The harvest continues

The harvest continues, the Merlot from the parcel of Laroque are the first batch of Valandraud picked on October 16!
The particular flavors of the vines from this parcel provided us, last year, the best batch for Valandraud 2009.
The grapes from the property we rent in Génissac are also all in, and the Merlot from Clos du Beau Père in Pomerol are finally in the tanks, brought in on Friday, October 16. Sure that in our area, we must have frightened the neighbors and that our grapes had to be tasted and tasted again!

We probably took a big risk, I do not think today that we could have done it 10 years ago... and I am sure that the day we lose the whole crop we will be told that we asked for it.
We must now turn those grapes into fine wine.

With our meal, we drank with the owners of La Vieille Cure (Fronsac), those of Fleur Cardinale (Saint Emilion) and Annie and Michel : Bad Boy 2007, in part made in Fronsac, La Clotte 2008 which is now delicious and rich : this rare classified growth from Saint Emilion, neighbor of the first vineyard of Valandraud, has improved greatly and is still quite unknown, which makes it a good value, a bottle of our Pomerol Fayat-Thunevin 2008 there too very good, Valandraud 2002 which will be ready to drink in 5/6 years like most Valandraud. At least 10 years are needed to tame the initial power.
Maury 2007 from our partner in the Roussillon, Thunevin-Calvet, and a half bottle of late harvest from Arvine from the Valais in Switzerland, Domaine des Claives 2007 from Marie Thérèse Chappaz, offered by friends from… Switzerland.

Switzerland again, with the visit of a group of amateurs. The proximity of Faugères, whose owner is Swiss, makes Valandraud more and more attractive for Helvetians.

Sunday, tour of the vineyards: which parcels of Merlot should be blended together? The low yields of this vintage force us to make choices.
The cold nights and sunny days ripen slowly our last Merlot from Saint Etienne de Lisse, the Cabernet Franc from Badon and Plaisance never looked so good. The Cabernet Sauvignons from Badon are finally ripe, those of Bel Air will still have to wait 8 to 10 days?

In this special year the lack of water makes it difficult to see the tannin from the seeds turning brown. Color and flavor are of course the simple markers to understand total ripeness.