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Uutiset
COMMENTAIRES MILLESIMES 2001
Xavier PLANTY Sauternes, le 10 Juillet 2002 Quand le botrytis, le vent et le soleil sont au rendez-vous des Sémillons et des Sauvignons, le millésime de SAUTERNES est grand !! Voici la raison de la réussite générale du millésime 2001. GUIRAUD 2001 est assurément, le vin le plus précis du millésime. Le risque était de se laisser prendre par une concentration extrême qui aurait donné des vins très riches, mais au dépend de la finesse et de l'élégance. GUIRAUD 2001 présente des aromes intenses de raisins mûrs, de fleur d'aubépine, de fruit frais avec une pointe mentholée qui caractérise le cru. Le botrytis est terriblement là avec des senteurs de poivre frais, de thé noir et le côté sauvage et mystérieux qui appelle à le garder en bouteilles. L'impression en bouche est superbe, le toucher est doux, suave mais vigoureux. L'impression tonique du botrytis est amplifiée par une grande fraîcheur. Les aromes de bouche amplifient le nez : le botrytis les présentent maintenant confits, sapides et d'une très grande définition et pureté. Le retour est long. Jamais la puissance en sucre ne donne de lourdeur : c'est la magie des sucres naturels sublimés par le botrytis. La liqueur est fraîche et aérienne. Puissance, Finesse et Elégance sont le triangle magique d'un grand vin.
Le journal du médecin/ 5 avril 2002
La victoire du botrytis Château Guiraud (16.5/20). Nez suave dés le premier contact, évoquant plutôt la poire très mûre. La bouche se donne avec bonheur, montre la fine note d'amertume, de zeste citronné qui tient lieu d'indispensable compagnon de dégustation. Succulente palette moelleuse en finale.
DECANTER juin 2002
Sauternes et Barsac **** Highly Recommended Château Guiraud Elegantly aromatic. Rich, creamy and complex, with real weight and power. This wine promises a long evolution. Ready from 2009.
Wine Spectator 28 mars 2002
Classic -Scoring 2001 Sauternes From Barre! Chateau Guiraud Sauternes 2001 95-100 You can spread this on toast. Lots of lemon rind, pineapple and honey on the nose. Full-bodied, very oily and spicy, yet backward and not giving much now. Nonetheless, superb potential.
La Revue du Vin de France - juin 2002
Bordeaux Primeurs 2001 **** Château Guiraud La robe est brillante et d'un bel or. Le nez associe avec un grand charme les notes d'agrumes confits (citron, mandarine) et la bouche se développe avec beaucoup d'onctuosité et de volume, avec, comme souvent chez Guiraud, une certaine retenue, qui demandera plusieurs années de vieillissement pour s'évanouir et développer toute la grâce du cru.
LE POINT - 24 mai 2002
Bordeaux le millésime 2001 Guiraud 17.5 - Bel or frais, un bouquet net, fruit mûrs et rôti superbe, bouche dense, habillée par le boisé ; un style racé, raffiné, tout en élégance, bien construit, long en finale sur des notes capiteuses. O=2010 G=50 ans
Wine Spectator - 28 mars 2002
Tasting notes Château Guiraud 2001 95 - 100
GaultMillau - juin 2002
Château Guiraud 96 - 100 Si un premier échantillon s'est révélé défectueux, la dégustation des diverses barriques au château a montré un vin très élégant, superbement botrytisé, beaucoup plus fin que d'habitude tout en gardant sa légendaire puissance. Ce sera une grande réussite.
Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
The annual production for the first growth is about 100.000 bottles. Some really bad years (1991 and 1993) No classified growth has been produced.The first growth is produced from a 85ha of Sauternes appellation vines.
Only Semillon (65%) and Sauvignon (35%) are planted at Guiraud with a pruning "à cots" or "in fan" for the Semillons and long branches for the Sauvignons. The density of plantation is 6660 vine per ha (Root stock Riparia 33 09, 101 14,161 49). The average age of the vines is 35-40 years. The average yield is 12hl/ha. The maximum yield allowed by the appellation is 25hl/ha.
Harvest is only done hand picking by successive waves through the vineyard (2 to 7 selections), picking only the botrytised berries. A minimum of potential alcohol (20°) must be reached before starting the harvest. The fermentation is made in new oak barrels over a period of three weeks to two months. Different batches are fermentated until they reach their own equilibrium which depends upon their selection. Chaptalisation, cryoextraction and any other techniques used to enrich the wine are absolutely prohibited. The aging in barrels lasts 24 months.
