Wine Advisor
Suduiraut 2019
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Composed of 94% Semillon and 6% Sauvignon Blanc harvested from the 17th of September to the 30th of October (three selective pickings in total), the 2019 Suduiraut is aging for 16-20 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. The alcohol came in at 14.1% with 130 grams per liter of residual sugar. Pale to medium lemon-gold colored, the nose is oh-so-tantalizing with intense notes of candied ginger, beeswax, fenugreek and crystalized citrus peel over a core of pineapple upside-down cake, honey coated almonds, pink grapefruit and peach preserves with a waft of musk perfume. The rich, concentrated palate explodes with spicy fireworks in the mouth, complementing the the exotic fruit and peach preserves layers, with a racy line to lend just enough lift, finishing with epic length and depth.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2019 Suduiraut is absolutely stunning. Rich, heady and explosive, but in the vibrant style that marks the wines of today, Suduiraut is a real head-turner. An exotic melange of apricot jam, orange confit, spice, candied ginger and pineapple all soar out of the glass. The 2019 is creamy and intense, but not at all heavy. The 130 grams of residual sugar are perfectly integrated. Magnificent.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2019 Suduiraut is dense, powerful and creamy. Pineapple, candied orange peel, spice, chamomile and passion fruit all run through this rich yet balanced wine with great freshness.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2019 Suduiraut has a powerful nose, quite oaky at the moment although there is plenty of fruit packed behind it. The palate is dense and intense, with layers of botrytized fruit, stem ginger and quince towards the persistent and refined finish. Broad-shouldered yet with class. Blind, I thought this might have been the Yquem? No, it's its neighbor. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2019 Suduiraut is consistent with my note from barrel, delivering quince, wild honey, wild peach and pineapple on a nose that is beautifully defined and so disarmingly pure that you can barely extract your snout from the glass. The palate is perfectly balanced with superb viscosity, quite intense yet poised, and maybe even more tensile than when I tasted it last year. Outstanding.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2019 Suduiraut was picked between 19 September and 30 October via three tries through the vines. Yields came in at just 7hl/ha after a meticulous sorting. It has a gorgeous bouquet of wild honey, quince, pineapple and passion fruit, with good levels of noble rot evident. The palate is unctuous on the entry. A powerful and intense Sauternes in the making with layers of honey, ginger and quince. You could almost describe the texture as "gloopy"! This is a superb Suduiraut with long-term potential.
Reviewed by: Yohan Castaing
The 2019 Suduiraut stands out as one of the most comprehensive and impeccably crafted wines from the Sauternes region in this solar vintage. Offering up a complex, spicy bouquet of curry leaf, cardamon, white pepper, ripe orchard fruits and menthol mingled with touches of vanilla pod and pineapple, followed by a medium to full-bodied, round and gourmand palate, it’s also concentrated and rich with a perfumed, fleshy core of fruit that segues into a long, mineral and ethereal finish. This blend of 94% Sémillon and 6% Sauvignon Blanc, harvested between September 17 and October 30, in three tries, was matured for 20 months in oak barrels and contains 130 grams per liter of residual sugar. It's worth noting that, in this vintage, the arrival of botrytis following 60 millimeters of late-harvest rainfall severely impacted the remaining crop, yielding a mere seven hectoliters per hectare. Despite these challenges, the estate has achieved a remarkable feat, demonstrating exceptional skill and resilience and underscoring the force of its terroir.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2019 Suduiraut is dense, powerful and creamy. Pineapple, candied orange peel, spice, chamomile and passion fruit all run through this rich yet beautifully balanced Sauternes endowed with terrific freshness and tons of class. What I like most about Suduiraut is how it delivers superb flavor intensity and yet remains light on its feet. The 2019 is a gorgeous and totally compelling wine. Tasted two times.
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.
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