Harvested from September 26 until October 11, Nicolas Tari elected not to blend in the final lots of into his blend, but after trial blends he decided to keep just the two tries in order to maintain a more elegant style. As such, it has a zippy, light but focused bouquet with citrus peel and white flowers. The palate is vibrant in the mouth with quite penetrating acidity that combines well with those unfettered citrus notes threaded from start to finish. Very fine.

Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. The 2012 Chateau Nairac has an attractive acacia honey and beeswax-scented bouquet that might lack vigor, but is at least clean and defined. The palate is well balanced with well judged acidity, and some evidence of botrytis towards the finish that offers a pleasing dab of ginger. This is commendable in context of the vintage.

The 2012 Nairac was showing a little “sullen” at this stage, perhaps missing the exuberance of recent vintages, this despite rigorous coaxing. The palate has good weight, a slight petillance on the entry but offers pleasant spice notes on the wax-textured finish. Let us see if it offers more once bottled, as I feel this has much more to give.

The first sample of Nairac displayed too much sulphur, although the second sample two days later had a well-defined bouquet with kiwi fruit, light honey and a touch of white peach. The palate is well-balanced with fresh, honeyed fruit that has just the right amount of viscosity. The finish is elegant and poised with subtle dried honey as well as lime and kiwi fruit notes that linger in the mouth. This is a very fine Nairac that should age with style. Drink 2014-2030.

Tasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. Refulgent in colour, the nose on the Chateau Nairac 2011 offers straightforward dried honey and quince notes, but it seems to lack a little energy compared to the bottle served at the property last year. The palate is viscous on the entry with a fine line of acidity, touches of honeycomb and peach infusing the honeyed fruit, the viscous finish compensating for the lack of aromatic charm. Fortunately, with time in the glass, this Nairac does appear to coalesce and gain weight, yet the nose never meliorates sufficiently to match the palate.