1996 Château Suduiraut

Community Tasting Notes (48) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  4/7/2024 - lozatron Likes this wine:

  Kentish Feast (Petts Wood): I struggle with notes for sweet wines but here goes...gold colour (in real life not quite as deep as the pic) lovely richness and mouthfeel. A hint of apple pie with raisins in. Great length. Went very well with blood orange tart.

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  2/13/2023 - Eric wrote:

  Very pretty in the glass, glowing gold and amber, apricot, wow, so pure, maple, apricot and white pepper. Really lovely.

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  1/14/2023 - forceberry wrote: 95 Points

  A blend of Sémillon (90%) and Sauvignon Blanc (10%). Aged for 18-24 months in French oak barriques (approx. 1/3 new, 1/3 once used and 1/3 older). 13,5% alcohol. Tasted blind in a 1996-themed tasting.
  
  Deep, luminous and quite intense golden-yellow color. Very intense nose with a pronounced streak of saffron, followed by quite unctuous aromas of acacia honey and Sultana raisins, some tinned pineapple tones, a little bit of fruit cocktail syrup, light lifted nuances of minty greenness, a hint of dried peach and a touch of vanilla custard. Very classically styled Suduiraut bouquet. The wine feels broad, very rich and slightly oily on the palate with a full body and sweet flavors of saffron and dried pineapple, some overripe peach tones, a little bit of Sultana raisin, light oaky nuances of caramel and vanilla custard, a hint of spicy bitterness and a touch of honey. Despite its richness and somewhat viscous mouthfeel, the medium-to-moderately high acidity manages to lend good sense of freshness to the wine and keeps it from coming across as too sticky. The finish is rich, juicy and wonderfully complex with a very long and intensely flavored aftertaste of pineapple and saffron, some evolved caramel tones, a little bit of vanilla custard, light Sultana nuances, a hint of overripe peach and a touch of browned butter.
  
  An utterly delicious, classically styled and so harmonious vintage of Suduiraut. Even if the wine is from the period before the Château started to invest in quality (2001 onward, I believe), it still shows the Suduiraut hallmarks of concentration and almost unctuous fruit yet being at the same time surprisingly fresh and balanced, not overdoing the sweetness, alcohol or just that general richness. There is great sense of balance and harmony here. And lots of those classic saffron notes of an aged Sauternes, intermingling with beautiful tertiary notes of caramel and dried exotic fruits. I immediately guessed Sauternes before even tasting the wine, and when asked for the producer after I had tasted the wine, I guessed 1996 Suduiraut. Right on spot with the first guess. An excellent wine.

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  11/15/2021 - SimonG wrote: 90 Points

  Neil’s Langoa Barton @ Hawksmoor (Hawksmoor, Guildhall): 50cl. Mid to full gold. Some botrytis, but the clean fruity style rather than medicinal. Decent attack. Freshness rather than overt sweetness. ***1/2

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  10/25/2020 - rwpalmer wrote: 91 Points

  Having generally panned this and most 1996 Sauternes for having off-flavours and lack of richness, this bottle was clean and attractive if lacking the concentration, complexity and botrytis of a top vintage.

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