The vintages
Winter was mild, as everywhere in France. The growing season began painfully. Soon after the appearance of the first buds, a black frost badly afflicted some very specific parcels, followed by two incidents of hail damage further weakening the grapes to come. During the very damp months of June and July, we had to fight off vine disease. From August onwards, this gave way to quite a dry and relatively sunny summer with a magnificent month of September. These conditions were favourable for grape ripeness, which finally proved to be of excellent quality.
Harvesting took place in the last week of September (from 26th to 30th) with exceptional weather and bathed in sunshine.
Too small a crop this year will not allow us to commercialize our Bourgogne Blanc or the Premier Cru “Les Goulots”; moreover, we only picked the equivalent of a single barrel of Bourgogne Pinot Noir instead of the usual seven.
Although the quantities are not there this year, alcohol content is very high: this is new for us !
A weak early showing of grapes but vine-flowering took place in favourable weather conditions. It was not necessary to carry out green harvesting. Heat and drought marked the summer and veraison was seriously slowed down by vine stress. The vines lacked water, but there again, vines like to suffer…
The heatwave was long, but luckily the rains at the end of August allowed the grapes to reach maturity.
Harvesting was spread over 3rd to 6th September, in beautiful sunshine. Grapes were small with thick skins. Alcohol content was exceptional with a satisfactory level of acidity: a lovely balance.
Minimum quantity-maximum quality: it’s a very good vintage. This vintage is still in barrel. It will be bottled in 2017 but already has all the signs of great wine.
From spring until mid-July, we benefitted from clement weather.
In Burgundy we say: “September makes the vintage” and by luck, after a rather cool, damp summer, September offered us lovely, sunny days. This allowed grapes to regain healthiness and to ripen off. Despite complicated weather, good results were achieved.
We harvested on 13, 14, 15 and 16th September in magnificent sunshine and summery temperatures.
Grape healthiness was good, except for two of our parcels in appellation Village and one parcel of regional Bourgogne which were damaged by drosophilae fruit flies. Sorting on the vine was therefore important and essential in avoiding contamination of the crop. As a result, for these two appellations we lost 30% of our harvest but benefitted from a healthy, high quality crop.
This vintage had 100% destemming. Vinification went well, with vats starting to ferment after 5 or 6 days of cold pre-fermentation; start of fermentation was slow.
There was a good level of alcohol despite a lack of sunshine during summer, with good acidity promising wines for keeping.
2014 is a well-balanced vintage with fine tannins.
A cold and rain-soaked springtime delayed vine-flowering. The storms in July did not affect us. Despite a hot but rather clement summer for the vines, harvesting was to be late.
The crop was irregular, with uneven ripeness from one parcel to another and even within the same parcel of vines.
The choice of harvesting date was critical to the success of this vintage.
Picking took place on 28, 29, 30th September, 1st and 2nd October and we were lucky enough to finish just a few minutes before heavy rain fell, thereby avoiding the effects of dilution and rot.
Colour is intense, with black fruit aromas as well as good length on the palate. Freshness and gourmandise characterize the 2013s.
Good weather before harvest allowed us to pick very good quality grapes, healthy and ripe. Grape quality was especially good, despite capricious weather. Spring was magnificent at the start and rainy towards its end.
The coolness and dampness of spring rendered vine-flowering difficult to complete, provoking flower-shatter and thereby reducing the crop.
Luckily, summer temperatures and weather conditions gave birth to small and variably-sized grapes with a naturally high sugar level.
The crop was magnificent despite very low volumes.
All of this made for a vintage rare in quantity and exceptional in quality.
We harvested on 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23rd September, in dry weather.
The spring was extremely hot and lovely. July’s rainfall allowed the vines not to suffer too much from these very dry conditions. With the return of good weather, sunshine and heat favoured grape ripeness.
The harvest took place on 1st, 2, 3, 4 and 5th September.
This is a vintage that gives a very good first impression on the palate, with aromas of small black fruits.
2011 is gourmand and complex wine.
The season was marked by unstable weather alternating hot and cool periods, sprinkled with precipitations. The rigorous and snowy winter; as well as the early frosts, cost the lives of many vines. Spring was largely dry, hot and sunny while summer was dull and overcast. Bad weather in June affected vine-flowering, giving small and variably-sized grapes and foretelling a small crop.
By chance, the month of September offered us lovely, sunny days. In this way, grapes benefitted from good ripeness although this was irregular from one parcel to another, or even within the same parcel. We therefore carried out meticulous sorting.
Harvesting took place on 21st, 22, 23 and 25th September in good meteorological conditions and with cool night temperatures. The crop was of good quality.
Yields were low that year and the crop volume had to be estimated at minus 30%. Notwithstanding, it was a vintage that was rich, concentrated, fruity and with lots of colour.
2010 is balance and elegance.
A dream vintage, with ideal weather during the whole vegetative season through to harvesting that took place on 9, 10, 11 and 12th September. Maximum sunshine and cool nights brought about perfect maturation of berries while preserving their aromatic freshness.
Spring as well as summer brought us the sunshine and rain necessary for good grape development. Then, from end July until the harvest, the weather was dry, therefore providing ideal conditions for perfectly healthy fruit with a good balance of acidity, sugars and aromas.
This is wine full of balance, well-structured, round, gourmand, with well-integrated tannins. Very good young, it will also keep very well.
2009 is the alliance of quantity and quality, the dream of every winemaker.
Winter was relatively mild, except in December. A rather cold and rainy spring and a summer largely dull and overcast led us to do a lot of green harvesting, leaf-thinning and trimming to help grapes gain in maturity and concentration. Fortunately, two weeks before harvest, a northerly wind accompanied by sunshine revived the vines and allowed grape healthiness to be stabilized.
Harvesting began on 24th September and finished on 27th September in sunshine to warm the hearts of winemakers.
Tannins were elegant, with notes of red and black fruits.
Aromatic richness and freshness characterize this vintage.
Year 2007 was characterized by very capricious weather and a month of July amongst the rainiest of these last thirty years. This vintage was marked by its precociousness linked to the confusion amongst seasons in the sense that autumn was hot, winter temperate and rather dry, early spring particularly hot and summer quite cool and rainy.
That is why, that year in Burgundy, the bans that determine harvesting dates were fixed very early in the month of August. For reasons linked to this early readiness of the vintage, we harvested on 29th and 30th August and the 1st and 2nd September.
By not insisting on extraction, roundness and elegance could be achieved, around fruit aromas like cherry, raspberry, strawberry or redcurrant. Tannins are fine. It is a vintage for connoisseurs and easy to taste for amateurs and wine lovers.
