2023: exuberant and exotic

In 2023, the quality of the vintage was not synonymous with ease… The main difficulty of 2023 was the intense and prolonged pressure of Downy Mildew on all the vineyards from late spring to early summer. Depending on the precision and quality of the control, the harvest, originally very abundant, could be protected or totally lost depending on the situation! Our agro-synergistic principles, based on observation and anticipation, allowed us to get through this complicated stage this year with relatively moderate damage. Beyond this generally difficult situation, 2023 is a vintage that benefited from excellent ripening conditions, demonstrating once again this year the vine's ability to adapt to extreme climatic conditions.

Indeed, it was very hot during ripening, and fortunately so! We should not focus on the young vines or the plots without sufficient water reserves at the end of the summer, which actually suffered more; the very hot temperatures at the end of August and beginning of September allowed us to bring comfortable yields to maturity. Optimism this year has constantly evolved with the weather. Until the end of July, we were desperate to see ripening progress while mildew carried off leaves and bunches in its repeated attacks. But from the third week of August, after a month that was warmer (+1.5°C) and drier (-40%) than normal, morale soared with the prospect of obtaining a vintage that was, a priori, interesting. At the end of September, enthusiasm prevailed thanks to an exceptionally beautiful and warm month (+4.6°C!). Two good rains (34.7mm on the 12th and 23.9mm on the 21st) came at the right time to boost ripeness and swell the grapes for yields that were ultimately satisfactory for those who started harvesting the Merlots early and who then didn't delay in following up with the Cabernets.

The 2023 vintage therefore promises to be a good vintage, with the typicity of a hot summer that produced exuberant and exotic fruit when the viticulture was well mastered. Its main characteristics are velvety Merlots with very ripe fruit, but without excess alcohol and with excellent acidity, when they come from the preferred soils (clay, deep clayey gravel or clay-limestone) of this grape variety and when they were not harvested too late (from the second week we had to start harvesting the young vines when we had not originally thought of starting before the 21st...). The Cabernet Franc harvested at the beginning of October developed magnificently in 2023; it equals the remarkable 2022 on our estates! The Malbec, for its part, produced generously this year, sometimes too much, and it was necessary to strictly control its production by "green harvesting" to obtain the dense, fresh and juicy typicity that we are particularly looking for. As always, we co-fermented a portion from older vines with Merlot from La Pignière as a component of the La Sergue cru; the remainder went into the La Croix Chaigneau blend to complement the young Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines typical of this cru (45% Merlot, 20% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Franc). Haut-Chaigneau was pre-blended early this year to benefit from the complementarity of each of the terroir and plot elements vinified individually: the first blend is a classic base of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, but a surplus of the latter remains aged in separately aged barrels, as a reserve of tension and freshness, for the final blend. The Merlots from l' Archange in Saint-Emilion did not suffer from the heat waves of 2023 thanks to the blue clay subsoil of its terroir; maturity was relatively slow which allowed us to harvest late, at the end of September, and thus to obtain an aromatic expression of this particularly complex grape variety in 2023 with tannins of a rare smoothness from the running-off stage and which remind me of those of 2015.

In 2023, the quality of the vintage was not synonymous with ease...The main difficulty in 2023 was the intense and prolonged pressure of Downy Mildew on all the vineyards from late spring to early summer. Depending on the precision and quality of the fight, the harvest, originally very abundant could have been protected or completely lost depending on the situation! Our agro-synergistic principles, based on observation and anticipation, allowed us to pass this complicated stage this year with relatively moderate damage. Beyond this generally difficult situation, 2023 is a vintage which benefited from excellent ripening conditions, showing this year once again the capacity of the vine to adapt to extreme climatic conditions.

Indeed, it was very hot during the maturation and fortunately! We should not focus on young vines or plots without sufficient water reserves at the end of summer which actually suffered more; the very warm temperatures of late August and early September allowed comfortable yields to mature. Optimism this year has constantly evolved with the weather. Until the end of July, we despaired of seeing ripening progress while mildew took away leaves and bunches in its repeated attacks. But from the third week of August, after a month hotter (+1.5°C) and drier (-40%) than normal, morale skyrocketed with the prospect of obtaining a vintage a priori interesting. At the end of September, enthusiasm prevailed thanks to an exceptionally beautiful and warm month (+4.6°C!). Two nice rains (34.7mm on the 12th and 23.9mm on the 21st) came at the right time to revive the maturity and plump up the grapes for yields that were ultimately satisfactory for those who started harvesting the Merlots early and who then did not laze around to follow with the Cabernets.

The 2023 vintage therefore promises to be a good vintage, with the typicality of a hot summer which produced exuberant and exotic fruit when viticulture was well mastered. Its main characteristics are velvety Merlots with very ripe fruit, but without excess alcohol and with excellent acidity, when they come from the preferred soils (clay, deep clayey gravel or clay-limestone) of this grape variety, and that they were not harvested too late (from the second week we had to start harvesting the young vines even though we had not originally thought of starting before the 21st…). The Cabernet Franc harvested at the beginning of October developed magnificently in 2023; it matches the remarkable 2022 on our domains! Malbec, for its part, produced generously this year, sometimes too much, and its production had to be strictly controlled by “green harvests” to obtain the dense, fresh and juicy typicity that we are particularly looking for. As always, we co-fermented a part from older vines with Merlots from La Pignière as a component of the La Sergue cru; the remainder entered the blend of La Croix Chaigneau to complement the young Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines typical of this vintage (45% Merlot, 20% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Franc). Haut-Chaigneau was pre-assembled early this year to benefit from the complementarity of each of the elements of terroirs and plots vinified individually: the first blend is a classic base of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, but a surplus of the latter remains aged in separately fermented barrels, as a reserve of tension and freshness, for the final assembly. The Merlots de l' Archange in Saint-Emilion did not suffer from the heat waves of 2023 thanks to the blue clay subsoil of its terroir; the maturity was relatively slow which allowed us to harvest late, at the end of September, and thus to obtain an aromatic expression of this particularly complex grape variety in 2023 with tannins of rare suavity from the run-off stage and which remind me of those from 2015.