Château les Justices - 2023

Situated between the arm of the Garonne and the small tributary the Ciron, below the town of Preignac, the Château Les Justices is a small jewel of the Bordeaux region, not to be missed. The Medeville family began making Sauternes - Château Gilette - in 1710 and has been one of the leading families in the botrytisation process for over three hundred years. René Medeville innovated the process in the middle of the 20th century by bringing in long conservation techniques, making Château Gilette and Les Justices des Sauternes famous.

From 1959, his son, Christian, continued his work by perfecting the ageing of old vintages. He also acquired Château Respide-Medeville in the Graves appellation and earned a reputation as an aesthete of wine and a perfectionist craftsman of the vine. Since the beginning of the 2000s, his daughter Julie has taken up the torch, managing the family's three estates: Respide-Medeville in red, Gilette and Les Justices in Sauternes. Together with her husband, Xavier Gonet - of the Champagnes of the same name - they brought the different estates together under the name Vignobles Gonet-Medeville.

The 8.5 hectares that make up Château Les Justices are based on two types of soil where Sémillon and Muscadelle grape varieties grow on the one hand and Sémillon and Sauvignon on the other. The terroir of the Sauternes region, its geographical location on the banks of the Ciron, colder than the Garonne, as well as the misty weather conditions at the time of harvest at the end of October, allow the propagation of Botrytis Cinerea, a fungus that brings noble rot to the grapes. The grapes are harvested grain by grain and the work in the vineyard is done with the greatest respect for the environment, free of any chemical use. Conservation and vinification takes place in stainless steel barrels, to prevent the wood from flavouring and woody aromas, leaving the fruit ample opportunity to develop.

The Sauternes produced by Gonet-Medeville at Château Les Justices is deliciously aromatic, without a syrupy excess. Its nose is recognizable with white fruits, honey and roasted spices. On the palate, complex aromas of mirabelle plums, roasted pineapple, frangipane and candied summer fruits such as mango and peach develop particularly well, giving it length and strong ageing potential.