Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Pungent Sauvignon characters evident on the nose with notes of white flowers and nettles, interspersed with burly hints of grapefruit, lanolin and oil. Brisk acidity on the palate, fresh with good purity, but lacking a little harmony at the moment. Will improve.
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James Suckling
Attractive citrus, grassy elements and lighter stone fruits lead to pawpaw and ripe melon on the palate in a fresh, approachable style. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 G de Château Guiraud offers nectarine, pithy fruit on the nose that needs just a little more delineation. The palate is crisp and fresh with plenty of citrus fruit, dried pineapple and green apples on the energetic finish. Give this a year once in bottle and you'll have a great G de Guiraud.
Barrel Sample: 89-91 -
Wine Spectator
Lovely yellow apple, mirabelle plum and apricot notes burst forth, quickly harnessed by acacia and verbena threads, which provide focus and cut through the flattering finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now through 2020.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
One of the most important wine regions of the world, Bordeaux is a powerhouse producer of wines of all colors, sweetness levels, and price points. Separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a coastal pine forest, this relatively flat region has a mild maritime climate, marked by cool wet winters and warm summers. Annual weather differences create significant vintage variations, making Bordeaux an exciting French wine region to follow.
The Gironde estuary, a defining feature of Bordeaux, separates most of the region into the Left Bank and the Right Bank. Farther inland, where the Gironde splits into the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, the bucolic, rolling hills of the area in between, called Entre-Deux-Mers, is a source of great quality, approachable reds and whites.
The Left Bank, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, contains the Médoc, Graves, and Sauternes, as well as the region’s most famous chateaux. Merlot is important here as the perfect blending grape for Cabernet Sauvignon adding plush fruit and softening Cabernet's sometimes hefty tannins. Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec may also be used in the Left Bank Bordeaux wine blends.
Merlot is the principal Bordeaux wine variety of the Right Bank; Cabernet Franc adds structure and complexity to Merlot, creating wines that are concentrated, supple, and more imminently ready for drinking, compared with their Left Bank counterparts. Key appellations of the Right Bank include St. Emilion and Pomerol.
Dry and sweet Bordeaux white wines are produced throughout the region from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and sometimes Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris. Some of the finest dry whites can be found in the Graves sub-appellation of Pessac-Léognan, while Sauternes is undisputedly the gold standard for sweet wines. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling Bordeaux wines are made in the region as well.