Immersion in the heart of Château Guiraud

by SoDivin 28 November 2022

28 November 2022 11.9K views

The Château Guiraud is a Bordeaux wine estate and first growth of Sauternes. The bottles of Château are easily recognizable thanks to their Black and Gold labels. The Château is one of the largest estates in Sauternes with a vineyard that extends over 128 hectares mainly composed of 65% of Sémillon and 35% Sauvignon. Neighbor of the unmissable Château d’Yquem, the < a href=”https://www.sodivin.co.uk/3971-guiraud”>Château Guiraud is an area steeped in history.

Historical dates of the Châteaux

The history of the Château dates back to 1776, when Pierre Guiraud (a merchant in Bordeaux) acquired the estate then known as “La Maison Noble de Bayle”. Over the years, several owners succeeded one another at the head of the estate.First, the Bernard family, then the Maxwell family from 1861 to 1932 and the aviator Paul César Rival.

The Second World War undoubtedly left its mark on the farm. Indeed, the Château has suffered lots of damage. However, in 1981 when the Narby family managed the estate, major restoration work was carried out. After having experienced rather chaotic years, anxious to raise the quality of the Château’s wines, in 1988 the Narby family hired Xavier Planty to manage the operation and breathe new life into the Château.

Since 2006, four influential personalities have shared the property: Xavier Planty ( manager of the winery), Robert Peugot (CEO of FFP), Olivier Bernard (owner of Domaine de Chevalier) and Stephan Von Neipperg (owner of Canon La Gaffelière). As co-owners, these men work to make the wine estate one of the jewels of Sauternes. This is how in 2019, Luc Planty (son of Xavier) joined the adventure as manager of the Château.

Aware of the natural and ecological issues and keen to guarantee the sustainability of the estate, the Château obtains its ORGANIC certification in 2011. After almost 250 years of history, the Château calmly looks towards the future, while combining tradition and innovation to make its first growth of Sauternes a must for Bordeaux.

An aromatic journey in three wines

The Château produces three wines:

The great wine “Château Guiraud”
A second wine, “Petit Guiraud” (formerly called Dauphin de Guiraud)
A dry white called “Le G du Château Guiraud” produced under the AOC Bordeaux

The great wine offers a complex nose. On the palate, notes of pineapple, citrus fruits and apple and apricot fruits with the roundness of crème brûlée. Ample, creamy, very long and delicate. It has very significant aging potential (10 to 30 years in the cellar and much more for great vintages). Among the greatest vintages, we recommend the 1959 or the 1990.