CHÂTEAU SIGALAS RABAUD

2017 1er Cru Classé Sauternes

EN PRIMEUR

The 2017 Sigalas-Rabaud is primal and missing the same delineation as its peers on the nose. The palate is much better with intense botrytized fruit, spicier than say Suduiraut or Rayne-Vigneau and it fans out with a sense of confidence and brio towards the finish with a dash of ginger on the aftertaste. This has great potential but it will need time to really enter its stride. Drinking range: 2022 - 2045 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

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The 2017 Sigalas Rabaud is a little cedary to begin, giving way to a good core of spiced pears and warm peaches notes with hints of honeysuckle and chanterelle mushrooms. The palate is wonderfully crisp, lifting the decadent richness, finishing long and fruity. Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

The light gold colored 2017 Château Sigalas Rabaud is a honeyed, sweetly fruited, full-bodied Sauternes that offers classic tropical fruits, peach, and caramelized pineapple aromas and flavors. It has terrific botrytis character, a big texture, yet the freshness and purity that’s the hallmark of this vintage. Rating: 91-94 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)

A fresher style with dried apples, mangoes and honey that follow through to a medium body, sweet undertones and a crisp finish. Rating: 89-90 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

Bommes. 95% Sémillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc. Herbs and candied lemon on the nose. Very tangy lemon on the palate. Tight and zesty with excellent freshness balanced by a creamy rounded texture. Drinking range: 2025 - 2037 Rating: 17 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

A bright, high-pitched style, with fig, pear and green almond notes that are quite backward now but show length and zip as they pick up honeysuckle and white ginger accents on the finish. An interesting wine in the making. Rating: 91-94 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2018)

This is 95% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Blanc. The vines here seemed to escape the frost, and yields were good. This barrel sample has a very bright, pure and defined character, leading with scents of white peach alongside notes of quartz and green pear. This is really quite superb on the palate, very modern in style, with flavours of bright white peach, lychee, vanilla flower and salted orange slices. It is bright, acid-fresh, minerally too. An excellent composition overall, focused and fresh. This is a superb wine, but in the very brightest, most modern, purest style. Rating: 94-96 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)

Sauternes Premier Cru 1855 At 14ha, Sigalas-Rabaud is the smallest of the Premier Cru Sauternes estates. It has been owned by the same family since Henri de Sigalas purchased Château Rabaud in 1863. His son, Pierre, sold off a good portion of the estate in 1903 to Adrien Promis, giving rise to the neighbouring Château Rabaud-Promis. Oddly, between 1929 and 1949, the two estates employed the same Estate Manager and they were virtually run as one, but they are today quite seperate. The vineyards are planted with 98% Semillon and just 2% Sauvignon Blanc. The influence of oak in Sigalas-Rabaud is, perhaps, a little lower than other Sauternes. Until 1990, wines were fermented in stainless-steel and aged only partially in wood. Even today, although fermented and aged in barrique, only a third of barrels are new each year.