Château Guiraud: Vineyards
The Château Guiraud estate covers 128 hectares, of which currently 110 are dedicated to the vine. When I initially published this profile about 85 hectares were committed to the production of traditional Sauternes, both grand vin and deuxième vin, whereas the remainder was dedicated to the production of the estate’s dry wine. Today these figures have shifted somewhat, typical of the move towards dry wine in the region. Today only about half of the vineyard is dedicated to Sauternes, with about half used for dry wine. While it sells for less, it sells more quickly, and in greater volumes. Here, as elsewhere in the region, the dry wine supports the survival of the sweet.
The top soils have a typical gravelly character with some intermixed clay in areas, although dig more deeply and the picture is more varied, with some red and white clay, areas of limestone marl, sand and numerous fossilised oysters. The vines are 65% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc on the usual Riparia, 3309, 101-14 and 161-49 rootstocks. The vines have an average age of about 40 years, and are planted at a density of between 6,660 and 7,200 vines per hectare.
The high proportion of Sauvignon Blanc (the norm in the appellation is more like 15%) harks back to the mid-20th century, when the over-enthusiastic but misdirected Rival undertook an extensive replanting with only this variety. There were also red varieties planted during this time, as Sauternes continued to sell poorly, and what vines were planted were in rows running east-west rather than the preferable north-south.
