2008: Harvesting Cabernet Franc:photo Yannick Amirault
From: Yannick Amirault, Bourgueil and Saint Nicolas-de-Bourgeuil:
'Effectivement les vendanges se sont très bien passées. Nous avons eu un temps magnifique et le raisin était super.
Début octobre, j'étais inquiet par les acidités très élevées mais qui ont bien baissé à la récolte.
Si on prend uniquement en considération les courbes de degré et d'acidité, nous sommes sur des courbes proches de 1996 et 2002.'
Désormais les fermentations sont terminées et je laisse encore "infuser" sous marc une semaine avant tirage.
Yannick and his son 'unloading' Cabernet Franc
photo Yannick Amirault
Certainly the vintage went very well. We had magnificent weather and the grapes are superb.
At the beginning of October I was worried by the grapes' high acidity but they had dropped considerably by the time we harvested. If you look just at the graphs of alcohol and acidity, we are close to those of 1996 and 2002.
The alcoholic fermentations have finished and I am leaving the wine to 'infuse' on the skins for a week before drawing the wine off.
'Effectivement les vendanges se sont très bien passées. Nous avons eu un temps magnifique et le raisin était super.
Début octobre, j'étais inquiet par les acidités très élevées mais qui ont bien baissé à la récolte.
Si on prend uniquement en considération les courbes de degré et d'acidité, nous sommes sur des courbes proches de 1996 et 2002.'
Désormais les fermentations sont terminées et je laisse encore "infuser" sous marc une semaine avant tirage.
Yannick and his son 'unloading' Cabernet Francphoto Yannick Amirault
Certainly the vintage went very well. We had magnificent weather and the grapes are superb.
At the beginning of October I was worried by the grapes' high acidity but they had dropped considerably by the time we harvested. If you look just at the graphs of alcohol and acidity, we are close to those of 1996 and 2002.
The alcoholic fermentations have finished and I am leaving the wine to 'infuse' on the skins for a week before drawing the wine off.
2 comments:
Hello Jim,
Does it seem that 2008 is shaping up to be a vintage on par with 1996 and 2002 across the Touraine or is it a parallel unique to Amirault's estate?
cheers,
David
David
Thanks for your message. A number of producers also compared 2008 with 1996. However, Yannick is drawing a parallel based on the alcohol and acidity, the taste profile may well be something else. The profiles of 1996 and 2002 are fairly different. 2002s, especially the whites, have great balance and like 2008 was a vintage saved at the last minute by good weather and wind from the East. The summer of 1996 was good.
I'm warying of drawing too many comparisons with previous years until the wines are more developed. I always remember a Chinon producer likening at harvest 1992 to 1985, which of course it wasn't.
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