Chateau Guiraud Sauternes (375ML half-bottle) 2007
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The exuberant flavors burst forth with such sensuality that one hesitates before swallowing to prolong the taste sensations. Guiraud's sweetness melts in the mouth, the aftertaste is always fresh. The initial taste impressions come through again marvellously on the finish, and the pleasure goes on and on. This is the key to understanding Guiraud. It is all about pleasure.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted as part of a vertical held at the chateau. Like one or two other 2007s, the aromatics on the Guiraud ’07 are rather subdued at the moment and they demand coaxing to offer honey, lemon curd and orange blossom. The palate is well-balanced with finer tannins than the 2006. Here, the quality of the vintage finally shows through with impressive precision and focus, building toward the fresh, feminine apricot and dried peach finish that lingers long in the mouth. This is an outstanding Guiraud, but it will reward those with patience. Drink 2017-2035.
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Wine Spectator
Shows dried orange and apricot, with a lime and honey undertone. Full-bodied, with medium sweetness, a fruity aftertaste of dried lemon and a medium spicy finish. A balanced and refined Guiraud. Best after 2011.
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Throughout its history, Chateau Guiraud, Premier Grand Cru Classé in 1855, has always been proud of its independence and has always followed its own path. This domain, with its 128 hectares situated exclusively around the village of Sauternes and its unique combination of grape varieties, is one of the rare properties in France to have created its own conservatory of vine stock varieties.
In 1996, ever faithful to its pioneering spirit, the vineyard underwent a cultural revolution under the impulse of Xavier Planty, who was at the time manager of Chateau Guiraud, which prohibits the use of all synthetic products. In 2011 Chateau Guiraud became the first Premier Grand Cru Classé in 1855 to be awarded Agriculture Biologique (AB) certification.
The philosophy at Chateau Guiraud is guided by constant questioning and their desire to let nature take its course, thus allowing the vines to achieve their full potential.
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.
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.