| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Sauternes and Barsac |
| Colour | Sweet White |
| Type | Still |
This Premier Cru Sauternes is owned by the Peugeot family in partnership with Xavier Planty and Stefan von Neipperg of Canon La Gaffeliere and Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier.
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Guiraud
A full-bodied young Sauternes with lots of rich sliced cooked apples and pears. All the same, this remains spicy and energetic with an abundance of dried mushrooms, walnuts and almonds on the finish. Botrytis character comes through nicely already here.
Wow—right out of the gate, the pale lemon colored 2016 Guiraud has an electric lemon tart, key lime pie and mandarin peel-scented nose with notions of cinnamon, allspice and toasted almonds in the background. The palate is refreshing while delivering loads of bright citrus layers and a long, spicy finish.
Drink Date
2021 - 2052
Guiraud walks the line of minerality, florality and richness effectively for me. Lime juice oozes through, you can't hold it back, and your mouth responds. Succulent, with a well judged salinity. Very good.
Deep viscous gold. Definitely less intense and less obviously botrytised than the 2017. Just a little simple. Some barley-sugar character. This may be a bad time to taste it but it doesn't seem nearly as exciting as the 2017. Bit of grilled citrus fruit on the end.
Drink 2025-2040
The nose has a mix of flavours rich and ripe yet fragrant the palate has depth with apricots and candied orange peel fleshy on the mid palate. Fresh at the back fragrant bright slightly gingery and salty but it fills out on the finish with rich ripe fruit. 2025-40
Among the richest, sweetest and densest of Sauternes this year, this is lush, spicy and concentrated, with quite a bit of toasty oak (often the case when young), 155 grams of residual sugar and exotic fruit flavours of passion fruit and pineapple. 2020-28
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.
Drink Date 2021 - 2050
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
