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.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.

Tasted by Jane Anson(at Primeur week tastings in Bordeaux, 01 May 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

With 137 grams per liter of residual sugar, the 2020 Suduiraut possesses an exotic, deep bouquet of litchi, mango, pineapple, peach and ripe orchard fruits. Medium to full-bodied, dense and concentrated with a stunning rôti—the French term for the consequence of noble rot—it’s layered and textured with a fleshy core of fruit and a perfumed finish with notes of curry leaf and ginger, underlined by a gastronomic bitterness. The harvest took place between September 16 and November 5, encompassing one of the longest in the contemporary estate’s history yet yielding a mere 8.5 hectoliters per hectare. This 100% Sémillon was matured for 20 months in 50% new oak barrels and 50% one-year-old barrels and will offer a broad drinking window.

With yields of only 8 hectoliters per hectare, the wine shows off its honey, roasted nut, candied orange rind, pineapple, stone, butter and overripe yellow tropical fruit profile with ease. On the palate the wine is rich, opulent, sweet and fresh with layers of candied yellow fruits, tangerine and nuts all coated with honey. Made from 100% Semillon for only the second time in the history of the estate, this is a serious sweet treat. 95-94

The 2020 Suduiraut is a powerful, heady wine. Embryonic today, it possesses tremendous depth and intensity from start to finish. Dried pear, chamomile, mint and dried flowers gradually emerge, but the 2020 is going to need quite a bit of time to fully come together. Even so, its potential is evident. A superb Sauternes in the making.

vinous.com

The 2020 Suduiraut is 100% Sémillon this year, picked at 8.5hl/ha via four tries through the vineyard from September 16 all the way through to November 5. It has a ripe nose of dried honey, orange blossom and mango scents, plus touches of beeswax and almond. The palate is thick and viscous on the entry, then dense and powerful, with light spicy notes toward the finish. A grandiose Sauternes, very persistent, revealing a hint of white pepper on the aftertaste. Tasted from test tube sample and 75cl bottle, the latter far superior and, I would wager, much more representative.

vinous.com

The peach-infused nose is reticent now and lacks some lift and flair. There's a good attack and the palate is orangey and quite concentrated. Although velvety, this has good underlying acidity that cuts the richness. It shows some stylish oak, giving it more complexity than the other 2020s, but it still lacks some persistence.

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.
Drink Date
2027 - 2045
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

(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.

Cask sample. Beautifully honeyed and botrytic, with mushroom, treacle, acacia, honeysuckle, crystallised ginger, mint chocolate and wonderfully indulgent length. There's a hint of green citrus too. Outstanding. (RH)

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)

100% Sémillon. Harvested 16 September to 5 November (4 tris). Yield 8.5 hl/ha. Aged 16–20 months in oak barrels (50% new, 50% one year). RS 137 g/l, TA 3.8. Golden hue. Surprising but distinctive lychee/Gewürztraminer fragrance. Touch of well-integrated oak on the palate. Rich, lush and concentrated but with a refreshing line of acidity. Clean, dry, minerally finish. (JL)

Tasted blind. A hint of nail varnish as well as ripe citrus but not much botrytis character. Simple and sweet, with confit lemon. (JH)