The winter of 2021-2022 was dry in Saint-Estèphe (545mm of rain in the growing year compared with 850mm on average). Bud burst came early. The Gironde protected us in extremis from frost in April.
We experienced the first peaks of heat in June. Flowering went well. Up until then, everything was fine. On the evening of 20 June, a violent hailstorm hit the north of the vineyard. On these plots, we lost 50% of our crop. The vines were subject to severe physiological stress, and stopped growing. We help them regain their strength using biostimulants and trace elements.
Summer was dry and hot with peaks of 41° C! Our vineyard teams “scratched” the soil and mowed the grass to reduce competition for water. We limited leaf removal to protect the berries from scalding and trimmed the vines to reduce evapotranspiration. The clay in our Saint-Estèphe soils helped the vine get through this drought. While the young vines did suffer, the resilience of our vineyard surprised us, even amazed us.
On certain identified plots, we continued to use braiding as an alternative to trimming. Wines from these braided vines show more freshness and balance and have less of a “hot” feeling.
In September, the vineyard was healthy with no trace of disease, and the berries were tiny. The Merlot harvest began on 14 September. This was followed by the Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot and then the Cabernet Sauvignon. Regardless of the grape variety, all our plots ripened at the same time. Nine consecu-tive days of picking were enough to bring in all the grapes. The yields were low, even lower than expected.
Harvest: from September 14 to September 26
Blending: 56% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
