Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes (375ML half-bottle) 2018
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Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesIntense aromas of dried mushrooms, dried apricots, hazelnuts and citrus skin. Medium to full body with density and beauty. Flows across the palate with beauty and interest. I like the salted caramel and dried fruit at the finish. Drink or hold.
Densely textured and with intense botrytis dryness, this wine is rich and concentrated. Marmalade and honey shine along with sweetened apricots. The wine also has a fresher edge, reflecting the lightness of the vintage in Sauternes. This allows room for acidity and therefore balance. Still young, the wine has a fine future. best after 2026. Cellar Selection
Barrel Sample: 93-95
Barrel Sample: 93-95
Barrel Sample: 91-94
Not the easiest vintage for Suduiraut, with a final yield of 5hl/ha in 2018, of which 40% went into the grand vin. It is rich and succulent, with a sense of confident spice. One for lovers of opulent Sauternes. Tasted twice; issues with first bottle. Drinking Window 2021 - 2034
Château Suduiraut is acknowledged to be one of the finest Sauternes. The team at the Suduiraut estate, passionate about their work are united in the pursuit of their goal : to extract from this great vineyard one of the world's finest wines.
The history of Château Suduiraut, in Sauternes, goes back to centuries. After the total destruction of the property by the Duke d’Epernon in the 1600’s, Count Blaise de Suduiraut replanted the vineyard and restored the estate to its former glory. On 18 April 1855 the estate was classed as a Premier Cru during the official wine classification programme in the Gironde winegrowing area. AXA Millésimes acquired Suduiraut in 1992 with the aim of preserving and perpetuating the estate's remarkable tradition of vineyard management and winemaking. Inspired by the great Suduiraut wines of the past, the new management has enabled this great vineyard to fulfill its full potential in recent years.
Sweet and unctuous but delightfully charming, the finest Sauternes typically express flavors of exotic dried tropical fruit, candied apricot, dried citrus peel, honey or ginger and a zesty beam of acidity.
Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle are the grapes of Sauternes. But Sémillon's susceptibility to the requisite noble rot makes it the main variety and contributor to what makes Sauternes so unique. As a result, most Sauternes estates are planted to about 80% Sémillon. Sauvignon is prized for its balancing acidity and Muscadelle adds aromatic complexity to the blend with Sémillon.
Botrytis cinerea or “noble rot” is a fungus that grows on grapes only in specific conditions and its onset is crucial to the development of the most stunning of sweet wines.
In the fall, evening mists develop along the Garonne River, and settle into the small Sauternes district, creeping into the vineyards and sitting low until late morning. The next day, the sun has a chance to burn the moisture away, drying the grapes and concentrating their sugars and phenolic qualities. What distinguishes a fine Sauternes from a normal one is the producer’s willingness to wait and tend to the delicate botrytis-infected grapes through the end of the season.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.