Millesimes 2010
What a pleasure to be able to announce, after the great 2009 vintage, a 2010 of the same class... This time, luck smiled at us, and that's a good thing!
Spring ended on a final frosty whim on the last day of the ice saints, May 15, which fortunately did not affect all the plots. After this last jolt, the 2010 vintage benefited from splendid climatic conditions, with dry and sunny weather until the harvest, interspersed with short summer rains.
The summer drought, after a slightly capricious flowering, favoured the veraison and ripening of the berries in optimal conditions. Very little intervention was necessary, thanks to unprecedented sanitary conditions over the last four vintages.
The harvest began in beautiful sunshine on September 28th at the Clos de la Plante Martin, where we picked the Chenin Blanc at full ripeness. The juice, of great purity, will be dry and close to perfect balance (13° of alcohol, 6 grams of acidity).
Then we wait serenely for ten days or so for the rainy episode linked to the high tides to dissipate: the wind having turned east with the change of moon, the fine weather returns, and sunny days and cool nights follow one another to perfect the phenolic maturity of the different plots.
On October 7, we begin harvesting the Cabernets Francs from the sandy soil of Beaumont-en-Véron, followed by the alluvial plots on the banks of the Vienne, at Sazilly. On October 11th, we are in the rows of the first of our great clos, facing south-west: the Clos du Chêne Vert. Then the grapes from the north-east facing clay-limestone soils gradually ripened and gradually filled the buckets of our pickers. The Varennes du Grand Clos, followed by the Clos de la Dioterie on October 18, will mark the end of the harvest.
The pickers will have cut very ripe and concentrated berries during the Indian summer, offering delicious juices with charming balances.
Spring ended on a final frosty whim on the last day of the ice saints, May 15, which fortunately did not affect all the plots. After this last jolt, the 2010 vintage benefited from splendid climatic conditions, with dry and sunny weather until the harvest, interspersed with short summer rains.
The summer drought, after a slightly capricious flowering, favoured the veraison and ripening of the berries in optimal conditions. Very little intervention was necessary, thanks to unprecedented sanitary conditions over the last four vintages.
The harvest began in beautiful sunshine on September 28th at the Clos de la Plante Martin, where we picked the Chenin Blanc at full ripeness. The juice, of great purity, will be dry and close to perfect balance (13° of alcohol, 6 grams of acidity).
Then we wait serenely for ten days or so for the rainy episode linked to the high tides to dissipate: the wind having turned east with the change of moon, the fine weather returns, and sunny days and cool nights follow one another to perfect the phenolic maturity of the different plots.
On October 7, we begin harvesting the Cabernets Francs from the sandy soil of Beaumont-en-Véron, followed by the alluvial plots on the banks of the Vienne, at Sazilly. On October 11th, we are in the rows of the first of our great clos, facing south-west: the Clos du Chêne Vert. Then the grapes from the north-east facing clay-limestone soils gradually ripened and gradually filled the buckets of our pickers. The Varennes du Grand Clos, followed by the Clos de la Dioterie on October 18, will mark the end of the harvest.
The pickers will have cut very ripe and concentrated berries during the Indian summer, offering delicious juices with charming balances.