Château Grand Jauga 2018 Sauternes, Bordeaux, France 75cl

Grand Jauga sits in Sauternes, the small Bordeaux district famous for its sweet white wines. Autumn mists off the Ciron and Garonne rivers encourage noble rot, the friendly fungus that shrivels the grapes and concentrates their sugar and flavour. Making wine this way is slow, risky and costly, which is part of what makes good Sauternes special.

In the Sauternes tradition, wines here are built on Sémillon with Sauvignon Blanc and a little Muscadelle. Botrytised bunches are picked selectively, often over several passes through the vineyard, then slowly fermented so that natural sweetness remains in the glass. The reward for that painstaking work is intensity and richness.

The 2018 vintage in Bordeaux was warm and generous, giving ripe, healthy fruit across the region. In the sweet-wine districts it produced luscious, full styles with plenty of concentration and depth.

Amber-gold in the glass, it offers honey, dried apricot, saffron and marmalade, with a viscous texture cut by bright acidity that keeps the finish clean rather than heavy. Serve it well chilled, in small glasses. It pairs beautifully with Roquefort and other blue cheeses, with foie gras, or with fruit-based puddings, and is a treat entirely on its own.

If you love a classic dessert wine, Sauternes is the benchmark others are measured against. This is a bottle to bring out for the cheese course or a celebration, a small glass of something indulgent to round off the evening. A little goes a long way, and an opened bottle keeps well in the fridge for several days.