The wines of Château Suduiraut, Sauternes, Bordeaux , France

Website: www.chateausuduiraut.com
E-mail: infochateau@suduiraut.com

I love Sauternes, and when I taste wines like these I always wonder why I don’t buy more of it and drink it more frequently. Suduiraut is one of my favourite Sauternes properties. Part of the AXA empire, it is performing at a consistently high level, perhaps only surpassed by Yquem and in the same league as Climens and Rieussec. For the sake of the record, three of these wines here were tried together, and the fourth (2002) tasted on a separate occasion.

Château Suduiraut 1997
Quite a deep colour. Lovely, complex, rich nose with spicy, apricotty, herby aromas. Explosive. Concentrated, rich palate with good acidity and complex, spicy flavours. Very rich and sweet but with brilliant balance. It’s not so obviously seductive, but it is profound. Excellent 95/100

Château Suduiraut 1999
Tight, quite delicate nose with lemony, marmaladey notes and some sweetness. The palate is concentrated and rich-textured; intense and sweet with lovely acidity backing up the sweetness. Higher acidity than 997. Sweet and elegant, although a little tight just now. Very good/excellent 92/100

Château Suduiraut 2001
Crystalline fruits, apricots and subtle herbs on the nose. The palate is explosively rich and bold with lots of character and great acid balance. Plenty of botrytis here – a sensationally good wine. Very good/excellent 94/100

Château Suduiraut 2002
Tight marmalade and apricot nose is complex but a little bit closed. Great concentration on the palate: a rich, fat texture with lovely plump apricotty, lemony fruit. Lots of sweetness, and good balance overall. Very good/excellent 92/100

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