Quite a stunning decision made by Xavier Planty, co-owner and CEO of Château Guiraud, a Sauternes classé. He decides to settle the price of his 2016 Guiraud prior the venue of all the critics from around the world.
To be clear : if, in the past, it was obvious that the scores of Monsieur Parker were a key for settling the prices of the wine inside the châteaux, it is also obvious that, after his return to a softer life, nobody was able to put their feet inside his shoes.
So, now, the decision of Xavier Planty is a revolutionary move towards more independance for the properties and they do not wait anxiously the scores of some critics before giving a price to the Négoces.
Here, with Mark permission, the email I got from Xavier Planty :
PRESS RELEASE | 23.03.2017
A few words from Xavier Planty :
“The dialogue between Château Guiraud and Nature ties a sincere relationship with mankind”
For the last 35 years, and, amongst those, 10 years with partners of great quality, restoring Château Guiraud, searching for the highest expression of this place, the achievement of the promise of the name of the Château, and the requirements of a First Classified Growth in 1855, has always been the way I chose. This pledge holds in a few words, inseparable from Château Guiraud.
I have always thought that viticulture has to be tied to Nature, to support the vineyard in order to find harmony in the glass. Now, the property reveals itself as a conservatory for a very large biodiversity, focusing on, by Nature, the expression and the balance of the terroir.
Château Guiraud is fuelled by a total freedom of thought, with the target of a global ecological research. We do think that there is always an alternative to what we know. “Massale” selection, edge plantations, organic vineyard management, etc, are all actions showing the pioneering character of Château Guiraud in many sectors.
The real essence of the Grand Vin is to provide an intense emotion provoked by its tension and by the sensations the wine generates, coming from the precision in the pickings and the research for the purest expression of the botrytis.
Château Guiraud reflects authenticity, staying coherent with the ethic of the name Château Guiraud, to respect the consumer. The relation between the men who produce the wine, and those who drink it must be sincere, we say what we do, and we do what we say. The whole history of Château Guiraud is based on friendship, that’s its strength.
I am always very grateful to all those professionals who come from all over the world to taste our wines. I wish for spontaneous and benevolent encounters and relations, and would like them welcomed with care that is at the level of the quality of our wines.
To help this, our release price will be known before the 2016 primeur tastings, so that the wine can be tasted in context.
As a conclusion, let me share this phrase from the great cook and aesthete Raymond Oliver:
“My joy is at its peak when I find a bottle of Chateau Guiraud, I find again the plane trees aisle, the virginia creeper on the pigeon house, the sound of the chain in the well and my blue feeling melts in nostalgia, and my nostalgia in tenderness…” Raymond Oliver, Cuisine pour mes amis, Albin Michel Paris 1976.
The whole team at Chateau Guiraud, 1st Classified Growth in 1855, wishes you a very good Primeur Tasting week.