We picked the grapes of our „High Densitiy“ Viognier vineyard (Domaine de l’Arjolle – Côtes de Thongue) at the end of August. This vineyard has been planted with some 8000 vines per hectare (instead of 5000 vines per hectare, more usual in southern France). The picking was done by hand, and in a convivial atmosphere... like every year.
Like every year, Robert Parkers has visited the Domaine Santa Duc at the end of august, to taste the wines of the last two vintages. An occasion for Yves to review 2008, a vintage that has been hastily denounced by the press. Although the biggest default of this year simply might be its position between 2007 and 2009.
“Monsieur Parker”, I’ve told him,” 2008 is good! Some people did a great job…”
A reminder: Springtime in the Rhone Valley first was dominated by cool and wet conditions. Around flowering, though, weather was rather dry and warm, and after a hot and summerly month of July it turned cool again in August. Frequent rainfalls allowed slow and regular ripening of the grapes. Some heavy local thunderstorms at the end of summer caused some damage on tender grape varieties, such as Syrah or Cinsault.
"Watch out, as the 2008 vintage might bewitch you, even if it looked like the weather conditions would condemn the harvest in advance: a difficult, cool year, sometimes even with hail and heavy rain storms. (…)
Positive effects of those climatic variations were concentrated juices due to low yields, interesting acidities preserved by low temperatures. Fresh northern mistral winds also led to well adjusted alcohol contents because of the slow ripening of the grapes. (…)" Antoine Gebelle and Roberto Petronio wrote those words in the renowned Revue du Vin de France June 2009. And a lot of wines from 2008 nowadays confirm their judgement.
“Concentrations were not sufficient for the Grand Grenache”, Yves explains,”but I made a Haut Garrigues this year, and it was a very good wine. However, the press did not support the 2008 vintage and one may call it “autodestructif” to edit a grand cuvee under this circumstances. I like the wines of 2008 very much. They are well balanced and fresh but also show maturity and power. Just taste it, and you will find quit a lot of wine in your glass."
Well, you got the message, best you taste the wines of 2008 yourself and judge them. Like every year, it is a question of taste.
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Some rains in June and July and a warm start for summer have assumed a good start for the ripening of the grapes. In the beginning of August though, the ripening was running some 10 days late according to 2009.
Strong Tramontana winds provoked higher sugar levels in our grapes, but they kept their natural balance, as acidity was high, too. Close to harvest, the vineyards and grapes were in a very good shape, with almost total absence of mildew and other pests. So we could spend the biggest part of our time in the vineyards tasting grapes to prepare the harvest.
We’ve started harvest at the Domaine de l’Arjolle and the Château de Margon on the 20th of August by picking our first Sauvignon blanc. Mid September, all our grapes for the white wines were in, except the Chardonnay for the Dernière Cueillette and the Muscat for our late harvest cuvee Lyre.
Rainfalls in early September were profitable to our red varieties. The vineyards look splendid with their bright and deep green leafs, and we can even see the revival of our herbal undergrowth between the vines.
In the cellar, fermentations go very well and the first white wines show an astonishing aromatic potential. Juices of the early Merlot, Grenache and Syrah, brought in for our rosé Méridienne, are fresh and balanced and presume a vintage “on the fruit”.
In a general way, our first impressions of this year’s harvest are rather positive. But there is still a lot of work to do, and so we’ll come back to you in November with a final report on this vintage.
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