Château Filhot
Château Filhot was, for me, an early Sauternes discovery. A little less than three decades ago I recall the market was awash with 1990 Château Filhot, and the bottles seemed to linger on the shelves for a very long time. For many years, every wine merchant, wine bar and even the occasional rough-and-ready corner-shop off-licence seemed to have its own stock of this vintage. It soon became what I referred to as ‘the ubiquitous Sauternes‘.
In fact, Château Filhot is rather more ubiquitous than you might think. At 350 hectares this is the largest estate in the region, and even though only a small part of this is dedicated to viticulture the volumes produced here are still a lot greater than at many neighbouring properties. In addition, the significant proportion of Sauvignon Blanc in the vineyard tended to yield a less rich style of wine, and during the 1980s the then-proprietor, the late Comte Henri de Vaucelles (1937 – 2015) used no wood for élevage, preferring to age his wines in fibreglass cuves.
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