South West 2007 “Extra Shifts in the Vineyard”

Chateau Tour des Gendres, Bergerac – Luc de Conti
Budding was three weeks in advance of normal, but flowering was upset by a period of cold weather which presaged a low yield throughout the region. Spring was warm but summer was relatively cool and wet bringing the threat of mildew. Luc attributes his success in fending off mildew to the strict organic practices of his vineyard and the hard work put in by his team. The back season was blessed by an Indian summer with thirty days of uninterrupted sunshine from the 25th August onwards, and this truly was the saving of the vintage. The decision was taken to delay the harvest by as long as possible in order to maximise the time during which the grapes would be exposed to sunshine. Picking began on 25 September under a hot sun, and ended on 20th October.

Verdict: White wines are quite simply sensational with a heady bouquet, good weight and a rich, buttery texture balanced by a perfect acidity and a stunning freshness. Red wines have deep colour and a supple texture with well-integrated soft tannins - quite simply a real pleasure. They do not possess the big structure of a great vintage.

“THANK-YOU MOTHER NATURE FOR GIVING US SUCH A FABULOUS VINTAGE DESPITE ALL THE WORRIES YOU GAVE US FROM THE START”

Domaine de l’Ancienne Cure, Monbazillac - Christian Roche
Great vigilance was required to fend off disease in the vineyard, but the extra care taken ensured Christian’s vines did not succumb to mildew. Summer weather was not propitious, although September was dry. Rainfall over the whole year was “sufficient and acceptable”. The back season had good weather between the 15th October and 10th November: it was cool in the morning and hot in the afternoons. Grapes reached a satisfactory level of potential alcohol well in time for picking.

Domaine de Laulan - Cotes de Duras - Regis Laulan
Flowering went well although spring was quite wet, and summer was warm enough (but not too hot) for the production of quality grapes. The resulting wines were good not exceptional due to the fact that it was a wetter year than others, but the back season witnessed exceptionally good weather with scarcely a drop of rain for 6-8 weeks between 10th August to mid - September thus yielding healthy, good quality grapes of very good quality for the harvest. The combination of good maturity and fresh acidity ensured very good balance in the wines.

Verdict: Pleasing white wines with a fine balance of fruit and acidity and good varietal character.

Chateau le Roc, Cotes du Frontonnais – Ribes family
The cold wet weather during flowering brought about coulure (when pollination does not take place correctly and each bud does not produce a grape - meaning that the yield at harvest is not optimised. Summer was dry and quite cool. The back season just before harvest and during harvest was excellent - allowing the grapes to reach good maturity and the grapes harvested were of excellent quality.

Verdict: Yields were lower than average but quality was excellent - the wines are well balanced and aromatic with good freshness

Chateau Clement-Termes, Gaillac
Monsieur Nicolas Caron, the international sales director from Chateau Clement-Termes, said that the end result for both red and white wines was a good quality thanks to judicious management of the vineyard during the wet spring and dry summer. The high rainfall in spring allowed the water table to be replenished which was useful during the extremely dry summer; in theory it could have spelt disaster by introducing rot and illness in the vines but the vigilance and care of the experienced team running this vineyard enabled them to avoid this danger. Summer was dry, without much rainfall, but was relatively cool without extreme heat, this meant that the grapes (both white and red) retained a high level of fresh fruit flavours and aromas; the back season- September- was beautifully sunny and warm which brought the grapes to good maturity; the quality of the grapes at harvest was extremely high, so both the red and white wines are of a high quality with great balance: good concentration and weight coupled with attractive fresh fruit characteristics and good acidity. 

Domaine d’Escausses, Gaillac -Denis Balaran (the owner who also somehow finds time to carry out his other full-time and demanding job as Mayor of Gaillac) had the following to say about his experience in 2007: 

Many vineyards suffered from disease in 2007, but thankfully not his, as he applied the preventive methods necessary. The cold weather in Spring prevented a correct pollination from taking place. Summer was unusually cool for this region which actually helped in the long, slow maturation of the grapes (beneficial in that it permits the grapes to retain much of their aroma)

Verdict: For Monsieur Balaran, 2007 was without doubt the best year for white wines in the past two decades. 