Wine Information
When botrytis, wind and sun have an appointment with both Semillon and Sauvignon, Sauternes vintage is great. Guiraud 2001 is for sure the most precise wine of the vintage.The risk was to be taken by an extreme concentration
which would have given very rich wines, lacking of elegance and subtlety.
GUIRAUD 2001 presents intense aromas, hawthorn flowers, fresh fruit, with a minty note which characterizes the
vintage. The botrytis is terribly here, with fresh pepper, black tea flavours and a mysterious and wild side which calls for keeping it in the bottle.The feeling in mouth is magnificent, soft, but robust. The tonic feeling of the botrytis is amplified by a great
freshness. Mouth aromas strengthens up the nose : the botrytis now shows them crystallized, of great precision and purity.
The aftertaste is long. The sugar power never gives heaviness:
It is the magic of natural sugars sublimated by botrytis. The liquor is fresh and light.
Power, elegance and subtlety are the magic ingredients of a great wine.
The " Noble House of Bayle " used to be estate's name when it belonged to the Mons Saint-Poly family. A notarial deed dated 22 February 1766 reveals that Pierre Guiraud, a Bordeaux merchant of Protestant faith, bought it for 53,000 livres.
On his death in 1799 his son Louis succeeded him. It was under Louis Guiraud that the estate was saved from a severe devaluation which had begun in 1793, becoming a famous château well known for its wine.
On his death in 1837, his son Pierre-Aman inherited a well-established property, with a value estimated at 250,00 livres.
Within 80 years and three generations, various families succeeded each other as owners of the estate. The legend was born in1855 when Château Guiraud became a Premier Grand Cru de Sauternes.
During a dinner in early 2006, Robert Peugeot, an industrialist, and three wine makers, Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier, Stephan Von Neipperg of Château Canon La Gaffelière and Xavier Planty, the estate's director, decided to buy Guiraud. They signed a purchase contract on 20 July 2006 thereby uniting their shared passion for wine, gastronomy, nature and hunting.
Château Guiraud
Area: 85 ha
Soil: 80% sandy gravel and clayey gravel for the remainder
Sub-soil: deep translucent sand, pure gravel with some banks of red clay and limestone marl,bands of limestone with oyster shells or red and white clays
Density: 6,600 vines/ha
Rootstock: Riparia, 33 09, 101 14, 161 49
Average age of vines: 35-40 years
Harvests: uniquely by hand, with successive selective pickings (2-6 pickings) of botrytised
grapes. A minimum potential alcohol level of 20° is required to begin harvesting
Fermentation: 90% in new barrels, 10% in barrels that have already aged one wine,for a period of three weeks to two months
Maturation: in barrels, on fine lees, for 18 to 24 months depending on the year, with racking every three months
Production: 100,000 bottles of Château Guiraud
30,000 bottles of Dauphin de Guiraud, Château Guiraud’s second wine 50,000 bottles of G de Château Guiraud, dry white Bordeaux
Owners: Robert Peugeot for FFP, Stephan von Neipperg, Olivier Bernard and Xavier Planty
Vuosikerta 2001
Bordeaux / The year 2001 is known as the year of the winegrowers. The whole of Bordeaux suffered from a lot of rain and the resulting noble rot. Sauternes has been producing its best wines for decades, and there is good reason to talk about the Sauternes revolution. The best wine of the year is clearly Yquem. Parker's hundred-point Yquem sold for 300 euros en primeur, and today the price is 600 euros per bottle.
For red wines, the year was difficult. Cabernet Sauvignon, thanks to its thicker skin, did better than Merlot. The cold, rainy and cloudy growing period caused the grapes to ripen too slowly. The areas had to work more intensively. The grapes were rather small and produced concentrated wines. Latour can be considered the best buy. Good buys also include Ausone, Pétrus and Le Pin.
Sauternes Vintage Report: Rapid appearance of botrytis on ripe grapes, rich in sugar. Ideal October: brief rainstorms, high temperatures, windy and sunny afternoons. Very sweet but balanced wines with pronounced noble rot and remarkable complexity. A memorable year and very uniform success for all liqueurs.