Chateau de Fargues mini-vertical: 01, 03, 05

Chateau de Fargues is one of my absolute favorite chateau, and I think their wines from the early 2000s are just stunning wines that compete with Yquem and are values despite their high price. I wanted to try the 01, 03, and 05 together in a little mini-vertical.

Unfortunately, the 2003 was flawed, likely heat damaged or oxidized at some point. Luckily, I had tried another half-bottle almost exactly a month ago, so I still have a good idea of what the wine was like. Here is my note from that half:
2003 Fargues (93 pts)
From 375. Coravin 12/7/13: Golden color; nose is intense with fresh tropical fruits, slight pineapple, mango, baking spices, flows well and seems integrated on the nose; full bodied, very balanced, fresh without over-the-top acidity, nice white fruits, some citrus and tart grapefruit that gives the midpalate character, medium sweetness, balanced fruit in the midpalate that gives it a complete feel; finish is medium length. Starting to knit together a bit, but still extraordinarily youthful though the fruit has just started to recede, showing very few signs of secondary maturity. No overly prominent alcohol despite 2003 vintage. An excellent wine, and still one of the top 2003 sauternes that I've had. Let's wait 1 year before trying again from half.
60 minutes air: Just lovely. Great balance, nice acidity, not at all cloying, youthful and enjoyable but also plenty of serious stuffing. Superb. If this improves at all with age, it will be a stunning value.
12/10/13: Still excellent. Has a bit of youthful vanilla and oak on the palate that will be better once it integrates a bit more.

• 2001 Château de Fargues 97 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  From 375.
  Coravin 1/12/14: As before, some significant variation in color in these 01 Fargues halves. This is my last bottle of the darkest group (some medium bottles left), and it is the darkest of this 01/03/05 lineup. Golden-orange color, just a half-shade darker than the 03; complex nose with some citrus, grapefruit, a lift to the nose that comes across as lighter, more minerally, and some secondary notes such as slight copper, some well-integrated spices throughout, slight saffron; palate is full bodied but with freshness and slight minerality, great complexity, strong saffron spice, moderate sweetness but very light on its feet, elegant, persistence of flavors throughout the palate; finish is fresh, complex, and very long. This is a superb world-class sauternes in early maturity, though lacks a bit of the vibrance of the best/lightest 01 Fargues which can be perfect or near-perfect wines. 95-96+
  Update: 1 hour air- The acidity and elegance on this wine is ridiculous. A very enjoyable wine to drink. 96-97++
  Coravin 1/16/14: Nose is the same, maybe a bit more integrated and a bit less intense. Palate is stupendous with vivid acidity and freshness. Extraordinary.
  1/17: Wonderful spicy complexity on the palate. Otherwise similar to prior notes.

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• 2003 Château de Fargues Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  From 375. (This was a gift, not from the same source as my bottles.)
  Coravin 1/12/14: This 03 half is noticeably darker than some of the other 03s that I have, but still a pretty good color, golden-orange; nose comes across as a bit flawed with some oxidation, nuttiness, slight sherry; palate shows sweetness, oxidation, some freshness, a bit bitter towards the midpalate. This is partially flawed/oxidized, unfortunately. No score.
  2/1: Opened the rest, maybe even somewhat more pronounced sherry-like notes on the nose and palate. Although painful to throw this wine away, I'm going to dump the remainder.

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• 2005 Château de Fargues 95 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  From 375.
  Coravin 1/12/14: The lightest of this 01/03/05 lineup, this is solidly golden without nearly as much orange/copper in it; dense nose still solidly primary with tropical fruits, mango, minerality and classic fargues citrus/grapefruit is underneath and comes out with a bit of swirling; palate shows initially full body and great sweetness, immediately transitions to fabulous acidity that balances the sweetness (but no tingles as in very high-acid vintages), complexity that explodes on the palate with papaya, mango, lots of tropical fruit, wonderful persistence of fruit through the midpalate, freshness without much lightness; finish is medium-long. This is superb, young, classic Fargues in a richer style but still exquisitely balanced. A top-tier sauternes with a very long life ahead. Improved from my last half 2.5 years ago. 93-94++
  Coravin 1/13/14: A surprising amount of orange marmalade on the nose, freshness as if in an icewine, bubbly acidity; palate is similar to yesterday, still very young with just a hint of coconut. Medium-long finish. Lovely.
  1/18/14: Last from the bottle. Showing really well tonight. Wonderful complexity, comes across as very balanced, great fresh acidity, exciting to drink, flavorful. Easily beats most of the Climens in the vertical tonight. Wonderful value, and without the direct comparison to the 03 and 01, it doesn't come across as painfully young. 94-96
  1/22/14: Still light golden; overall still concentrated, flavorful, balanced, a bit young; palate has vibrant acidity and fabulous flavors (again some young flavors like vanilla along with great tropical fruit and freshness on the palate). Similar to notes above.

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Lessons from this tasting:
1) I suspected that the 03 was damaged since its color was so much darker than some of the other 03s that I have had. Color is really a pretty good marker of storage condition for Sauternes.
2) Chateau de Fargues is truly stunning. The 01 is stellar, and some bottles approach perfection (a bottle of the 01 Fargues was showing better than the 01 Yquem the only time I've tried it). The 01 somehow manages to blend power, elegance, freshness, and complexity into a wonderful package. The 05 was denser and much younger, but was also still fresh (not as "elegant" as the 01 but balanced and showed the character of the vintage) and truly superb. Based on my recollection of my last half of the 03 just a month ago, I think it is in an intermediate ground without quite as much complexity of the 01 but with some early maturity notes, a bit more on the full rather than elegant spectrum but still with freshness, and a bit more baking spice, vanilla, and oak.
3) The finish on some of these wines can be very long. The 01 and the 05 both last minutes.
4) The main point of a vertical is to give you an idea of the style/character of a producer. I think this comparison tasting reinforces my belief that Fargues' trademark blend of density and freshness puts it in a very similar stylistic category to Yquem than no other producer really approaches. (Other producers can be exceptional in a more full bodied style or a more light-bodied style, but the comparison between Fargues and Yquem is apt.) Between these three vintages (with 03 from memory 1 month ago), the 01 definitely has the best overall balance and complexity, the 05 is slightly more full bodied and less elegant (but still fresh, and much younger), and the 03 is the ripest of all three and showing a bit more oak (vanilla, oak) than the other two right now. All are exceptional.

I need to try more off vintages of Chateau de Fargues and see whether they are as strong. Unfortunately, they are so difficult to find as they age since their production is smaller than other Sauternes chateaux.