Image credit: chateauguiraud.com
Set off in good time for the drive to Luton, in fact the travel out to Bordeaux was much better than the stormy weather at Luton a strong tail wind mean't we arrived 20 minutes early! Weather in Bordeaux didn't improve as grey and murky skies welcomed me onto French turf.
My first tasting at Chateau Guiraud wasn't until 6 pm so I managed to meet up with Bill Blatch and Steve Webb who were at the Vintex tasting to try some Sauternes. With only 10 minutes I had speed tasting just to give myself an idea of the overall quality of the stickies. Stylistically it is more like the 2007 and 2011 vintages with good acidity and freshness and not as bold and concentrated as the 2005 and 2009 vintages. The fruit, though seems more precise and defined than the 07 and 11's so might be inching towards 2001 quality. I will re-taste most of the Sauternes at Chateau La Lagune later on in the week... So final judgement is reserved until then.
The Chateau Guiraud tasting was a private invite from Xavier Planty, Robert Peugeot (owner of Guiraud), Olivier Bernard (owner of Domaine de Chevalier), Stephan von Neipperg who owners, Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, Clos de L'Oratore, D'Aiguilhe and Clos Marsalette. My wine of the tasting was La Mondotte, closely followed by Domaine de Chevalier Rouge and Guiraud. At the lower end the Clos des Lunes, Argent which is a white made by the team at Dom de Chevalier was good, a little fresh however that's because it's only just out of nappies and the Comtes von Neipperg, Chateau D'Aiguilhe which is a Cotes de Castillon was impressive..
From Sauternes I headed back to the Entre-deux-mers to stay at Chateau de Sours. Situated only 20 mins from St Emilion its a quick sprint to my first tasting at 9am at the Salle des Dominicains for the Syndicat St Emilion tasting.
Thanks for tuning in... more tomorrow.
