Saturday, 7 December 2002
Château Suduiraud (Sauternes), Château de Laubade (Armagnac)
Journalists: Karen Vaillant, Katherine Marterella

Château Suduiraud (Review 1 of 2)

They have 90 hectares comprised of gravel and sandy soil with some clay at about 20 m deep. Of their 90 hectares, 16 are designated for the Grand Cru label. At 7000 vines/hectare, the dominant variety is Semillon (90%) with the remainder being Sauvignon Blanc (10%). The location is perfect for the development of Botrytis, since there is a 100 m plateau on the right bank and lined by a pine forest on the other side. Early morning fog develops in this area in September, which promotes Botrytis growth. In addition to the presence of Botrytis, the sun and wind help to quickly dehydrate the berries and concentrate the juice.

Depending on the season, there can be up to 24 days of harvesting between mid-September and the beginning of November. At harvest time, the labor team of 100 people make anywhere between 3 and 5 passes through each vineyard and pick the fruit sometime berry by berry. As the pickers are in the field, they have constant communication with the pressers at the winery to ensure that the resulting juice is at about 38 °Brix. Due to such precise berry selection in the vineyard, it is not necessary for them to sort through the fruit when it arrives at the winery.

At the winery, they perform two pressings on the fruit. The first is at 2 bar for three hours, while the second pressing is at 12 bar. After pressing, the juice is cold treated, placed in tanks, and warmed to 20°C. Before fermentation begins, the juice is analyzed by spectrophotometry in order to determine its turbidity. They like the juice to be 4.5x more turbid than clear for a healthy fermentation. If the juice is too clear, they’ll add back some solids, but if it is too turbid, they will allow it to cold settle for a couple of days (rather than using pectinases). Natural yeasts are started in small batches and then added to the juice to start fermentation. Then the fermenting juice is transferred to barrels. Each day, more volume is added to the barrels to carefully regulate the fermentation. They keep the wine temperature between 23 and 25°C and heat the room if it’s necessary to warm the wine. Fermentation lasts 15 to 21 days and drops from 38 °Brix to 24 °Brix in that time.

When fermentation is finished, the wines are blended into a tank, cooled, sulfured, and returned to the barrel. Some years the wine is so rich, that it stops the fermentation itself. Each vintage, they use 20% new wood and age the wine in the barrels for 18 months. During aging, the wines remain separated in different lots based upon each vineyard pass and the particular day of each passage. This past harvest they had 34 lots. Shortly after fermentation, the lots are tasted and chosen for one of their three labels. The barrels are topped once, 10 days after being placed in the barrels, and then again every 4 months. To finish, a blend will be constructed and fined only with bentonite for heat stability. They then filter the wine twice -- once with DE (diatomaceous earth) at 3 µm and again with cross flow filtration at 0.2 µm.

There was no Grand Cru made in 1991, 1992 or 1993. But 1997 was classified as one of their best vintages. In 2000, only 2 hectares (of the possible 16 designated for Grand Cru) were harvested. The 2001 vintage is rich and concentrated, and is destined for release in February of 2004.

Château Suduiraud (Review 2 of 2)

The Basics

• Sweet white wine Semillion (90%); Sauvignon Blanc (10%)
• 1855 classified premiere Cru; one of 11; 13 second Cru
• Elevation: 250 feet above sea level
• Gravel (Graves) derivative
• Soil mainly gravel and sand; some clay
• 20 meters deep
• Area is defined by its poor solids - high sand content; green pastures due to high clay content which is too rich for viticulture
• Located left of the Ciron river and south of Bordeaux
• There are 5 main villages associated with Preignac and 210 wine exporters
• 5 million bottles are produced; ½ of 1% of all wines produced in Bordeaux
• Aerial map shows domain of 90 hectares (ha)
• Forest and pasture another 200 ha
• High density plantings: 7000 vines/ha; close spacing; goblet training system
• Main concern is Botrytis - which destroys the skin. The combination of H2O, wind and sun creates dehydration. Noble rot is desirable; Grey rot is bad.

The Harvest

• There are 4-5 passes of harvest; taken by the cluster at 20 degree Brix - 360 grams
• The flavor is smoked, grilled in nature, with a toasted attribute; dried apricot-raisin nose
• Harvest is usually 24 days ranging from Sept 17 – Oct 4 to Nov. 5
• 100 people to harvest
• Depend on high level of communication in order to have the right clusters harvested
• Terroir- determines the Botrytis. On a plateau 100 m high on the river the lower-lying area is comprised of pine forests. Foggy conditions, with high humidity the air becomes trapped.
• In the AM it is foggy- creating an environment conducive to mold growth
• In the PM it is sunny- thus evaporation occurs

Processing the grapes into wine

• Grape clusters come to a reception area where outdoor sorting is done – first hand sorted on the vines. Then to press - 3 hours to extract, 2 bar atmospheres, 12 bar for marc.
• Collect the juice, which is then cold treated for 24 hours underground at 14-15?C. Juice is allowed to settle to be clarified; 4.5 times more turbidity- measured with a spectrophotometer. Then the juice is heated to 20?C in tanks for fermentation. If there are not enough solids, fermentation won’t occur. If there are too many solids the fermentation is interrupted (slowed down).

