Château

Suduiraut

Vintage conditions

The winter was rainy and mild, with the last days of March relatively warm. The growth cycle of the vine started early.
In early April, a long and severe cold spell affected the vineyard, especially on 7th and 8th April with sub-zero temperatures. Frost damage was very serious: apart from a few plots that were spared, in others the damage caused 30 to 100% losses depending on location. Heavy rains in May and June caused a virulent outbreak of mildew, with some new losses. July and August were fairly dry, but cool overall, and veraison took place on 10th August, as in 2019.
Late August and early September were more in line with usual conditions, and were
conducive to good ripening, while maintaining high acidity.

Rains and frequent fog in the last ten days of September provided the right conditions for Botrytis to start developing. The harvest of our Sauternes wines took place between 1st and 27th October with a total of 3 selective pickings, in favourable weather. The second picking started on 8th October, during which the majority of the
botrytised grapes, of excellent quality, were harvested.
The yield was unfortunately extremely low for the Sauternes (1 hectolitre per hectare), and 4 hectolitres per hectare in total for the whole vineyard.

The 2021 is of the finest quality, though we were only able to produce extremely small quantities as we were struck by severe frosts in the spring.
The wines are very promising. 2021 has a lovely fruit like 2016 and a high acidity like 2007 or 2001, very harmonious, with great length and elegance.