Chateau Rahoul Blanc 2017
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James
Suckling - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 59% Sémillon, 41% Sauvignon Blanc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Impressively poised nose with lightly reductive lemons and white peaches, as well as freshly cut herbs. The palate has impressive concentration and quite intense notes of fresh, grassy lemons and stone. Great poise here. A blend of 59% semillon and 41% sauvignon blanc.
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Decanter
Lovely pear and peach aspects, harmonious aromas. The palate is brisk and bright. Lees stirring adds complexity to fine fruit purity. Delicious with mildly spiced kung pao chicken or broiled cod with lemon and olive oil. The 20% new oak is nicely integrated. For the price, a no-brainer.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Enthusiast
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling
The history of Chateau Rahoul began in the second half of the 17th century, when Chevalier Guillaume Rahoul built this pretty chartreuse and gave it its name. In a fitting tribute, the label features the Chevalier’s coat of arms, which is still displayed today on the fireplace in the salon. After the French Revolution, the estate passed to the Balguerie family who were highly influential negociants and shipowners on the Place de Bordeaux, who extended and renovated the Chateau and developed the vineyard in order to sell the wines on the Place. A vine-growing estate since the 18th century, Chateau Rahoul would not be sold in bottle until the 1970s when the estate was acquired by David Robson, an Englishman with a passion for Bordeaux wines, who completely restructured the vineyard and proved his desire to create premium quality wines at Rahoul. In the early 80s, the remarkable quality of the wines was responsible for its ascent among the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. Further to a spell of Australian and Danish ownership, Alain Thiénot acquired the estate in 1986. Dourthe Estates were entrusted with the management of the property in 2007.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Famous for both its red and white wines, Graves is a large region, extending 30 miles southeast of the city of Bordeaux, along the left bank of the Garonne River. Red wine producing vineyards cover well over three times as much area as the whites. In the late 1980s, the French created the separate appellation of Pessac-Léognan within the northern confines of Graves. It includes all of its most famous properties, and the southern suburbs of the city Bordeaux itself. In French "graves" is a term used to indicate gravelly soils.