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Suduiraut 2020

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Sauternes and Barsac
ColourSweet White
TypeStill
Grape VarietySauvignon Blanc/Semillon

One of the greatest châteaux of Sauternes. Suduiraut was purchased by AXA Millesimes in 1992 and is run by the same team as Pichon Baron in Pauillac. The vineyard is planted with 90% Sémillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc.

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Label

Tasting Notes

The 2020 Suduiraut, 100% Semillon, is pale to medium lemon-gold in color. It needs a little swirling to unlock vibrant scents of apple pie, pineapple upside-down cake, and pear tart, followed by hints of saffron, crushed stones, salted almonds, and acacia honey with a hint of jasmine tea. The palate is a firework display of pears, apples, baking spices, and floral notes, framed by a racy backbone and creamy texture, finishing long and layered.

97
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent, March 2023

A Sauternes with tart tartine, cooked apple and caramel. It’s full-bodied, juicy and sweet, yet there’s lots of caramel and spice, too, such as cloves. Comes across almost dry. But lots of sweetness. Pure semillon. Unique. Tiny production.

97/98
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2021

Full of pleasure, silky and richly textured, easy to sink into but carefully measured at the same time, addings its layers of orange peel, bloody orange, white pepper spice and truffle slowly but surely as it inches through the palate. Tiny floral notes accompany the saline minerality on the finish. Almost no botrytis in September, and then when the weather deteriorated at the end of September things really became a bit worrying. But they were able to hold on until October 19 (after stopping at the end of September, I imagine needing nerves of steel). Yields of around 8hl/ha. 3,000 cases of Suduiraut. 137g/l of residual sugar. A great example of what botrytis does - the pH is at 4, so the freshness comes from the bitterness of botrytis not high acidities.

Drinking Window 2022 - 2045

96
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, May 2021

Bright gold colour in the glass. Honeyed ginger and dried herbs on the nose with a core of peachy fruit. The palate is generous and fleshy with pineapple fruit and earthy marmalade notes. Spicy and complex with layered saffron and white pepper. Fresh and juicy acids find balance on a long, honeyed finish.

93/96
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, April 2021

100% Sémillon. RS 137 g/l. Essentially produced from the third (19 to end October) and fourth (2–6 November) tris. Cask sample.
Golden hue but still a little cloudy. Pure aromatics with peach and nectarine notes to the fore. Palate rich, fat and unctuous but balanced by the zesty, bitter-edged note of the botrytis. Very little acidity but there’s freshness all the same. Pretty long finish as well. (JL) 14%
Drink 2026 – 2045

17+
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2021

(100% SM; 137g/l RS)
Picked late, over the last two weeks of October and the first week of November, this is 100% Semillon, with a very pure botrytis, and is surprisingly fresh in impression, even if the acidity is not high (the pH is 4), meaning the actual acidity is relatively low for a Sauternes. Orange-gold; intense, fresh, honey and citrus nose; concentrated, nicely defined by its (moderate) acidity, sweet (but not exceptionally so), tight, complex, and racy, long and elegant and fat yet contained, with a great tenacity of flavor, and great botrytis-spiced persistence. Elegant, classy, complete. Perhaps a slightly more slender expression of Suduiraut in its recent context, but this is gorgeous: a rare, top-notch 2020 Sauternes.

92/94
Michael Schuster, The World of Fine Wine, May 2021
Read more tasting notes...

Made from 100% Semillon, the 2020 Suduiraut is being aged for 16 to 20 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. It has 14% alcohol and 137 grams per liter of residual sugar. Pale to medium lemon-gold in color, aromas of pineapple upside-down cake, green mango and peach preserves tumble effortlessly out of the glass, followed by hints of honeycomb, preserved ginger and allspice. The palate is rich and decadent, delivering a seductively oily texture and just enough freshness to lift the long, spicy finish. 2027 - 2045

93/95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate, May 2021
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.