Sauternes Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend

2010 vintage ( half bottle). Looks fairly young, compared to Liot 2010 tasted alongside. But it suffers from the comparison in nose and taste. Less abundant and complex than both Liot 2010 and Guiraud 2009. Good, but not as good as expected.

2009 vintage ( half bottle). Looks more evolved than the 2010 tasted alongside. But it is also much more complex. Intense perfume showing an abundance of noble rot, with roasted nuts, pineapple, honey, and a hint of thyme. Concentrated and layered, perfectly balanced and very long. Seems to be a notch above the 2010 today

2005 vintage. A big, powerful Guiraud, with lots of botrytis, depth and length.

1996 vintage. Amber coloured. Intense, complex. Maybe not in the same league as the impressive 2005 tasted alongside at the château, but very good indeed.

2014 vintage. Very tight, with that great 2014 acidity that balances the richness of this great vintage. Still a baby, needs many more years, but I can see this becoming one of the legendary Guiraud Sauternes in 10 years time. Conservative score for now.

Toasted honey and heather, so rich, but the sweetness seems to be dialing back a bit with age. Nice acids and great persistence.

Second Sauternes pairing with my homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Didn’t use the additional crushed pineapple this time. Both preparations are very good. I think I prefer it w/ less pineapple.

In 2014 I attended the Bordeaux En Premiere. One of the six days, we toured 8 Chateau’s tasting multiple vintages at each in Sauternes & Barsac. Then, went back to Chateau Guiraud for dinner. Before the dinner, Bill Blatch then arranged for a Sauternes tasting after tasting at 8 Chateau’s in Saternes & Barsac. We tasted 50 Sauternes in basically in 60 minutes. After that, my hand was like Winne the Poo in the honey jar from dumping. After, my wish wasn’t necessarily for the forthcoming dinner, but rather wished to go to a Dentist for a teeth cleaning I had so much RS in my mouth. None the less, dinner was fantastic and started with warm Foie Gras & gravy. Perfect as is w/ the Pineapple Upside Down Cake tonight.

This 05 is everything that you taste in the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Perfect paring. Newly a quarter century and no fading in its evolution.

Dry; stone fruits, pineapple, orange citrus, pineapple. Marmalade, caramel, saline, limestone, honeycomb, beeswax, coconut, vanilla, saline, round acidity with yellow florals, toasted nuts with round acidity for days. Elegance, balance, structure and round, rich polish that goes in and on. Coravined from 375ml.

Bill Batch (who worked for Cristy’s & owned his own negotiate company) has somewhere around 5,000 bottles of Sauternes. He does a Sauternes & Sausage party bi-annually. Good luck getting a well sought after invitation. There are more people in Bordeaux who want to attend then there are available invitations.

Superb. Nose has apricot and cherry jam, burnt honey, sandalwood, and moist earth. Rich in the mouth, loads of honeyed and earthy notes.

Vintage 2001 | paired with Tarte Tatin

Columbia County 3.0: Apparently I’m one wine away from my 2,000th reviewed on Delectable, which is probably an odd milestone I would not have even conceived of when starting. What better way to celebrate than with the queen bee of wines (?), royalty w grace : an utterly intense & laser- focused Sauternes. Apricot & pineapple perfumed to the point of raising the rafters. Floods the mouth w quince, candied apricot & pineapple. This may be only its half life, & that’s understating it.