Primeurs 2023

2023 is a real source of satisfaction: at last, a generous harvest that is also excellent! In the end, this is the prerogative of great vintages. Saint-Estèphe was left relatively unscathed by the rather chaotic weather conditions. The strategy for fixing the picking date proved decisive this year. In early September, we thinned out the leaves on our late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon so that it could reach optimum phenolic ripeness. We didn’t start picking the Merlot until 18 September. We took a break after bringing in the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, and waited to pick the last of the Cabernet Sauvignon in mid-October in glorious sunshine. 2023 was the longest-lasting harvest in the estate’s history. Since 2020, we have been using our indigenous yeasts of the year from each plot, allowing us to express our different terroirs as directly and purely as possible. The result is an extremely rich palette that has enabled us to create a blend that I consider to be a great contemporary classic for the estate.