CHÂTEAU SUDUIRAUT

The 2020 Suduiraut is 100% Sémillon this year, picked at 8.5hl/ha via four tries through the vineyard from September 16 all the way through to November 5. It has a ripe nose of dried honey, orange blossom and mango scents, plus touches of beeswax and almond. The palate is thick and viscous on the entry, then dense and powerful, with light spicy notes toward the finish. A grandiose Sauternes, very persistent, revealing a hint of white pepper on the aftertaste. Tasted from test tube sample and 75cl bottle, the latter far superior and, I would wager, much more representative. Drinking range: 2025 - 2050 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)

(100 Semillon) 50% new oak and 50% one-year-old oak for 16-20 months 14% alc. 137 g/l residual sugar With very low yields of 8.5hL/ha, Suduiraut picked its grapes in four tries in 2020 and the first two, which were a little earlier in the picture, were deemed too light and lacking in concentration and they were downgraded (presumably into Castelnau). However, because of a dry September and therefore a late onset of botrytis, a third trie starting on 19th October and a fourth starting on the 2nd November yielded sensational noble rot-touched grapes. The resulting flavour is amazingly decadent with layers of honey and marmalade, nougat and quince. It is a firm wine, too, with stunning acidity underpinning the lusty fruit. Closed and noble, this will take a good decade to unfurl but when it does I am sure that this will be a great vintage for Suduiraut with exceptional staying power, too. Rating: 19+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)

Full of pleasure, silky and richly textured, easy to sink into but carefully measured at the same time, addings its layers of orange peel, bloody orange, white pepper spice and truffle slowly but surely as it inches through the palate. Tiny floral notes accompany the saline minerality on the finish. Almost no botrytis in September, and then when the weather deteriorated at the end of September things really became a bit worrying. But they were able to hold on until October 19 (after stopping at the end of September, I imagine needing nerves of steel). Yields of around 8hl/ha. 3,000 cases of Suduiraut. 137g/l of residual sugar. A great example of what botrytis does - the pH is at 4, so the freshness comes from the bitterness of botrytis not high acidities. Drinking range: 2022 - 2045 Rating: 96 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)

100% Sémillon. RS 137 g/l. Essentially produced from the third (19 to end October) and fourth (2–6 November) tris. Cask sample. Golden hue but still a little cloudy. Pure aromatics with peach and nectarine notes to the fore. Palate rich, fat and unctuous but balanced by the zesty, bitter-edged note of the botrytis. Very little acidity but there’s freshness all the same. Pretty long finish as well. Drinking range: 2026 - 2045 Rating: 17+ James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)