2022 Château Guiraud Sauternes Bordeaux France Wine Tasting Note
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The debut vintage for Sandrine Garaby pops as soon as the wine hits your glass with notes of honeyed pineapples, custard, saffron, ginger snaps, crème brûlée, and flowers that fill the perfume. The palate is even better with its energetic jolt of luscious, sweet, tropical fruits bathed in honey with more of that saffron complexity that comes in at the end of the finish. Drink from 2026-2055. 778 Views Tasted Mar 25, 2025Honeysuckle, roasted nuts, ginger, and pineapple nuances are everywhere here. The palate, with its freshness, sweet, lemon curd, and pineapple, with a touch of chalk hits everything just right. This is the debut of this new wine from Guiraud which is the brainchild of Sandrine Garbay. The wine truly tastes exactly like what you want from a dry Sauternes. Drink from 2025-2035. 354 Views Tasted Mar 1, 2025The first vintage with Sandrine Garaby, formerly of Chateau d'Yquem in charge is the winner you knew it would be. The wine is intense, rich, deep, and manages to balance its layers of roasted, ripe, and over ripe pineapples, mango, candied orange, vanilla, almond, and apricots perfectly. The fruits are slathered with honey, yet they retain that all important freshness as well. Drink from 2025-2050. 94-96 Pts. 2,575 Views Tasted May 8, 2023 |
When to Drink Chateau Guiraud, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Chateau Guiraud can be enjoyed on the young side with no decanting. In fact, it is delicious and quite a treat young, even on release! However, like all great wines, Chateau Guiraud is much better with age and does not reach full maturity until it's between 12-30 years of age, or in some years, perhaps even longer in the best vintages!
That is when the magic happens! But that is unrealistic for 99% of the world's wine drinkers. So, enjoy it on any special occasion that calls for it.
Of course, the wine is sweet, but there is so much, incredible, racy acidity, the wine always feels fresh, and never cloying, which makes it quite fun to enjoy young. With Chateau Guiraud and frankly, all Sauternes, the temperature is more important than decanting.
Serving Chateau Guiraud with Wine and Food Pairings
Chateau Guiraud is best served at 14 degrees Celsius, 57 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift. The wine will naturally warm in the glass, while it develops more aromatic complexities and fleshes out.
Chateau Guiraud can be served with seafood dishes, especially shellfish, lobster, crab, and oysters on the half shell. Foie gras is a perfect pairing with its natural sweet, salty, and savory characteristics. Chateau Guiraud can also be paired with roasted chicken, veal, and pork dishes that are either spicy or prepared with a touch of sweetness.
Spicy Asian cuisine, raw fish, like sushi or sashimi, and cheese, both hard and soft also make great pairings with Chateau Guiraud.