The people of Bordeaux did not need to read last week’s post, entitled “Bordeaux in the pot? »: since last June, barely a few millimeters of quickly evaporated rain have refreshed the wine-growing landscape. Same rarity on September 23, when a large proportion of Merlot had been harvested. Since my arrival on site, at the invitation of the Conseil des Vins du Médoc, questions have arisen as to the type of vintage that will be registered.
Numerous samples taken from the vines in different areas have already shown — on the left bank, at least — that the acidity is maintained under the cover of small berries with a high skin-juice ratio. In other words, low yields for musts that are potentially highly colored and dense in polyphenols. It remains to be seen whether the physiological maturities, due to maturity blockages under the impact of water stress, will not contribute to an undesirable vegetal character, especially for the Cabernets, which should soon be harvested.
Another vintage of the century? Let’s say rather an atypical vintage of the century due to the climatic catastrophy.
The Médoc today
Small recap. The Médoc (on the left bank of the Gironde) is more than 16,000 hectares of planted vines, some 600 châteaux, 1,000 brands and 80 million bottles marketed, all over an area 2 to 5 kilometers wide. stretching over a distance of 70 to 80 kilometers north of the city of Bordeaux. A succession of terraces cleared over successive millennia of erosion provides the root structure of Cabernets, Merlots, Petit Verdots, Malbecs and Sauvignon Blancs with well-drained subsoils where gravel from the Garonne and the Pyrenees, clay-limestone and sand contribute to the an often well-defined expression of the four “large municipalities” which are, from north to south, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Margaux.
Add to that the regional AOC Médoc (60 kilometers long in the north) and Haut-Médoc (in the south, including Listrac and Moulis), and you have there enough to rub shoulders with an astonishing diversity of styles and flavors.
It is with the start of the Marathon des châteaux du Médoc, with its 5,000 runners subjected to around twenty “wine-sports” tests (tasting of grands crus in moderate doses!) at as many refreshment points as the peregrinations begin. There is worse. A journey that shows and visually the health of the foliage which remains strangely green despite the record temperatures posted for this 2022 harvest. If the water retention in the basement seems to be working, it was still suicidal this year to thin the leaves, otherwise the grapes would be toasted .
Are you well-shod? So, let’s head north from the south of the Médoc with the prestigious Margaux appellation.
Margaux. Jar or amphora? Same terracotta container, with the difference that the latter has no “ears” to facilitate transport. Gonzaga Lurton at Chateau Durfort Vivens has 180, 350 and 750 hectolitres. Impressive ! He is not the only one. For my part, I have never seen so many of these wine containers in the Médoc, in addition to the barrels, of course, but also to a multitude of concrete dwellings of all shapes and sizes. “There is a better polymerization of the tannins in these amphorae”, summed up the winegrower who, under the wise advice of his cousin Jacques Lurton (Vignobles André Lurton), ultimately ensures a minimum use of sulfur (50 ppm in total), but also a much more limited use of water to clean them.
In biodynamics since 2012, the wines, including La Nature (18 months in amphoras), are as precise in terms of fruit as they are delicate and sensual in texture. All the immediate charm of an excellent Margaux.
Moulis. It is in the smallest Médoc appellation, with its 610 hectares, that Mélanie Barton-Sartorius settled in Chateau Mauvesin bartonproperty of 60 hectares of vines in one piece acquired by his father in 2011. Colossal task of restructuring to which the charming and dynamic oenologist has been working since with all the expertise developed at the famous family crus Langoa and Léoville Barton in Saint -Julian.
The Merlots are comfortable there with, as evidenced by the 2018 vintage, a velvety spherical mouth with the taste of very ripe plum coupled with exemplary tonicity and sapidity. If I were you, I would watch this area closely. We are at the Bartons after all!
Next week: Listrac, Pauillac, Haut-Médoc and Médoc.