The Barrel Room – from juice to wine

• 8 rows of barrels; Demptos barrels from Bordeaux
• Yeast is added after the juice is heated. Then all juice is transferred to the barrels
• Barrel by barrel the juice is monitored
• Everyday the density and temperature is checked. The temperature is raised to 25°C to promote fermentation.
• Fermentation occurs in 15 to 21 days; 380 grams to 240 grams
• To stop the fermentation juice is cooled then transferred to tanks where sulfur is added. If sulfur were added to warm juice the yeast would bind up the SO₂.
• Barrel toast level is regulated at purchase. Use 20% new wood.
• 2 bar press, 12 bar press juices
• 2001 finished in 18 months; barrels are sealed aromatically- topped off every 4 months. The second topping allows CO₂ to escape - use a glass bung.
• Then overwintered for 6-8 months
• Then wine is graded by passage; harvest is measured; then divided into 34 different lots.
• There are 3 different quality levels sold
• Start tasting after fermentation is completed
• After 18 months the wine is finished – two types of filters are used: DE and plate or cross-flow filter
• The second filtration is to remove plaque and bacteria to prevent re-fermentation in the bottle
• Filtered and fined using bentonite clay (for protein stability) to prevent cloudy wine
• Tartaric acid crystals are allowed to form in the bottle.
• Cryoextraction - 25°C temperature

The Vintages

• Classique: 14% alcohol, 12 grams (g) residual suga
  • 1997 - Grand Cru- 14%, 2 g residual sugar.
  • 1990 - Grand Cru- first class
  • 1991 -1993: second class
  • 1991 - Frost deteriorated quality
  • 1992&1993 - Rain diluted quality
  • 1994 - Light body
  • 1995 - Light body
  • 1997 - Best since 1990 #1 Grand Cru
  • 1998 - Classic year; grilled flavor
  • 1999 - Good
  • 2000 - Harvested 2 hectares of 16; too much rain from October to March; lost most of crop
  • 2001 - Looks Good
  • 2002 - 3 weeks for main harvest
• April 2002 - future. 2001 barrel sample - pressed for a longer time due to Botrytis;
  sugar is higher - 145 vs. 120 in 1997; acidity = 4.5.

The Grounds

• Lenotre is the architect; he designed the garden at Versailles.
• The Château was built in the 1st century by the French Huguenots.
• Presently owned by the insurance company AXI, who bought it in 1992.

Château de Laubade (Review 1 of 1)

Here there are 100 hectares planted in Bacco, Columbard, and Ugni Blanc. After 2010, they may not be allowed to grow the Bacco anymore because it is a hybrid variety. But it is a key component in Armagnac and ages well in oak. So they are trying to fight this new rule.

They are located 70 km from the Pyrénées and the soil is not very fertile being composed of mostly sand. Because the land is prone to erosion from water and wine, the vines are planted across the slope instead of down the slope. From the 600 grazing sheep on the property in the winter, they compost about 300 tons of sheep manure. They later spread this compost and fertilize the vineyard. For their oak barrels, they cut and dry trees from the property, and then a cooper comes to make the barrels at the vineyard.

Throughout the growing season, they limit the yield to 90 hL/ha. After distillation, volume is reduced by 7%. After 12 years of aging, a total of 25% of the volume will be lost. When harvesting the grapes, they are not so concerned with their primary aromas. Instead, they concentrate on the acidity levels. The acidity helps to keep off-flavors from developing during distillation. At harvest, the grapes are pressed and ferment in metal tanks. After fermentation, the wine is brought to the still, where the distillation temperature is carefully monitored. It is important to note that distillation must happen immediately after fermentation so that the wine is still turbid, since turbidity in wine preserves the flavors. Once the still starts up it doesn’t stop until all the wine is distilled.

During the distillation process, the cold wine is heated to 100°C in the heating tank and then the evaporated alcohol is cooled. The result is a 60 proof liquid that is then barrel-aged for 12 years. One of the by-products of distillation is called vinasse. For every liter of armagnac, there are 6 liters of vinasse. Another factory purifies the vinasse and collects tartaric acid and organics for other uses.

The critical part of armagnac production is the barrel aging. The armagnac will extract from the wood lignans (red in color) and tannins (black), resulting in a brown color. During the aging they will pump and return every 9 months in order to promote oxidation, since the oxidation of lignans and tannins increases the aromatics. The barrels are housed in 8 separate buildings because of the fire risk. Each building has 2500 barrels and the vintages are split equally in each building. There is about $8 million worth of stock, but they are insured for $20 million.

The vintages that are between 8 and 20 years old are mostly found locally. Anything over 20 years has been exported to higher paying consumers.

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