harvest 2009 – producer updates – monday 21st sept

Update 23.9.2009(21.9.2009)billn

I asked a few producers how things were looking in the cuverie:

Intense colors – for the reds 😉
pH’s that basically (if I may) are not increasing during fermentation – we should end up with levels around 3.60 – 3.70 which is close to my goal. Tannins, after being a bit sharp at mid fermentation, are really softening nicely with the prolongation of macerations, and showing a good concentration, will lead to wines with a good if not overwelming tannic structure. The whites are showing a beautiful fruit, entering the cellar is an enchantment. acid balance seems good, but difficult to taste at this stage.
Carel Voorhuis, Domaine d’Ardhuy

I am afraid it’s too early to talk about extraction as it is the beginning of the alcoholic fermentation only. The only thing we know is that the color is easy to get and that the tannins are of good quality.
Philippe de Marcilly, Albert Bichot

We can say so far about 09 that the tannins are easy to extract, the skins are thick and really mature, it is top quality. The first wines we have are dense and full-bodied, but without any aggressivity. Natural maturity was so high that we did not add sugar to any of our wines. The wines almost fell sweet, and there is no sugar left (red Savigny Vieilles vignes). The vintage will be softer than 05s, because the pH are higher in 2009, the grapes kept on maturing during the summer without any of the blocage that happened with 2005. 2005 were more acidic, I expect 2009 are pure pleasure with a big concentration and velvety stucture…
Juliette Chenu, Domaine Louis Chenu

The fruit and colors seem excellent – my Beaune Les Cras has almost finished its alcoholic fermentation. Tannins seemed a little ‘strict’ at one stage but that was just a phase. From what I recall of 2005, we seem to be getting more fruit with less extraction for this crop. Less tannin than 2005 – perhaps closer to 2002. I think I will get better results from this vintage than 05 actually, but that is more about preparation than specifically fruit/vintage quality – for 05 I’d only been in the domaine a few weeks, the work in the vineyard was not mine and all the equipment was unknown…
David Croix, Domaine des Croix

Bill, we finished on Wednesday 16th. Picking conditions, as you experienced them, were fantastic, the grapes were ripe and healthy and the quantities looked good for all the vineyards with the exceptions of the ones that got hailed in May (Clos St Denis, Clos de la Roche and Combottes). The skins seemed pretty thick, the colors and tannins seem to be extracting nicely. I like the aromatics that are already coming out. In short, everything seems to be there for us to make good wine this year. I can’t picture these turning into the tannic masses that were the 2005s. They may have something in common with the 1999s, certainly analytically, but it is very early days and the opportunities to screw up are still plentiful.
Jeremy Seysses: Domaine Dujac

Jeremy sent two nice photos (in the gallery that follows – I love the vendangeur…), I also asked him how the fruit triage went with the charity ‘Climats du Cœur‘ project:

The Climats du Cœur grapes that were delivered to me looked great. The contributors from Gevrey really put their best foot forward. The grapes are not yet fermenting, so can’t talk about the wine yet. I’m expecting interest to rise with news of the vintage looking like a good one.
Jeremy Seysses

Gallery:

Leave a Reply to Mark GoughCancel reply

There are 3 responses to “harvest 2009 – producer updates – monday 21st sept”

  1. Mark Gough21st September 2009 at 6:33 pmPermalinkReply

    Interesting, thanks Bill.

    From my Dubreuil- Fontaine experience (so wish I was still there) I’d go along with everything said by various folk e.g really super fruit quality, red & white; ripe, sweet fruit; beautiful colours – we watched the juice colours almost entranced whilst punching the cap down. 1999 was a regular comment, with the odd cautious reference to 2005. The Chardonnay was initially showing 12 – 12.5% per cent which Aussie Kristen and Christine Dubreuil were very happy with.

    I know how that Dujac vendangeur might have been feeling btw – might have looked like that myself a few times !!

  2. Lou Deziel22nd September 2009 at 3:49 amPermalinkReply

    what percent stems will Dujac use on the grapes shown in the pic? Thanks for that pic! We are making PN in CA as novices and plan to use stems.
    Thanks for all your reporting,
    Lou

  3. Jeremy Seysses23rd September 2009 at 11:40 amPermalinkReply

    Hi Lou,

    The picture is before any destemming, as it is a picture of one of our picking bins.
    This year, as in most, destemming will range between 70% and 0% depending on the vineyard and a number of other factors that come down to personal choice/ intuition.
    Transposing anything from Burgundy to California is a little tricky as CA fruit has very little in common with ours. Days between flowering and picking, sugar/acid levels, tannic profile, are all markedly different. As a result, the same choices will lead you to different places, wine-wise. To make a Pinot that looks Burgundian in CA, you have to make a number of adjustments in your winemaking and grape growing to match your materials to your objective. Also, limestone is not that common in CA.

    Keep in mind that with wine, as with any fermentation derived product, the recipe is only a small part of it and can only be trusted so far.

    Good luck with it!

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