Château Guiraud: Tasting & Drinking
Opinions on the wines of Château Guiraud vary somewhat, with some picking the estate out from among the eleven premiers crus for specific criticism, and this may reflect some under-performances based on the excess of Sauvignon Blanc in past vintages. More recent vintages that I have tasted have been at least good, some very good, although on occasion some do disappoint. My usual complaint when it came to older vintages was a lack of focus, the wines tending to veer sometimes towards an overly rich style, infused with intense orange-barley and marmalade characteristics.
Nevertheless, in great vintages such as 2001 or 2011 the estate can certainly excel, and there has certainly been a move towards a fresher and more elegant style in more recent years under the direction of Xavier and now Luc Planty.
Looking first to the most recent vintages, in the last fifteen years I have rated 2016 and 2015 quite highly, but prior to these two vintages you have to go back to the very generous 2011, 2010 and 2009 vintages to find really exciting wines. The 2007 and 2005 vintages were also very promising, and of course 2001 was superb, this being a great vintage for the appellation.
Many other vintages hold some appeal. The 2020 was a good result in what was not a strong vintage for Sauternes, although 2019 was probably slightly superior. The 2017 vintage gave a good result, but in a year afflicted by frost the volume produced was very small. More than was made in 2018, however, when a summer hailstorm meant no grand vin was produced at all. The wines of 2014 and 2013 are fairly smart, more so than 2012, another difficult vintage, one in which a number of neighbours released no grand vin.
