Robert Parker's Wine Advocate : Tasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Clos Haut Peyraguey was the one slight disappointment. Like the superior Rabaud-Promis it sports a Germanic bouquet, hints of kerosene infusing the honeyed fruit, perhaps with time erring towards an Alsatian Vendange Tardive. The palate is medium-bodied with a viscous entry and finally returning to what you might call a typical Sauternes. It is certainly well balanced, even if the oak still needs a year or two two be fully subsumed. Yet there is a sense of conservatism, refusing to offer more complexity or depth on the finish that prefers to play it safe. Commercially savvy Sauternes? Most certainly, but not one that sets the pulse racing. I would like to revisit this with another couple of years in bottle.
