Winemaker Notes
G of Château Guiraud is a dry white wine made from grapes harvested at full maturity. It is aged for approximately 7 months in the oak barrels that produced the previous year's Grand Cru. It reveals richness of expression and an assertive personality. The blend of 50% sauvignon and 50% semillon makes it a remarkable wine whose potential will challenge the palate of wine-lovers and confirmed wine-tasters alike.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pretty notes of quince, honeyed orange, white flowers, and apricot-like notes all emerge from the 2019 Château Guiraud, which is medium to full-bodied and has a terrific sense of purity, a focused, elegant texture, and a great finish. Developing more and more complexity with time in the glass, it delivers an incredibly precise, elegant texture that keeps you coming back.
Rating: 94-96
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James Suckling
This is a dense, waxy white with sliced dried-apple and lemon character, as well as stone and white peaches. It’s full-bodied, flavorful and rich. I like the spicy finish at the end from the semillon. Really excellent. From organically grown grapes.
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Wine Spectator
Very pure, with chiseled edges of lemon pith and peel flanking a core of yellow apple, shortbread, acacia and verbena notes. The long finish pulls it all together nicely. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drink now.
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.