Our coverage of Bordeaux 2018 en primeur comes to a sticky end today with the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. See this guide for our full coverage of the vintage.
The dry second half of the growing season was not conducive to noble rot, the lifeblood of the sweet wines of Bordeaux. Where botrytis did develop, mostly in the third week of October, it took a long time for the grapes to go from the first stage of infection to the later and most desirable stage known as pourri rôti, or 'roasted rot'. Some producers waited for this...