AJ | I should say before tasting how much we appreciate the fact that Suduiraut, which had a yield of 1 hl/ha in 2021, was kind enough to send us this sample. Thank you, too, to all the staff of Suduiraut, top to bottom, who never gave up on this most exasperating and exhausting of vintages. You tried, you persisted, you succeeded. We'll try to do it justice. A relatively deep gold for this early stage of life, with heady, captivating aromas more botrytis-laden than I ever recall: lavish thickness and richness, lusciousness and mushroomy tang, umami and warm, cream-lavished skin-of-the-beloved. The honeyed fruit is down there somewhere, but buried beneath that great shawl of copious rich things, intensified by lees ageing and the voluptuousness of new oak itself (never better used in Bordeaux than for Sauternes), A glorious nose and surprisingly harmonious for this stage of its life. Gosh: monumental. Thunderous sugars; a colossal weight on the tongue. Great power and drive. It has acidity (some, but less than the impressively lively and athletic La Tour Blanche, or perhaps as much but more densely buried in sugars); all the complexity is coming from the botrytis complexities and the structural engineering wrought by its vinification and elevage, which add splendid layers to this grand chariot of stupendous sweet fruit. I am lucky enough to taste Suduiraut regularly and this will certainly become a rare collector's item in the panoply of vintages; very few have density and power of this order. It is super-young and I can only speculate on all the complexities that will accrue in the years ahead; I just count myself lucky to have tasted it once in my life. Over to you, young collectors. Drink Dates: 2027 - 2055. 98