Château Angélus, pinfärsk skörderapport

Sen eftermiddag igår landade så skörderapporten från ett av mina favoritslott i Bordeaux. Château Angélus i Saint-Emilion. På bilden H de Bouard och JB Grenié Angélus.

Château Angélus - The 2010 vintage
Weather conditions
2010 was a dry but relatively cool year and, contrary to 2003, no heat wave temperatures were reached. These weather conditions encouraged perfect healthiness in the vineyard, so the vines were not attacked by any diseases this year. Cloudbursts occurred on 26th September and 11th October, respectively giving rainfall levels of 16 mm and 7 mm; not particularly heavy, but this rain was extremely opportune. It avoided a situation of hydrous stress for the vines and re-boosted their metabolism. The grapes were therefore able to continue maturing to reach the very best stage of ripeness. Sunny days that followed, alternated with cool night-time temperatures, encouraged polyphenols to become perfectly ripe.

Harvests
From here onwards, the staff at Château Angélus took over. Whilst appreciating the result of work done earlier during the summer (leaf-thinning and thinning-out grape bunches), we had to seek the finest balances and fix the best dates at which to harvest, for each grape variety and for each plot of the vineyard. Wise decisions also had to be made to ensure that picking was precise and perfectly
adapted. At Angélus, harvests of Merlot grapes began on 28th September with young vines in the earliest plots and continued up until 14th October. Then it was the turn of the Cabernet Franc variety to be gathered, starting with the youngest vines and finishing with the oldest, with harvests beginning on 15th October and finishing on 21st October.

First impressions
The fermentations are currently in progress. A strong concentration of anthocyanins means that the juices show a deep black hue. The air in the vat houses is filled with fruity fragrances of raspberry and blackcurrant. Vats in which fermentations are most advanced reveal an impressive structure of
tannin, due especially to the excellent ripeness of the grape seeds, but there is no harshness whatsoever. Hubert de Boüard’s opinion about the 2010 vintage
If you ask Hubert de Boüard what he thinks about this vintage, he will tell you that some people would like to compare it to 1947 or 2005, but he personally considers 2010 to be the finest classic vintage he has made in 25 years!

More news after a few months of maturation!