November and December were particularly humid, January was cold and foggy. Overall, the winter was harsh and March remained rather cool. Vigorous budbreak started in April, May was summerlike and vegetative growth was robust because the soils were still humid. As a result, flowering occurred early, towards the end of May, but with some mildew due to the high temperatures.
The vineyard remained beautiful. June was humid, July very hot with isolated storms, and, just like the bloom, veraison was early. The first half of August was similar to July but the freshening nights of late August and early September, combined with the sunny days until the harvest, helped achieve good maturity and maintain the grape’s skin firm. For example, it was 33oC during the day and 13oC at night on 25 August. Minor rains on 18 September fostered the last bit of ripening.
The harvest lasted longer than usual, from 11 September to 1 October, because we were careful to harvest each plot according to its own temporality. Unexpectedly, we even harvested the reds before the whites. The result, an exceptional vintage thanks to its full body and homogeneity within all the different plots of the vineyard.
