Classification | Cru Classe |
Type | White |
Brand | Chateau d'Aiguilhe |
Vintage | 2021 |
Country | France |
Region | Bordeaux, Cotes de Castillon |
Grape | Sauvignon Blanc |
Volume | 0,75 |
Condition | Perfect |
Label | Perfect |
Drinkable | -2032 |
Stock | 29 |
Just bottled a week before my visit, the 2021 d'Aiguilhe Blanc is a medium-bodied, tangy and incisive wine evocative of citrus zest, crisp orchard fruit and freshly baked bread. Seamless and penetrating, it derives from a late-ripening site on the limestone slopes of the Côtes de Castillon that has always produced an unusually chiseled, mineral style of white Bordeaux.
A pretty texture to this wine with sliced lemon, green apple and fresh celery. Grapefruit and nougat, too. Medium body. Sancerre-like. Sauvignon blanc.
The 2021 Le Blanc d'Aiguilhe is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, with a touch of co-planted Sauvignon Gris. It is an intensely aromatic, perfumed Sauvignon Blanc that favors citrus and floral notes more than the greener side of the variety. It shows lovely textural richness and nuance. Most of the clones here are from the Loire, and that yields a very distinctive style of Sauvignon Blanc for Bordeaux. Chardonnay-like notes of lemon peel, mint, crushed rocks and a touch of reduction come forward in the glass. The 2021 was raised in 20% oak (14% new), with the rest spending a long aging of two years in tank, yielding very good textural depth and resonance—but also notable reduction. How it develops will determine the final result.
All Sauvignon from limestone soils, the 2021 Château D'Aiguilhe Blanc has lots of honeyed lime and crushed lemon-like fruit as well as some minty, floral notes. As with almost all the wines in the vintage, it's medium-bodied, bright, and lively. Drink this terrific white over the coming 7-8 years.