Ch Rayne Vigneau Sauternes 2009

Rayne Vigneau’s vineyard lies on a splendid gravel mound, overlooking Sauternes near the village of Bommes and forming the third highest point in the area after Yquem. 

The official 1855 classification recognized Vigneau among the top wines of Sauternes. In 1867, the well-known wine broker Daney ranked it in first place, immediately after Yquem. 

Staff Note (Richard Marsden)

Sweet dreams are made of this. 

Sauternes is the world’s go-to sweet wine for a reason. And that reason in a word is ‘complexity’. Because of the way Sauternes is made, you get this incredible explosion of fruit flavours: everything from honeyed apricots and mango to orange zest, lemon peel and marmalade. 

What that means is that even though Sauternes is a very sweet wine, it should never be cloying. The best examples have loads of purifying acidity to balance out the sugar, so they’re always fresh as well as outrageously fruity in the mouth. And this one, from Rayne Vigneau is one of the very best.

There was a famous classification of hundreds of Bordeaux chateaux in 1855 and Rayne Vigneau was named as one of a handful of ‘First Growths’, second only to the legend that is Chateau d’Yquem.