Sauternes

Suduiraut is undoubtedly one of the top Sauternes estates and the quality has reached even headier heights since AXA bought it in 1992. The 1998 is very feminine: elegant with creamy honeysuckle notes and soft pear and pineapple fruit. It is however somewhat unladylike with its forward style! Drink now 2018.

This Sauternes from the Rothschild stable is often under-rated. The Muscadelle adds a light, honeyed white-blossom bouquet to the richer, botrytis notes – with classic aromas of marmalade, apricot, pineapple and peaches. There is still a zing of citrus to the palate, balancing the wine’s intense sweetness. This will open up before the 2015.

With a refined fragrance of honeysuckle, citrus peel, and barley sugar, this has very elegant sweetness on the palate but it is not at all blowsy, with good acidity to provide excellent balancing freshness. Not a blockbuster, it is however beautifully harmonious and truly fine, almost Barsac-like rather than Sauternes, with a very long finish. The wine is still undeveloped at this stage but one senses great ageing potential.

The 2001 vintage resulted in truly exceptional, hedonistic sweet wines in Sauternes, and the Cru Classé estate Ch. Guiraud produced a very fine and rich example. A perfumed bouquet of honey, beeswax and honeysuckle entices – and the palate doesn’t disappoint, with good acidity supported by a glorious freshness. The finish is long, persistent and intense. This is a classy wine from a classy estate.

Delicate aromas and flavours of hibiscus and peony, plus orchard fruit and honey. Elegant, fresh, juicy and vibrant. One of the more refined Sauternes of the vintage.
Drink: 2020-2030
Ian D’Agata - decanter.com

The 2015 Château d'Yquem is a blend of 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc that was picked on the gravelly soils as early as 3 and 4 September until 21 October, four tries through the vineyard. It delivers 144 grams per liter of residual sugar, with six-grams of tartaric acid, a pH 3.65 and 13.9% alcohol. It has a show-stopping bouquet that is beautifully defined and very complex and exuberant, infused with greater mineralité than recent vintages - intense but not as flamboyant as say the 2009 Yquem at this stage. The palate boasts absolutely stunning balance. This is a Yquem without a hair out of place: fantastically pure, botrytised fruit caressing the mouth. That is as per normal. What distinguishes this Yquem is the sense of electricity that is imbued by that razor-sharp acidity. There is just unbelievably tension here and to be frank, there is little point in me continuing to write this note, because it is simply an astonishing Yquem that will rank alongside the 2001 and 2009. Drink 2028 - 2090.
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate Mid gold. Very direct and glossy. Edge of veg and toast. Real tension! Tense pear juice with lots of grip and attack. Lots of acidity as well as all that sugar. Really energetic. Long. Amazing persistence. So neat. Real attack. Massive apparent acidity. Drink 2027 – 2055.
Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com

With inconsistency across the communes of Sauternes & Barsac, the Sauternes from Ch. Guiraud was a gem that really shone out. The nose is beautifully poised, restrained orange blossom, nectarine with hints of honey and quince. The body has a lovely viscosity and mouth feel allied to a lightning like streak of acidity (missing from other top Sauternes). Dances on the palate with grace ending with moreish vanillin spice. Once bottled this should prove to be a very good Guiraud.

Rieussec is always such a benchmark Sauternes and seems to deliver reliably year in, year out. A rewarding wine, this would be a fine addition to any cellar.

Suduiraut emerged as one of our preferred Sauternes wines in 2010, possessing an excellent primary sweetness of fruit and less evident botrytis; its acidity levels are good and it maintains an excellent balance. The finish is long and the overall impression is one of balance and a good purity of fruit.
Nick Pegna, SE Asia Director

Wow! Ch. Suduiraut is in Ch. d'Yquem's rear view mirror this year. It is almost as good and will be a fraction of the price. Enjoy it early.
Simon Staples, East Asia Fine Wine Director

According to the team at d'Yquem, the 2007 vintage reminded them of a combination of 1997, the legendary 1967 and the stylish 1988. The wealth of flavour on the palate is seamless and completely mouthfilling without yet showing the glorious detail to come, while the finish is sensationally long. This has lived up to every expectation in 2007 and will surely be considered as one of the truly great d'Yquems of all time.

