Château Grand Village, Blanc, Bordeaux, 2018
A blend of 34% Sauvignon and 66% Semillon harvested between the 5th and 9th September. There is more Semillon in the blend than usual because, in Baptiste Guinaudeau’s words, “these are the best Semillons we have produced, there was a short window to harvest them but it worked out extremely well for us.” The price to pay is quantity, with yields of up to 25% down on an average crop. The Semillon is evident here for the texture and complexity it adds to the blend. A fleshy, plump character is offset by great freshness. Notes of citrus, crushed nettle, salt and a faint touch of gooseberry. The most complex Grand Village we have tasted. A fine white Bordeaux that punches well above its weight.
critic reviews
Stone fruits, tense and nervy edges, with a saline lick through the finish, somehow seems to come from a fresher vintage than 2018. I could easily have put the big sibling Les Champs Libre in this spot, as it is one of my favourite dry whites from Bordeaux, but it is worth checking out the less expensive Grand Village. The same family attention to detail (as you would expect from the Guinaudeau family of Château Lafleur), and pretty much the perfect moment to drink. From vines on clay-limestone soils just to the northwest of Fronsac, grown at the home of Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau, with a significant part of the Sauvignon Blanc vines coming from Sancerre-sourced, massal-selected plants. 20% new oak.
The Grand Village 2018 Blanc is composed of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon. A little youthfully mute to begin, with swirling it offers delicate scents of lime leaves, chalk dust and wet pebbles over a core of lemongrass, fresh grapefruit and green apples. The medium-bodied palate is elegantly styled with savory accents to the intense citrus flavors and harmonious acidity, finishing long and chalky.
The 2018 Le Blanc du Grand Village includes fruit from a massal selection taken from a parcel known as "acacia" that has gone into Les Champs Libres. The bouquet is very similar to its showing from barrel, featuring gorgeous, pure honeysuckle, walnut and light orange blossom scents. The palate is beautifully balanced, with subtle tropical notes (nectarine and passion fruit) and gooseberry commingling with a dab of ginger on the finish. Excellent.