotic, nobly rotten flavors of pineapple, apricot and coconut and an impression of elevated alcohol. Not quite as racy, fruity or structured as the 2007; conveys an impression of softer acidity, and yet this maintains a light touch. Finishes with suggestions of vanilla and marzipan. (ST) (7/2008)

92 points Wine & Spirits

No tasting notes published. (10/2008)

Jancis Robinson

Demerara and caramel with apricot, crystallised pineapple and saffron – such sheer pleasure. Sleek and succulent and bursting with exquisite richness, underlined with perfect acidity. 17.5/20 points (RH) (5/2022)