I don’t tend to drink dessert style wines, and I don’t eat a lot of foie gras, the culinary match of Sauternes.  Wines like this make me wonder whether that’s a substantial error.  The Sauternes region in Bordeaux produces one of the great sweet wine styles of the world with the best examples combining length, power and complexity with refreshing acidity.  Château Guiraud are among the top tier of Sauternes producers, and have produced an outstanding Sauternes here from the 1989 vintage.  The “g” in Guiraud is pronounced, I am reliably informed, as a hard “g” as in “good”, rather than a soft “g” as in “jump”.  Or was it the other way …  Anyway, back to the wine.  The 1989 vintage tasted here has aromatics of caramel, honey and botrytis.  The palate is an exercise in great Sauternes, with long length, cedar, marmalade, spice and caramel flavours and considerable complexity.  Sauternes at its finest.

Rating: Outstanding
Abv: not recorded
Price: $n/a
Vendors and website: http://chateauguiraud.fr/en/
Tasted: 2015