Millesime 2013
The 2013 vintage will not have been easy, to say the least.
The harsh winter was followed by a cool, even freezing spring, with no spring heat. This year we went from winter to summer, with little transition, with almost no spring heat, slowing down and delaying vine growth.
From May to June temperatures remained below seasonal normals, significantly slowing down vine growth.
The frost of April 30th was severe, 20% of our vineyard was affected in the early morning on the left bank and in particular the Clos de la Cure, 90% of it was affected, despite the very early stage of vine growth, it did not recover, the buds
Disbudding was spread out until June 10th, and a second pass was even possible due to the late flowering.
The month of June was marked by cool, unstable temperatures with rainy spells until June 23rd when a hailstorm moved up from Bordeaux towards the north of Touraine, barely touching our vineyard... from June 23rd to 26th 26th 26mm of water fell on our terroirs.
The beginning of July will mark the beginning of flowering... very late since flowering usually finishes around June 15th.
Weather conditions improve significantly from the beginning of July until the end of August, offering ideal summer temperatures for the vines to recover
V2.... vfinale
The least that can be said is that this 2013 vintage has not been easy...
The harsh winter was followed by a cool spring, with a severe frosty episode on April 30th: 20% of the vineyard was reached in the early morning, especially on the left bank (Clos de la Cure 90% affected).
The growth of the vines was greatly delayed by the absence of spring heat, with a good three weeks delay. Flowering finally came at the beginning of July, homogeneous despite a little coulure.
And then summer came, without transition: with really summery temperatures, ideal for the vines to recover.
At the end of August, as the harvest was going to be late, we stopped hoeing to let the grass absorb the rain at the end of the season and at the beginning of September, we took preventive measures against the development of rot, by reinforcing the resistance of the skins with a few powders of talcum powder and clay.
In fact, the skins started to get damaged at the beginning of October but the phenolic maturity was not reached. So we decided to wait...at the risk of losing everything, by the way: we were very scared!
On October 17th, we started harvesting with the Chenin Blanc from Clos de la Plante Martin, continuing the following week with the Cabernet Franc, first from our alluvial soils and then from our Clos. Our pickers meticulously sorted the bunches to pick only the ripe grapes in perfect health (rot is forbidden!), then their harvest was taken to the winery in small openwork boxes and sorted a second time on the table, so as to keep only the best grapes.
Under the combined effect of the difficult climatic conditions and the draconian sorting necessary, it is a small half harvest that 2013 offers us (with a historically low average yield of 20 hl/ha), but we have no regrets: with potential alcohols between 12° and 12.5° and very straight and pure juices, 2013 will be a vintage of pleasure on freshness and beautiful elegance.
The harsh winter was followed by a cool, even freezing spring, with no spring heat. This year we went from winter to summer, with little transition, with almost no spring heat, slowing down and delaying vine growth.
From May to June temperatures remained below seasonal normals, significantly slowing down vine growth.
The frost of April 30th was severe, 20% of our vineyard was affected in the early morning on the left bank and in particular the Clos de la Cure, 90% of it was affected, despite the very early stage of vine growth, it did not recover, the buds
Disbudding was spread out until June 10th, and a second pass was even possible due to the late flowering.
The month of June was marked by cool, unstable temperatures with rainy spells until June 23rd when a hailstorm moved up from Bordeaux towards the north of Touraine, barely touching our vineyard... from June 23rd to 26th 26th 26mm of water fell on our terroirs.
The beginning of July will mark the beginning of flowering... very late since flowering usually finishes around June 15th.
Weather conditions improve significantly from the beginning of July until the end of August, offering ideal summer temperatures for the vines to recover
V2.... vfinale
The least that can be said is that this 2013 vintage has not been easy...
The harsh winter was followed by a cool spring, with a severe frosty episode on April 30th: 20% of the vineyard was reached in the early morning, especially on the left bank (Clos de la Cure 90% affected).
The growth of the vines was greatly delayed by the absence of spring heat, with a good three weeks delay. Flowering finally came at the beginning of July, homogeneous despite a little coulure.
And then summer came, without transition: with really summery temperatures, ideal for the vines to recover.
At the end of August, as the harvest was going to be late, we stopped hoeing to let the grass absorb the rain at the end of the season and at the beginning of September, we took preventive measures against the development of rot, by reinforcing the resistance of the skins with a few powders of talcum powder and clay.
In fact, the skins started to get damaged at the beginning of October but the phenolic maturity was not reached. So we decided to wait...at the risk of losing everything, by the way: we were very scared!
On October 17th, we started harvesting with the Chenin Blanc from Clos de la Plante Martin, continuing the following week with the Cabernet Franc, first from our alluvial soils and then from our Clos. Our pickers meticulously sorted the bunches to pick only the ripe grapes in perfect health (rot is forbidden!), then their harvest was taken to the winery in small openwork boxes and sorted a second time on the table, so as to keep only the best grapes.
Under the combined effect of the difficult climatic conditions and the draconian sorting necessary, it is a small half harvest that 2013 offers us (with a historically low average yield of 20 hl/ha), but we have no regrets: with potential alcohols between 12° and 12.5° and very straight and pure juices, 2013 will be a vintage of pleasure on freshness and beautiful elegance.