Domaines Robert et Bernard Plageoles, Gaillac - Bernard Plageoles
Yields were low for Monsieur Plageoles in this year due to wet and cold weather during flowering. Summer was hot and also wet, he had to deal with an attack of mildew at the end of Summer which he cured with the traditional treatment of applying a copper compound to the vines. Weather in the back season was glorious and the grapes had reached optimum maturity at the time of picking, giving top quality grapes which produced very good wines. 

Verdict: Reds with superb colour and intense fruit and balanced whites (excellent fruit character and good acidity).

Le Vieux Porche, Marcillac - Jean-Luc Matha
Jean-Luc managed to avoid the danger of mildew, and picked grapes of good quality and good maturity. Summer was wet, but September was a month of excellent weather without any rainfall, and,as a result, the grapes at the time of picking had good sugar levels. Fer Servadou is a fairly resistant; the grapes this year were as healthy as always.

Verdict: Enjoyable wines with good weight and depth of flavour, compared to 2006 which gave “glugging” reds.

Clos Triguedina, Cahors - Jean-Luc Baldes
It was a difficult year for the vineyards with complicated weather until 15 August. Monsieur Baldes practises lutte raisonnnee in his vineyards which entails fighting the problems of pests and disease with well-gauged natural remedies, those methods that do not destroy the delicate condition and eco-balance of the soil. Using these types of strict methods he was able to stave off disease. By vintage time excellent weather had set in and Triguedina managed to harvest healthy, deep-coloured grapes.

Verdict: “Millesime des vignerons”
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Chateau du Cedre, Cahors - Pascal Verhaeghe
Early budding and a hot April seemed to forecast an early vintage, but a cold, wet June upset the flowering period with the result was that the total grape production was less than average. Meanwhile, Jean-Marc, the vineyard manager, and his team toiled to protect the vines from this mildew. Catastrophe was averted and the grapes reached harvest-time in perfect condition.

Normally, years of low sunshine during summer do not produce a great vintage, so the decision was taken to employ an extra 15 workers in the vineyard (despite the high cost) in order to manually remove a large quantity of leaves on the vines on the west-facing side of the vineyard so that the grapes would receive maximum exposure to the sunshine.

“After these initial worries about the low level of sunshine at the beginning of summer, we could not in the end complain about the weather in the back season, because the sun warmed our hearts right up until the middle of October allowing a maturation of the grapes that we had hardly dared hoped for .”

Verdict: “Thank you Mother Nature, despite all the anxieties that you provoked, for allowing us to produce a very impressive vintage.” In summary the wines should be fleshy with lifted fruit flavours, very fine tannins and a persistent finish.

Chateaux Alain Brumont, Madiran

The reds displayed purity of fruit ( flavours of red and black berries with good sugars in all the red grapes: Tannat and the two Cabernets, Merlot and Fer Servadou together with supple tannins, hints of menthol, pepper and spices and roasted coffee and cocoa beans and vanilla from the careful use of oak for certain reds;other characteristics to be noted are: nuances of blood oranges and balsam in some wines.

The Petit Courbu and Petit Manseng have hints of hazelnuts complementing the typical citrus and liquorice characteristics of these two grape varieties.  On the mouth, these aromas are confirmed and there is a balance of richness and acidity,

Clos Lapeyre, Jurançon - Jean-Bernard Larrieu
A very arduous and drawn-out year for vineyard owners Despite this it ended on a good note in general. It was a year marked by mildew and the season was delayed by bad weather. September had very good weather, followed by a short period of high rainfall at the beginning of October. From mid-October to the end of November the fine weather returned giving wonderful conditions for harvesting: hot during the day and cold at night. The result? Thick grapeskins and healthy grapes full of sugar, perfect to express the wonders of sweet Jurançon.

Verdict: Excellent fruit quality with pure, defined aromatics