A year we will remember, made of twists and turns …
First stage, the April frosts. Like many of our fellow growers, the nights of 26 and 27 April left traces in the vineyard. But unlike many, we have suffered very little. 5 hectares affected out of 20, this allowed us to predict a sufficient harvest. All we had to do was wait and hope that nothing else would happen.
Second stage, a summer spent watching the sky. Tourists still remember this summer in Bordeaux. Roasting heat for a few days, then rainstorms the following days, with almost every time hail alerts. But once again, no problem for our vineyard this time.
Third stage, the harvest. And what harvest! Beautiful grapes, beautiful maturity, great degrees, controlled acidities, perfect density of color after extraction … 2017 should be a vintage to look forward to!
In the end, despite some climatic and mechanical adventures (do not mention this to Yannick and Maxime, who could lose their smile, with their capricious harvesting machine this year …), we finally managed to harvest everything in time. Only the frozen plot had to wait to be picked up because even if the grapes were a little repelled, they were slowed down in their evolution and maturity was slow to develop.
A small note that gives the smile: this photo of a vine stock half-red half-white! A trace of our elders replacing the dead stocks with what they had, not always knowing what they had. Here, a stock of Merlot next to a stock of Semillon, where the berries intermingle suggesting a stock half-red half-white. Harvested by hand, once is not customary!
