94pts Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Chateau D'Aiguilhe Blanc is a terrific white and if you're looking for a terrific Bordeaux Blanc that won't break the bank, give this a whirl. Crushed stone, honeyed lime, and salted citrus are just some of the aromas and flavors, and it's medium-bodied, with racy, vibrant acidity, good mid-palate depth, and a great finish.
93pts Decanter
Lovely florality to the nose with a gorgeous white stone and yellow fruit aromatic expression. Excellent weight on the palate, a lemon patisserie edge, crisp green apple, touches of grape and juicy orange, but also with sharp lemon too - you get the layers of flavour here. It's crisp and clear, such clarity and precision but also weight and you get the minerality too, the chalkiness that comes across as a fine texture on the palate. Open and friendly, screaming "drink me"! I love this. 5,000 bottle production. Not yet imported into the UK but it should be!
91pts Wine Advocate
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.
91pts Vinous
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 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.
History
Acquired by Stephan von Neipperg at the end of 1998, Château d’Aiguilhe is one of the most beautiful estates in the Castillon - Côtes de Bordeaux. The existing building, a sort of fortified farm, dates from the 13th century. Everything leads us to believe that the Aiguilhe seigneury covered a very large tract of land in the Middle Age, encompassing several important fiefs. Located on the border between French-controlled and English-controlled areas during the Hundred Years’ War, the Château played a major military role.
Today, the estates covers 111 hectares, of which 50 are devoted to winegrowing.
The vines (80% Merlot - 20% Cabernet Franc) grow uniquely on the upper part of the slope, where they find excellent natural drainage and south-facing sun exposure. The thin layer of relatively meagre clay-limestone and clay-silt soil covers a limestone substratum that provides wonderful water regulation. These natural advantages, combined with old vines, are conducive to producing powerful and mineral wines.
The estate is expertly managed by Jean-Patrick Meyrignac. It benefits from the tried and tested winegrowing methods used by Stephan von Neipperg at his Saint-Emilion estates: letting the terroir express itself fully, low yields and a very flexible approach to winemaking.
