Nose
The expressive nose is initially fruity (apricot, yellow peach and pineapple) before taking on more floral notes with honey and spices (vanilla).
Palate
The deliciously smooth initial taste repeats the fruitiness of the nose before blossoming into its full richness underpinned by the spicy taste of the wood. The excellent acidity of the finish offsets the richness and adds length. The finesse of the wine is enhanced by the remarkable lingering taste of candied citrus fruit with a faintly mineral touch.
Growing Conditions
After a normal and mild winter, the spring was cold and dry. As the weather improved, flowering proceeded in ideal conditions, suggesting already that there would be a large harvest. Extensive thinning work was therefore necessary to respect our quality objectives. Conditions in July and August were mixed, without any very hot spells, making for a slow ripening process. These difficult weather conditions forced us to carry out systematic work to remove some of the grapes on many plots of vines.
Harvest
Harvesting started with the first trie on 29 September, in good conditions. It was long, 20 days of effective work, and required even more careful, attentive efforts of our harvesters than usual.
The weather was mainly fine through this period, although the latter tries were disrupted by some rainy spells in October. Picking ended on 4 November.
4 successive tries were necessary, demanding painstaking work on the part of our grape-pickers, but their efforts were rightly rewarded by the rich, pure character of the grape must that was obtained.
Bottling
Bottling date: May 19th 2006
Aging
50% in new barrels,
50% from barrels of one vintage, for 16 months.
Appearance
Château Suduiraut 2004 comes draped in all its golden yellow colour with its characteristic green flashes.
