Wine Advisor
Suduiraut 2011
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
Bright yellow-gold. Knockout nose offers poached pear, honeyed mango, guava, baking spices and saffron, complicated by very pure, smoky, marmalady botrytis. Sweet, dense and very rich, boasting a compelling creamy texture and outstanding depth to its guava and mandarin orange flavors. Lively, harmonious acidity gives the middle palate a laser-like precision. Finishes bright and long, with lingering notes of baked apple and pear. An outstanding Suduiraut.
Reviewed by: Ian d'Agata
(93% semillion and 7% sauvignon; 3.7 pH; 6 g/l total acidity; 150 g/l residual sugar; 13.5% alcohol): Bright golden yellow. Intense, deep aromas of ripe citrus, kiwi and guava are complicated by marmaladey smoky botrytis and a touch of honeyed mango, decadent notes that are rare in 2011 Sauternes. Very rich in the mouth, displaying extremely pure tropical fruit and acacia honey flavors that are given clarity and cut by harmonious acidith. Finishes very long and pure, with uncanny freshness that keeps this opulent wine light on its feet. This is far richer than most other 2011 Sauternes yet retains the vintage's freshness and crispness. Just three tries were carried out this year and the first one was done essentially to remove dirty, unhealthy-looking grapes. This is the best young Suduiraut of the last 15 years.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Suduiraut feels a little oaky on the nose and does not have the same bandwidth as the finest Sauternes this vintage. The palate is well balanced with a lovely viscous texture, very harmonious with pure honey and quince towards the finish. Yet I do still feel the sway of the barrel here. A fine Suduiraut, but not within the top rank. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Suduiraut, picked from 12 September to 5 October in three tries through the vineyard, has an intriguing bouquet. It does not possess the thrilling intensity of the 2014 and 2015 tasted alongside, replicating the wet wool, almost Loire-like bouquet that I picked up upon in previous encounters. The palate is well balanced with a slightly viscous texture. This is a gentle Suduiraut, missing the complexity of a top vintage but fresh and generous. It is linear in style, some might say conservative with just a touch of gingerbread on the finish. Fine. 148gm/L residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Tasted at the Suduiraut vertical at the château.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Sauternes 2011 horizontal tasting. The Château Suduiraut 2011 has a muffled nose at first: dried honey and quince, wet wool and marzipan scents that gradually open up with aeration. Coming back after 10 minutes there is a heartwarming gingerbread note. The palate is viscous on the entry and full of tension. There is a keen line of acidity here, quite linear at first, but it fans out nicely toward the finish and offers notes of honey, mandarin and even a touch of rhubarb! This is a class act, a Sauternes that does not need to shout about its inherent qualities.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Picked over three tries through the vineyard from September 12 until October 5, the Suduiraut 2011 has 150 grams per liter residual sugar counterbalanced by a pH of 3.7. It has an intense nose, albeit one that takes time to unfurl in the glass, offering attractive notes of citrus lemon, minerals, apricot and quince suffused with great tension. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, citrus-led fruit mingling with apricot and quince. It has less bravura and ambition than the 2009 or 2010, and you might consider it a Barsac-like Suduiraut due to its racy acidity. It has wonderful focus and satisfying length, and it should drink well both early and with age. Drink 2014-2035.
Reviewed by: Yohan Castaing
Characterized by notes of volatile acidity, the 2011 Suduiraut reveals aromas of quince, dry apricots and spices with air and time in the glass. Medium-bodied, round, and enveloping with a sweet core of fruit, it’s fresh despite its heavy finish. Crafted from a challenging vintage, this blend of 93% Sémillon and 7% Sauvignon Blanc was matured for 20 months in 45% new oak barrels and the rest one-year-old barrels and contains 148 grams per liter of residual sugar. Harvested in three tries from September 12 to October 5, it is fully mature and offers straightforward enjoyment today.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2011 Suduiraut, picked from 12 September to 5 October in three tries through the vineyard, has an intriguing bouquet. It does not possess the thrilling intensity of the 2014 and 2015 tasted alongside, replicating the wet wool, almost Loire-like bouquet that I picked up upon in previous encounters. The palate is well balanced with a slightly viscous texture. This is a gentle Suduiraut, missing the complexity of a top vintage but fresh and generous. It is linear in style, some might say conservative with just a touch of gingerbread on the finish. Fine. 148gm/L residual sugar, 13.5% alcohol. Tasted at the Suduiraut vertical at the château.
About the Producer
Chateau Suduiraut is located in the Sauternes appellation of Bordeaux, France, which is known for its rich and sweet noble rot wines. In the 1855 Sauternes and Barsac classification, Chateau d'Yquem is the only Grand Cru classed. In addition, Château d'Yquem occupies one of the 11 châteaux in the classification that are now classified as First Growths. Château d'Yquem has a long history: in 1580, Nicole d'Allard married Leonard de Suduiraut, and the estate took its name. At the end of the 18th century, Jean Joseph Duroy, nephew of a member of the Suduiraut family at the time, took over the estate and renamed it Cru du Roy. The emblems of the two families, Xukin and Duroy, were then fused together to form the present logo of the estate. The château is a palace-like building with a beautiful garden designed by Le Notre, Louis XIV's royal gardener. In 1992, AXA Millesimes, the French insurance giant, acquired Château Xugene. AXA Millesimes is a powerful group that also owns the famous Pauillac estate, Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron. The 91 hectares of vineyards at Château d'Azur are planted with 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is a traditional Sauternes variety that provides powerful structure to the wines, bringing full-bodied flavors of roasted dried fruit, acacia flowers and candied fruit. Sauvignon Blanc, on the other hand, is an aromatic, high-acid variety with very distinctive aromas of citrus and white peach that add complexity and acidity to the wine. The soil is predominantly gravelly and sandy clay, which is permeable and poor, requiring the vines to be deeply rooted to extract nutrients, resulting in low yields and intense mineral flavors. The gravel on the surface of the soil also absorbs heat from the sun, which helps the grapes to ripen more quickly. The planting density of the Chateau Xugene vineyard is 7,000 vines per hectare, and the average age of the vines is 35 years. The vineyard's proximity to the Ciron and Garonne rivers, with cool nights, early autumn mists and sunny afternoons, creates the right conditions for the formation and growth of noble rot. The winery prunes the grapes short to allow the bunches to enjoy more sunlight. The harvesting process at Château Xugene is very delicate, with workers picking the grapes in batches according to the infestation of noble rot, and even picking a vine several times. In terms of winemaking, Château Xukin adheres to a philosophy of quality first. The hand-picked grapes undergo a long and careful pressing process to obtain the most aromatic juice, and the fermented wine is then matured in oak barrels for 18-24 months to allow the wine to develop its full flavor and structure. The winery has strict quality standards, and if the quality of the wine does not meet expectations in a given year, the winery will even abandon the production of the year's main wine, Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes, France. Currently, Chateau Suduiraut produces three sweet white wines, including Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes, France, which are the best expression of the Sauternes terroir.
1948(1)1983(3)1988(1)1989(2)1990(1)1996(3)1997(1)2001(6)2003(4)2004(2)2005(4)2006(2)2009(3)2010(8)
Package Size
