This is the latest vintage of what used to be called (rather confusingly for us English) "La Rosée de Montesquiou" (rosée is actually French for "dew"). It is an ultra-pale straw/gold colour, with a lovely nose of citrus, honeysuckle and herbs and a whole load of Manseng varietal minerality - really tight, and focused - as is the palate, which is crammed full of lime and tree fruit flavours, mineral nuances and enough acidity to refresh the most jaded of palates. The flavours are intensely fresh and focused, zingy rather than pithy, with just a hint of richness and plenty of concentration. The finish is long, cool and utterly mouth-watering. This really is a complex, classy and truly delicious expression of its terroir. If you appreciate delicate, nervy whites – light and fresh on the palate, yet with tremendous depth and complexity - then you will appreciate this wine. Furthermore, whilst it is wonderful to drink on its own, it is also a superb match for all manner of foods. Steamed salmon or other fish dishes, seafood platter, lemon-infused chicken or a mixed salad with (say) chicken livers all spring to mind. We had it with a sweet and sour pork and vegetable stir-fry and it was a match made in heaven. It is wonderful to drink now, but there is certainly no rush. If we had to recommend just one dry white wine from our list which provides brilliant quality and value in equal measures, then this would be it.

This 2009 vintage is quite different from the 2008. Were I tasting it blind, I might just mistake it foir a very young white Burgundy, with its aromas of peach and apricot combined with herbs, smoke and very subtle oak. The palate is less rich and more tightly-structured than the 2008, lemony rather than limey, and with huge mineral depth. It is a bit like a supercharged version of La Rosée de Montesquiou (a cuvée not made in 2009) and certainly has a lot more to give in the next year or two, whilst I would expect it to peak in perhaps 5 years. It is a really lovely wine, and makes for a fascinating comparison with the opulent 2008. Why not try some of each!

We're back to absolute Jurançon typicity with this 2010 vintage - my first reaction when I stuck my nose in the glass was "Wow - apples, pears and cinnamon!" However, those initial fruit and spice aromas are merely the tip of the iceberg, in what really is a spectacularly lovely and considerably complex wine. Delve a little deeper and you will find all manner of aromatic tree fruits, mixed spices and a real blast of intense minerality and lime-tinged acidity, which manages to be even more intense on the palate. In fact, I'm not sure that I have ever tasted a wine that displays such vivacity or vigour, whilst remaining so balanced, elegant and utterly refreshing. For despite its youth, the combination of fruit, honeyed richness, acidity and sheer depth of minerality in this wine is already so seamless that it is difficult to imagine it getting any better. But it surely will - and my mouth waters in anticipation of just how good this could be in a couple of years' time. I just wish we'd bought more. Absolutely stunning wine!

A vivid 24 carat gold colourwith orange glints. The nose has complex aromas of honey and woodsmoke, with hints of toasted brioche, cinnamon, clove and a touch of oak vanillin. And that is before I even mention the fruits - as ever, this wine is complex in the extreme, with notes of apricot, apple, mango, orange and lime oil. And the palate sure matches the nose, with all of the above coming into play, along with subtle spice and toffee notes. It has a beautifully rich, oily texture in the mouth, and the flavours coat the palate and linger for an age. And then, of course, there is that wonderful, searing lemon and lime acidity and minerality, the like of which (in my opinion) is unrivalled by any other sweet wine style in the world, and balances the richness so perfectly - a more finely poised sweet wine is hard to imagine. Although the grapes for this wine are not harvested until deep into November (and occasionally December) botrytis is not necessarily a classic Jurançon trait, since the region is only occasionally visited by the autumn mists necessary for the growth of this particularly (sweet wine-friendly) fungus. And yet this particular vintage displays many of the hallmarks of a somewhat botrytised harvest, with its intense honey and apricot notes. When I first opened a bottle, I considered it to be almost as good as the outstanding 2004 and 2007 vintages. But now, a full 6 days after opening, it is so spectacularly good that I have no doubt whatsoever that it is the finest vintage I have tasted - it is utterly, utterly brilliant. And you get a full 75cl bottle, for the price of a half-bottle of middling Sauternes. The choice is yours...........

The colour of this vintage is a medium orange/gold, whilst the texture is obvious to the eye, with heavy tears clinging to the sides of the glass. As always, the nose has complex aromas of apricot, toasted brioche, clove and a touch of oak vanillin, although this particular vintage has more in the way of orange (rather than lime) as its citrus element on the nose, together with more than a hint of honey and botrytis. It is pretty serious stuff, and the palate is perhaps richer and more concentrated than any other vintage I have known, with uber-intense flavours of lime oil, marmalade, molasses and toffee, with background notes of root ginger and mixed spice. The texture is immensely rich and glycerous - so much so that it is almost (but not quite) a match for the even more immense core of limey acidity and slatey minerality. The grapes for this wine are harvested deep into November and December, by which time the grapes have begun to dry on the vine, but this vintage (as with the 2008) shows more than a little botrytis, both on the nose and palate. But whilst the 2008 is very much in the moelleux style, and perfect to drink now, this one is very definitely a full-on sweet wine, with serious ageing potential - and not for the faint of heart!