2016 Château Guiraud, Sauternes, Bordeaux

2016 Château Guiraud, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Product: 20161017047
 
2016 Château Guiraud, Sauternes, Bordeaux

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Description

Fresh and elegant on the nose, this has some citrus, honey and pineapple notes. Although 2016 isn’t an outstanding vintage for Sauternes, Guiraud, as always, has produced a refreshing, medium-bodied wine full of energy. The palate is extremely well balanced, with some lovely white pears and hazelnuts, and a delicious, layered, sweet finish. This will be enjoyable very quickly in its youth but will keep effortlessly for three decades.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate93-95/100
The 2016 Château Guiraud, which had been already released onto the market by proprietor Xavier Planty when I visited, has a very refined bouquet this year: nicely poised with pure botrytised fruit, quite minerally and developing subtle white flower scents with time. The palate is fresh and vibrant with crisp acidity, orange rind and tangerine coming forth with a tang of stem ginger towards the long finish. It will require three or four years in bottle just to meld together, but there is great potential here.
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate #230, April 2017 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17+/20
Complex nose. Still obviously embryonic with a hint of ginger and lots of acidity on the edge. Some lemongrass. Far from the sweetest, this wine gives the impression of having been 'built'. Quite a dry finish.  13.6%. Drink 2026-2042.
Jancis Robinson - 24th April 2017 Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Guiraud

Chateau Guiraud

Château Guiraud is a large Sauternes property that is the only 1er Cru Classé, with the exception of its illustrious neighbour Château d`Yquem, that is located within the commune of Sauternes itself.

Guiraud was owned for a short period by the Maxwell family, who invested heavily in the property, although the wines remained fairly pedestrian. In 1981 it was acquired by a Canadian, Hamilton Narby, and he has transformed Guiraud into one of the very finest Sauternes properties.

Guiraud's 85 hectares of vineyards are located on one of the hills above the village of Sauternes. They are planted with 65% Sémillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are harvested in "tries" and the juice is then fermented in oak barrels. The wine is then aged in oak casks (50% new) for 2 years.

Guiraud is a very ambitious property with aspirations to produce a wine that will one day rival d`Yquem. The wines are astonishingly rich, especially in light of the high proportion of Sauvignon Blanc in the blend, and are undoubtedly amongst the finest wines being produced in Sauternes today.
 

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Sauternes

Sauternes

Sauternes is where arguably the world's finest sweet white wines are produced. The Sauternes appellation actually consists of five communes: Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, Fargues and Sauternes itself. Barsac is also an appellation in its own right.

Sauternes literally has an atmosphere different from any of the other major communes. At the southern tip of the Graves,close to the Garonne, not only is the land hillier and decidedly more bucolic but it also enjoys a specific mesoclimate of evening autumn mists which linger until well into the following day, unless burnt off by warm sunshine.

The mists are caused by the cool, spring-fed waters of the Ciron River meeting the warmer tidal Garonne, and the result is an ideal environment for the growth of the mould botrytis cinerea. When its arrival is felicitous, it feeds on the water in the ripe grapes, dehydrating them and leaving sweet, shriveled fruit.

Other regions in Bordeaux (ie Cadillac, Loupiac) produce wines in a similar style from the same method, but none achieve the profundity and complexity of Sauternes.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. D'Yquem, Ch. Climens (Barsac), Ch. Suduiraut, Ch. Rieussec,  Sigalas- Rabaud, Ch. Coutet (Barsac), Ch. de Fargues, Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Ch. Doisy-Védrines (Barsac), Chateau Partarrieu, La Tour Blanche

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Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

Sauvignon Blanc & Sémillon

The blend used for White Graves and Sauternes and rarely encountered outside France. In the great dry whites of Graves, Sauvignon Blanc tends to predominate in the blend, although properties such as Smith Haut Lafite use 100% Sauvignon Blanc while others such as Laville Haut Brion have as much as 60% Sémillon in their final blends. Sauvignon Blanc wines can lose their freshness and fruit after a couple of years in bottle - if blended with Sémillon, then the latter bolsters the wine when the initial fruit from the Sauvignon fades. Ultimately Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its aroma and raciness while Sémillon gives it backbone and longevity.

In Sauternes, Sémillon is dominant, with Sauvignon Blanc playing a supporting role - it is generally harvested about 10 days before Sémillon and the botrytis concentrates its sweetness and dampens Sauvignon Blanc`s naturally pungent aroma. It contributes acidity, zip and freshness to Sauternes and is an important component of the blend.

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