Presentation
Castelnau de Suduiraut is a wine with a distinctive character for which the groundwork is prepared far in advance, even down to the choice of specific plots to give it its own unique identity.
Made from portions of the harvest that are expressive earlier than those used for Château Suduiraut, this wine with aromas of candied yellow fruit, quince, frangipani, mild spices and a hint of minerality is more approachable when young in terms of tasting than its elder.
The vintage
- Moderately rainy and cold winter until February, then milder weather returned.
- 1st and 2nd April: a severe frost episode affected the vineyard. Loss of 40% on our yield.
- May/June: rapid flowering and the phenological stages ensued rapidly.
- Mid-June: first heat wave. End of June: between 5 and 30% of our vineyard was affected, depending on the plot, by thunderstorms with some hail.
- Hot, dry summer with high temperatures.
- End of July: relatively fast veraison.
- Mid-August: some rainfall beneficial to the vines.
Harvest
The harvest for the sweet wines took place between 20th September and 27th October with a total of 3 selective pickings.
The vineyard had many raisined grapes, a consequence of the hot, dry weather. We decided to harvest this part from 20th September and finished this first picking on 27th September.
In early October, rain and frequent fog helped Botrytis to set in. It developed slowly but steadily throughout the vineyard. We started the second picking on 17th October. This picking started as usual, with well-established Botrytis, but careful selection was necessary to obtain the desired concentration. The harvest was rich and of a very high quality. The only drawback was the small quantity produced. We finished this picking on 24th October, having harvested most of the crop. We continued with the third picking, which ended on 27th October.
The quality was exceptional, with a small yield of 7 hectolitres per hectare.
The vintage was beautifully concentrated, powerful and generous with a strong presence of Botrytis.
Ageing
20% in new barrels
80% in old barrels, for 15 months
Varietals
Sémillon : 93%
Sauvignon blanc : 7%
Specifications
Alcohol content : 13.5 % vol.
Residual Sugar : 160 g/l
Total acidity : 3.6 g/l