While not as majestic as the ethereal 2001 it's going to give it a run for its money! ... and it's a lot of money make no mistake. The '07 is expensive but we feel honour bound to offer it as this is one of the greatest wines in the world.

Wow, what a wine! I totally agree with where the Chateau are coming from as I had the same feeling when I tasted the 2001. Definitely worth the wait but all we need to know is the price! So complex and perfectly layered, tropical fruits with the signature marmalade on the finish you really could drink this now. If you have this in the cellar and can be patient then I suspect you will be very happy in about 40 years or if you’re impatient don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed.
Ben Upjohn - Fine Wine Sales Manager 

The long awaited 2011 release certainly doesn’t disappoint and draws inevitable comparison to their faultless 2001. Wondrous flavours; pineapple, peach, mango, orange zest, honey, ginger and blossom. Voluptuous across the palate, multi layered but it is the balance and finesse which is simply remarkable. Precise and fresh, somehow ‘light on its feet’. An ethereal d’Yquem for which the word finesse could have been created. A long future awaits....
Martyn Rolph - Private Account Manager


In putting forward our notes on Yquem I can do little better than quote the charming, highly talented winemaker at the property, Sandrine Garbay, who told us that “ it was wonderful year for Sauternes with perfect autumnal conditions for botrytis, or noble rot. Acidities are on the low side but there is a great freshness and purity to the wine”.

Little to add, really, but we’ll have a go. The bouquet is very clean and appealing, with notes of stone fruit such as apricot and peach along with some citrus zest. On the palate the sweetness is crystalline and pure, not remotely cloying, and the finish is again wonderfully fresh and enticing. A wine that will come round quite early, I feel, and despite its apparent low acidity it does not feel at all heavy or unbalanced. This was the first Sauternes we tasted but subsequent experience indicated

Rieussec is always such a benchmark Sauternes and seems to deliver reliably year in, year out. The bouquet is more opulent than some, with classic aromas of ripe stone fruit allied to a honied richness, while the palate has a creamy texture and lovely complexity and intensity.

The finish is long and balanced and the overall impression is of a deeply rewarding wine. Still, one can feel a great sense of freshness, which seems to me to becoming one of the hallmarks, and a very attractive one, too, of this vintage in Sauternes.

In 2001 winemaker Pierre Pascaud has produced a quite extraordinary wine that is a real contender for 'wine of the vintage'. With an elegant honeyed nose, this seductive, creamy, opulent wine explodes on the palate with layers upon layers of complex flavours. The sweetness and acidity are in perfect harmony and the finish is breathtaking. A real revelation.

This has a heady sweet nose of honeyed tropical fruits and a noticeable hint of fresh apricots. Subtle oak is well-integrated on the palate with layers of very ripe white peaches, melon, spice and orange marmalade, with a pure and lingering finsh. What is also remarkable is that it's going to be an early drinker too and is available at a fantastic price.

Ch. Suduiraut’s 90 hectares of 1er Cru Classé vineyards have produced another fantastic Sauternes in 2014. It emerged as our preferred Sauternes wine, along with Ch. d’Yquem, and possesses all the glorious sweetness of fruit one would expect in this type of wine.

With orange blossom, apricot and peach flavors – and a wonderful honeyed nose - the wine has huge concentration too and a perfect balancing acidity. Classically Suduiraut, with it’s fresh style of citrus and hints of kiwi fruit, it is a wine of great balance and purity. The finish is breathtakingly harmonious, with layers upon layers of complex, seductive flavours. – none of last year’s mangoes this time!

Intense and luscious with ripe notes of orange peel and pineapple, the 2009 Suduiraut is our favourite Sauternes of the vintage. The palate has a wonderful depth of rich citrus and passionfruit flavours whilst a vanilla cream note adds to the broad, lush, honeyed mouthfeel. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making this an absolutely delicious Sauternes.

Warm, rich, honeyed crème brûlée topping on the nose with a lush, decadent and plump mouthfeel, attractive freshness and impressive length. Ch. Rieussec rivals Ch. d'Yquem but is behind Ch. Suduiraut...Just!

A fabulous effort, the 2001 De Malle is closed aromatically, but it exhibits tremendous palate penetration, deep, full-bodied flavors, great acidity for balance, and marvelous notes of lavender, honey, pineapple, creme brulee, and spice. This is a sensationally textured, long, medium gold-colored, moderately sweet 2001. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following two decades.
Robert Parker