396. Château Guiraud, Sauternes 1er Cru Classé, 1996

£18.99 / 37.5cl; 13.5%

We decided to have some wine & cheese after work on Friday, so when shopping for cheese (in the new John Lewis / Waitrose Food Hall), I decided to pick up a half bottle of this for the blue cheese, and overall pretty good. However, the palate didn’t quite deliver the intensity & complexity that the nose suggested. Deep amber-gold colour (which appears quite typical of Guiraud?), with a narrow rim. Moderate intensity nose of preserved quince fruit, with vanilla, and developed notes of beeswax and crystal sugar / Demerara. Lees complex palate. Sweet, but not excessively so, and with balancing, medium acidity. Medium-to-full bodied. Orange & more quince flavour. Medium length.