TN: 2005 Chateau Guiraud Sauternes

It looks like Sauternes, smells like Sauternes and vaguely tastes like Sauternes. The wine had some botrytis on the palate and just a bit of sweetness, but no full and rich mouthfeel like most other Sauternes that I have had. Also, it was lacking any real acidity. Bottom line is there is no way this is a high 90 point wine and top ten from Wine Spectator. Was it a bad bottle, the producer or the vintage…who knows? Hopefully other '05s won’t be this lackluster.

Maybe I am jaded because in the last month I have had '88, '90 and '01 d’Yquem.

that could be it. after any run of d’Yquem i avoid the Premier Cru Sauternes for awhile.

maybe it needs a decant?

Maybe it was the chewing tobacco you had in your mouth during the tasting?

Man, that’s rough. I had this a few months ago at the UGC tasting and it was classically, rockin’ Sauternes.

Agreed - that’s where I tasted it as well.

Seriously unimpressed with the bottle. Lacking pretty much everything, save the appearance of a Sauternes.

But wasn’t this in Wine Spectator’s Top 100? It must have been tasted blind numerous times and tasted in a lab too!

Nah, I’m just messing around . . .

I have had it twice. Good stuff. A lot of '05s, including whites and sweets, specifically the best wines, are in danger of beginning to shut down now FWIW. Could be the reason.

Indeed it was #4 on the Spectacle Top 100 this past go-round.

Shut down it must be, because it was just plain simple…and that is being generous.

your palate is far too wealthy to be drinking $50 Sauternes =P

I agree with your and Glenn’s assessment that it’s probably because you mentally compared it to the recent stronger vintage/mature Yquems. That said, my old notes on the '05 Guiraud from the UGC tasting at Bordeaux Vinexpo (early June 2007) pretty much just state that it is good at its price:

Ch. Guiraud (1st Growth, 1855, Sauternes) - More definitive attack and better over-all definitiveness than the previous two wines ['05 Chx. Coutet and de Rayne-Vigneau]. There is also healthier balancing acidity that suggests, to me better comparative age-worthiness as well. I’ve always been a fan of this château, though. For a reasonably-priced and consistently well-performing Sauternes, its difficult to beat.

I thought it was pretty damn nice especially considering the price. But I hadn’t been ballin’ with a bunch of d’Yquems right before trying it either.

Sounds like it might have been slightly corked.

A note from a few years ago:

2005 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (3/29/2014)
– popped and poured –
– tasted a single pour, non-blind, over approx. 20 min. –

Lots of chalk and marmalade on the Nose. Full bodied. Marmalade dominates on the palate. Nice balance. Yummy, but still stuck squarely in its infantile stage.

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And a current update:

2005 Château Guiraud - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (2/20/2020)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 1.5 hours –
– from 375mL –

NOSE: expressive, and not terribly complex; concentrated apricot and a weird lactic note.

BODY: medium-rich golden yellow color; full bodied.

TASTE: low acidity; long, spice-inflected finish; alc. is well-hidden. This strikes me as being in a very weird transitioning stage of its life — still plenty of primary fruit, but it’s mixed with an equally-present tertiary note of baked squash. For my preferences, I think it’s best to continue holding bottles in this format to await full entry into fully mature territory.