First of all, we are globally happy with this vintage, even though it was full of challenges. 2013 will result in new and rarely produced cuvées which will eventually make it your way, most notably a sparkling and a demi-sec rosé. But let's get back to the important facts about the year.
After a very precise pruning season to ensure that the grapes' yields would be reasonable after 2012, we had a long, long winter with a timid spring. Combined with a fair amount of rain, we coul feel that the vegetative cycle was already late and that this phenomenon wold likely amplify.
Spring transitioned into a summer defined by a constant struggle with mildew. As the flowering season approached, we began to worry because temperatures rise fast here and humidity tends to stagnate everything. The flowering finally took place well into July, with a brutal increase in temperature advancing the process. This was a relief, but we could already tell that this very late year would mean an extremely stressful harvest, where we would need to wait to the very last minute for optimal maturities.
And we were right. Today, we are reassured because we avoided all of the worst possible scenarios, with none of the frost and hail that so many of our fellow vignerons fell victim to. There were grapes in the vineyard and we will bring them to fruition. Still, none of us even considered picking before October 10th.
Even in August, mildew forced us to stay extremely vigilant. All risks were avoided by a precise program followed exactly as I'd planned, calling upon many herbal preparations of dandelion and other herbs never before introduced in the vineyard. Our restructuring of the treillissage would also end up being crucial in our fight.
Finally, the harvest came! Coveted and anticipated after our horrific 2012. The lack of warmth actually works well with Chenin and Pineau d'Aunis as long as the harvest goes well, and our fingers were crossed. As anticipated, the harvest was on a razor's edge! I've never felt such anticipated hope that, with each day passing, this would be the one to bring the maturities where they needed to be.
In the first days of the harvest, the reds were arriving in optimal condition, and the first barrique of white was so good we expected to bring everything in good condition. Unfortunately, with about a third of the harvest in, we were hit with 25mm of rain that made getting optimal maturity on the whites a real challenge. This forced us to limit the amount of grapes destined to the still wines, and using the lower potential grapes for sparkling. And that was that! We intend to progress in this direction and the juices comfort us in this idea; they are tasting good and seem apt for bubbles.
The harvest continued as such, with constant sorting permitting us to decide which grapes would produce our traditional cuvées, which would produce bubbles. This sorting even led us to making the "Giroflées" demi-sec rosé from Pineau d'Aunis, a grape that has consistently proven itself to be fully adapted to the region, always coming out of any situation the least scathed.