Château Filhot: Tasting & Drinking
Although Château Filhot has enjoyed new and invigorating ownership for some decades now, it does maintain – based on my recent tastings – a distinctive Filhot style. As it remains affordable and continues to enjoy wide distribution I still suspect, as I wrote when I first published this profile in 2004, that the wines of Château Filhot not infrequently serve as an introduction to Sauternes for many. For some, those that find the wines of Sauternes simply too rich, the lighter, fresher, less challenging Filhot may be the perfect after-dinner wine. Indeed, I know of some who prefer the freshness of these wines over some grander, rather more lush and certainly more oaky wines tasted alongside. They are the lucky ones, as those richer styles are usually rather more expensive.
Those that find the Château Filhot style unmoving, however, would do well to bite the financial bullet and try a wine from one of Filhot’s neighbours, as there are as many styles in Sauternes and Barsac as there are estates, and there should be something there to please everybody. Alternatively, look to more recent successful vintages with Filhot itself; 2001 was a benchmark wine for the estate, in a great vintage, and it has performed very well on more recent tasting. More-richly styled and warm vintages tend to produce a wine more appealing to my palate, so thereafter I would plump for 2003 or 2005, but 2007 – a crisper, more vibrant vintage – would do for those who value freshness and acidity above all else.
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