At the en primeur tasting marathon of the 1997s in Bordeaux, held in early spring 1998, I remember so clearly that the last day's tasting of sweet white wines was most definitely the best part. At last, after bleary, black-toothed days of tasting rather wimpy reds, here was a range of exciting, fully ripe wines. The tasting noted below, organised by the British magazine Decanter, confirmed the quality of many of these wines, although it included many lesser wines whose finances, inclination or reputation do not encourage maximising quality by picking through botrytised grapes in the vineyard several times...